Complaint Review: Westlake Financial Services

 I have Westkake financial got a car loan. I'm 3 month late due to loosing my job, I asked if I could make smaller payments to avoid repo but the demanded I need to pay everything I owe. They threatened me that my car has been reported stolen and I will go to jail if I don't return it.

I have a car that was supposed to be paid off in November.  Over the last four years, they have put a few payments "on the backend" of the loan because we were having difficulty.  We got a payment history from Westlake that shows payments through October 2011.  According to their records, we had paid $982 more in interest than what they show was "accrued".  Yet, they don't apply that to the principal.  They have been hounding us because we were supposedly three months behind.  Each time their collection department calls, they would either say we're repossessing your car of hang up when we start asking questions.  I finally got to a supervisor who found two "missing payments" that were supposedly miss applied to a different account and one payment was in the mail.  Two payments total almost $1300 and the one in the mail for $682.  If you add those together and the $982 in overpayments on interest according to their payment history, that comes to around $3,000.  Yet, they say our final payment of over $3000 is due in March.  None of their figures add up; however, they won't talk to us.

They called yesterday and left a message saying they had made a decision about our car.  That means repo, I'm guessing.

I am getting calls from them atleast once every 15 minutes ALL DAY!!!  Each of the reps say that we owe the extra in interest, yet they already got their interest and according to the supervisor, it is principal left.  I have left over 13 messages for the supervisor, Claudia, in the last two weeks with the last message yesterday saying we are going to a lawyer..... Still no phone call.

I don't know what to do.  My car is supposed to be paid off and they are talking about repoing it.

dfwwedd@aol.com

Hello Vernon,

Sounds as if you likely have never had any significant financial trouble.  I ask that you stand in my shoes for a day and see if you can still make the remark that you did.  I had been recovering from the financial set back due to my diagnosis of cancer, and after a successful fight back to good health, and being able to go back to work,  I felt secure enough to try to purchase a vehicle to get to work in, and do other things a person does everyday, in their vehicle.

During the first two years of extremly high payments due to medical bills that have stacked up and I had been trying to keep up with as well I had made my payments and on time, even though Westlake more than 7 times in that period reported my payment late and charged me for said late payment and the "advanced accrued interest" on the "late charges with interest" I did not even realize that was why they would call me about making my payment as I was carrying charges that I should not have incurred due to their inability to find a way to post a payment within a 10 day period.

After two years, I am now finding that I was not able to keep up with the extremly high payments as my pay had lowered due to the difficult economic times.  Wanting to not lose my vehicle made several attempts to get someone who could and would help me, not a chance with Westlake.  I was working with them to try to lower my payments and as soon as I would get off the phone with the loan official I would get a call from their "fraud department" wanting my not yet due payment and wanting to make sure that the payment would be made.  This occurred everytime I talked with the guy in the loan department, wonder if maybe they felt thay could intimidate my payment out of me?

Anyway,  you may one day find that you should have to stand in my shoes and make that remark.  It just adds insult to injury and is of no benefit to anyone who has had to deal with Westlake.  I know that you seem to think that all of us complaining are folks who got in over their heads, just as 30% of our nation's homeowners did a few years back.  Not always are we the ones who have done our best to make our tough financial situtation better, but when companies like Westlake prey on us, harass us, embarass us, threaten us, intimidate us, and charge us enormous interest rates knowing that most of us are hard working individuals just wanting to own our own vehicle and knowing that we had to pay a price, high interest rates, for our misfortunes they then sould have to pay the price themselves.   They are not in the loan business, they are in the loan sharking business and if I have anything to do with it they will lose their ability to continue to do business in the U.S., and hopefully serve some jail time.

If I owned a business and treated my customers the way Westlake has I would not be in business either and if I spoke to my customers as they have I would likely be in jail as they should be.  My wish is not to wish ill of you but to try to make you realize that there is much more than meets the eye when someone is down on their luck, and that judging others should be left to the guy who does it better than anyone, Our Lord.

My Best to You,

Twisted Track in Utah

I too am a victim of Bad judgement. I elected to sign up with westlake financial back in February. they changed my due dates on me from the 17th to the 3rd without notifying me, and started to call NONSTOP.

everytime they called i told them it would be paid on the due day-the 17th, because that was the day i had set up for it to be sent by my bank. In return the reps were rude to me and said i needed to pay it NOW or i would be repossessed.

I was so much in fear of repossession i had to move to another city to hide my car even though my payments were made by the 17th. Every time i called them i would spend at least an hour on the phone, only to end the call in tears from the rudeness and lack of assistance. the employees would yell and threaten me.

on top of all that if i call i am told to hold, then a completely different person answers the phone. the fee they charge just to pay a bill is ridiculous. Please, if you have a way, I would be more than happy to run these guys into the ground. they should never have gotten the business that they have.

Hi! My name is Jennifer. I would like to get some information from you regarding Westlake Finanical Services. I have been through the same situation and I want them prosecuted as well.

If you can leave me an email address or phone number I would appreciate it.

