CitiFinancial Auto Deceptive Auto Loan Practices Coppell Texas
I am wanting to find others who have an auto loan through this company, as with the recent bank fallouts and credit troubles out there, I bought a truck for my small business from CitiGroup/CitiFinancial as other lenders in this region simply would not loan enough; and though the truck I have is not the one I wanted, Citi's loan finance terms after we applied and signed docs stated we could only use their loan at a franchised dealership, not to any private auto seller, etc. So we bought a GMC pickup truck from local Chevy dealership.
We have this truck financed for about 4 years and though the interest rate is worst I ever paid in my life (owning 27 vehicles total), we have been making all payments on time and even with additional stated for principal.
But, what is happening and getting us mad calling Citi the past 6 months, is my wife who signed loan docs as co-borrower and even at dealership as co-buyer, Citi refuses to show her as such and thus, she gets no benefit on her credit report. We have fought them from day one on this as her name shows nowhere on the loan invoice that comes each month and they say she was only a co-signer which makes no sense??
Now, as we have been paying extra monies stated on our checks & invoices for this vehicle, each Citi invoice that has comes shows the payment not going as we have stated and almost acts as if it were a revolving credit card account instead of a fixed interest auto loan contract. Nothing makes sense with these people and the sheer amount we have paid in the last 6 months alone, would not see this loan repaid in 4 years as it it supposed to, but moreover, almost 9 years at this rate as to how they are applying our monthly payments and this upsets us and we get nowhere demanding answers from Citi each time we see this and contact them. They refuse to apply principal payments made to our balance.
I am wondering if anyone else out there is experiencing the same bad customer service and problems with an auto loan with Citi as we have for 6 months as we need an avenue to go to to have their loan process investigated as there is something that just smells bad, and as I said, I have bought many personal & business vehicles in my life paying all them off ahead of time, etc.. But this Citi auto loan has some weird stuff happening at Citi each time we make payments and state principal payments additional and they do not do as we instruct them and now this past month's invoice shows almost $300.00 as interest payment with our recent payment and this is outright wrong as literally nothing went on the principal!! They do not send a payment book like all my previous loans. They send a monthly invoice only.
Citi refuses to do anything and we cannot get them to get a Supervisor when we call and get the run around...
I can be e-mailed at (((ROR REDACTED))) with any comment or advice.
Steve
Hickory, North Carolina
U.S.A.
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2 Updates & Rebuttals
Steve
Asheville,North Carolina,
U.S.A.
Citi behavior less than professional
#3Author of original report
Sun, November 23, 2008
Replying to your rebuttal I have to say that each month between the time the invoice is dated and comes in mail and my payment goes to City it seems to average around 20 days time each month; all payments made well within time PLUS additional stated on invoice & check to be applied to principal. But this does not matter to Citi. NOTHING I say, NOTHING EVER from the Citi loan people here or the contract talks about simple interest accruing at a daily rate- That is what those Quick Loan places do and get people stuck in never ending accumulating interest ruts which now have been outlawed in many states for their operative protocols.
What angers us is this month's bill came in with total interest amount from our previous payment showing highest ever deducted for interest to date exceeding 50% of the total payment made which remember included additional amount to be applied to principal!! This is what got our attention, and City acts like this is no problem?? This is nearly $300.00 from our last payment went to interest alone!!! Hardly anything was applied to principal...
This loan which I was approved for far more than what I used for this vehicle, now sees the interest about 50% of our total payment and this is beyond assanine and borders on Loan Sharking in another word. It also acts as if it is a revolving credit card account rather than a fixed interest car loan which was stated up front and in our docs at a fixed interest rate..
There is no way interest should be 50% of the car payment including principal amount, as this vehicle, even with additional monthly payments sent, will Never be paid back in the 42month period stipulated from the get-go.
Point #1 Citi approved me for higher loan amount at fixed interest rate and I only utilized what I needed for said truck.
Point #2 Citi loan docs required my wife to sign as co-borrower which also the dealership's finance docs show too, yet Citi says she does not show on loan as co-borrower but now a co-signer and receives no credit benefit on her reports.
Point #3 After approved for loan the vehicle I wanted to buy City loan people made a change from what I was initially told, and said their loan was now only allowed for a vehicle from a franchised dealership which I now suspect they kicked back some points which is illegal if found being done.
**Why the heck would Citi or any lender care where I bought a vehicle as long as I serviced my loan according to the contract of said loan? I NEVER heard such rederick before like this in all the vehicles I ever bought.
Nikki
Coconut Creek,Florida,
U.S.A.
Most auto loans are simple interest loans
#3Consumer Suggestion
Thu, November 20, 2008
Even though your loan is at a fixed rate, it is probably a simple interest loan rather than conventional. Your payment is charged interest by the day rather than by the month. Here is a quick explanation.
Interest is taken from your payment depending on what date it posted last month. If last month your payment posted on the 20th, and this month your payment posts on the 20th, your payment will be "charged" for around 30 days of interest (depends on how many days last month was) with the rest going to principal. Next month, you make your payment on the 15th. Your payment is "charged" for around 25 days of interest with the rest going to principal. The next month, you happen to make your payment on the 25th. Your payment is "charged" for around 40 days of interest and the rest to principal.
Unless you make your payments on the exact date every single month, you will see variations as to how much goes to principal.
You can figure it out yourself for next month's payment. See how much interest came out of your payment. Divide that by the numbers of days from the previous payment to get a rough idea of how much you are paying in daily interest. Next month, multiply that amount by how many days since the last payment and you should get a rough idea how much of that payment should be applied to principal and how much to interest.