I was looking for a title loan company in Minnesota to work with. I came across Title Loan America and contacted them in November 2013. I spoke with Dustin Choi and he told me they were located in Florida, but they provided loans nationwide so Minnesota was eligible. He e-mailed me the info, we discussed the monthly loan amount, and I went over it several times with him on the phone to make sure I understood. I sent him back the info he needed by both e-mail and UPS as he advised. I had the funds of $1500 deposited in my bank account.
When I received the first monthly statement, the name of the company was listed as "Car Loan LLC" located in the Cook Islands, not as Title Loan America in Florida. I called the contact info listed and asked about this and the payment amounts. I was told Title Loan America is the company that set up the loan, but Car Loan LLC is the company that financed the loan. The monthly payment was a bit more than Dustin told me, but there was also an origination fee and so I thought maybe I just misunderstood. Car Loan LLC told me the monthly payment amount would be $316.80 per month for 12 months. They said the payments had to be done by automatic withdrawal from my bank account. We set that up. I made my first payment in December of 2013 and paid on time every month for 11 months by automatic withdrawal of $316.80 per month from Dec 2013-Oct 2014.
On the 12th month, in Nov 2014, my statement said the final installment was over $1900! I had never seen or heard anything about this figure the entire time I was making my loan payments. There was never a "principle balance" listed anywhere at all on my monthly statements nor was I ever told I'd have a balloon payment at the end. I was told 12 monthly payments of $316.80. Paying those monthly payments alone is already paying back more than double what I borrowed so that did not seem correct.
I called the company and the rep told me that is what I had to pay to get my title back. I asked for a supervisor and he was extremely rude and yelled at me. He told me I signed a pawn agreement and he had the paperwork for the pawn in front of him. I was never told anything about a pawn and my papers didn't say anything about a pawn. My husband then got on the phone with this rude man and he told my husband he wouldn't talk to him because his name wasn't on the paperwork. I told him I authorized my husband to speak to him and he refused. We did get the automatic bank withdrawal cancelled, but then he hung up on us.
I wrote a letter to the Attorney General in Minnesota and worked with someone from their office. They advised me this company is not registed or legal to do business in Minnesota or licensed to do business as a pawn in Minnesota. The AG's office tried contacting Car Loan LLC by phone and mail and also by their AKA names and could not get a response to help me resolve my complaint. Because there are not other active complaints against this company in MN right now, the AG's office can't really do much else for me. The AG's office suggested I get an attorney on my own so I can try to get my car title back. This company is very deceitful and has gone to great lengths to confuse and scam their "customers". They continue to send me monthly statements increasing the payoff amount by $316.80 each month.
Now I am dealing with tow trucks showing up at my home trying to take my vehicle. I refuse to pay these people any more of my money or give them my vehicle. They have already received $3,484.80 from me which is more than double what I borrowed and now they want my vehicle on top of it! I truly hope this company and their spin off companies get brought down and are held accountable for ripping people off like this. It's so wrong!
Frustrated
Vancouver,#2Consumer Comment
Sat, June 13, 2015
They stole my car!!! I wish I had seen your story before I did business with them. They stole my vehicle and I seem unable to do anything about it because they are based in the Cook Islands!
They continue to operate as Autoloans, LLC.