I read your review about west lake, i have had them since 2008, they are
horrible! I have already filed a complaint with the BBB in 2009 because
they were supposed to re-write my contract and lower my payments, they
kept screwing with me, and requiring more and more payments with out
ever holding up their end of the re-write. After i filed the complaint,
they finally re wrote it. Now I just found out that because of my
husband being in the military we are under the service mens civil relief
act, and they have to lower the interest on the loan down to 6%, make the appropriate
adjustments from this day forward, and reimburse any interest that i
paid over 6% since the day of joining the army (which is 2 years worth
and $2,693 of interest paid). I have been on the phone with them at
least 3x a week, and they are absolutely refusing to make the
adjustments to my account. I am seriously looking into a class action
suit, or a lawsuit of some kind. there are so many other things that they have done to me, ( harassing, charging me late fees when i am set up with direct debit, ect ect.) so if this is something you are thinking about doing count me in!

What a collection of sorry people trying to make up excuses for NOT paying their bills on time!  Right, blame it on the lender.

hi.

they scamme me and my son. they sold the car while in our possesion, no payment due at the time. they sold it back to the car lot  we purchased it from,we lost a down payment and a car we traded in, plus there tow truck driver ran me on a large cement bloc and i have my other car in the shop with 2800.00 worth of damage. i hate both compaines they need to pay.

I just got off the phone with Westlake Financial with a jackass by the name of Tony Allen that was tell me that if I did not make my payment today that he was going to have a repossor at my door in 1 hour. This is the 1st time I have been late with a payment since I got the car in Feburary. I told him the truth that I could make the payment on 11/23. He said that was not good enough it had to be today or else and then he went into a tirate and told me that I was a SOB and I needed to make my payments on time and that is why the economy is the way it is. I told him to go F himself and I wanted to talk to his supervisor it took me yelling at him to get to a supervisor. San JAcinto, Ca

I am in the process of finding out how I can get this company to cooperative and let the head people know what kind of operation is being performed. Contact me via site on update of your next move. I will participate in what you need.

I would like to speak with you regarding your case. I too am having the same issues with this crazy company. I honestly do not believe they are still in business.
I am going to contact the governors office regarding this. No one should be treated this way. There are rules that all companies MUST abide by and this one isn't. Please contact me asap. Thank you.

I have talked to Westlake Financial several times over the past week. I talked to my husbands account representative who stated that if we made a payment while the car is in our possession, they will work with us. There is another representative calling and harrassing us. When I called her back today, she stated that we should have received a letter stating that they are taking us to court for fraud since we are not "voluntarily" making payments on the car. She asked why we haven't been making payments. I informed her that my husband had been the only income up until last week and that keeping a roof over our heads was more important. We are making a payment this friday 2/13/09. She said I see well that is not my problem. He signed a document stating he would pay for this vehicle. You should receive a letter with a court date and I will be contacting his employer to verify information to garnish his wages. Again, I personally, have already spoken to his representative who informed us that they will be repossessing the car. Now instead of repossessing the car, they are going to garnish his wages. This isn't legal. Is it?

I am another victim of WFS unethical collection practices, threats and consumer disclosures.

Help read my report its under all the other Westlake Financial ones and I need help there has to be something we can do about this company VENOM posted a comment that sounds familiar to what these peoples CSR and reps say to you, the funny thing is most of the time their information is not correct. All of there practices are unprofessional and breaks all of our privacy laws and rights.

You obviously have internet access - WHY ARE YOU NOT USING IT?

FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT -Federal Law the debt collectors are required to follow - but choose not to -

just like YOU CHOOSE NOT TO USE THE INTERNET TO HELP YOU!

One search on Collection Agencies on this site alone would have brought you lots of useful info to help.

Here are 2 websites that you can go to for advice
www.budhibbs.com
www.ftc.gov

Just by reading ur sermon it seems that ur the type of person who pays late....
So my advise to u is to make ur paymens on time..
And they won't have to waist there time w/ you and ur delinquent loan....

FYI-- if u can't afford it don't buy it...

Please help me as I am being harassed by Westlake Financial. I didn't know where else to respond to you.

I need help. They just called again not more than 30 minutes ago. They call up to 5 times a day and I am not late. There is more to my story. I just need help. I live in Colorado.

I was privy to a telephone call between Westlake Financial's collection arm and a debtor. Westlake's employee stated that he was "investigating fraud" regarding her late car payment. The employee also stated that the debtor "never intended to pay for the car" and was going to have her "arrested for fraud and possibly deported" if she did not pay the balance of the loan in full at once. This is totally ILLEGAL and is the exact same conduct that got Ed Davis of San Diego convicted of extortion. This is serious misconduct that has to be stopped. There are rules and regulations as to what bill collectors can and can't do. If Westlake chooses to break the law, then they shouldn't be in business at all, no matter how many high priced attorneys they have on their payroll.

I was privy to a telephone call between Westlake Financial's collection arm and a debtor. Westlake's employee stated that he was "investigating fraud" regarding her late car payment. The employee also stated that the debtor "never intended to pay for the car" and was going to have her "arrested for fraud and possibly deported" if she did not pay the balance of the loan in full at once. This is totally ILLEGAL and is the exact same conduct that got Ed Davis of San Diego convicted of extortion. This is serious misconduct that has to be stopped. There are rules and regulations as to what bill collectors can and can't do. If Westlake chooses to break the law, then they shouldn't be in business at all, no matter how many high priced attorneys they have on their payroll.

What exactly did they do? So far, just reading your sermon, nothing really has been done by them. Only alleged that something may have been done to you.