Complaint Review: CREDIT ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION (CAC) - Internet

I have had a loan with CAC since May of 2011.  Sometimes my checks are a few days beyong that date. Inevitably, I start getting calls from CAC ON THE DUE DATE! I politely tell them that the payment will be made in a few days and they demand a date. Now, most companies have a 7-10 day grace...not CAC.

This loan is less than a year old and you've been late more than once.  FYI, I know of NO auto financing that has a grace period and I've been purchasing new vehicles since 1974.  Late is late, and this will cause you another problem (and probably another RipOff Report by you) later.  I'll get to that in a moment.

These loansharks want their money BEFORE the due date.

They want it processed ON or before they due date, and you need to allow them at least ONE BUSINESS DAY to process the payment.  This means that if you mail them a check, they need to receive it at least one business day before the due date.

I have NEVER missed a payment with them and have NEVER been past 30 days late, heck I've never been more than 10 days late and they are threatening repossession.

They are getting tired of the late payments, as ANY lender would.

GO AHEAD!  repo the car and I'll sue you!

Sue them for what, Einstein?  I'm certain that there is a clause or two in your loan agreement that will allow them to repossess the car for multiple late payments.  When you sue them, they will counter-sue you immediately.  They will auction the car and demand payment for any shortfall of the sale, in addition to their legal fees and they will win.  In other words, you'll be paying them MORE than if you had simply let them repossess the thing.

You're in for ANOTHER surprise down the road Einstein.  You most likely have a simple interest loan.  What this means is that EVERY TIME your payment is late, they are calculating additional interest for the days between the due date and the actual payment date on the remaining balance and adding that to the balance.  Although they may not be immediately charging you an administrative late fee, be assured the added interest is being tacked on to your loan.  This causes the remaining balance to increase and thus the accrued interest on the loan is going to be substantially HIGHER than if you made all the scheduled payments on time.

What this means for you is that when you think the loan is paid off, it really isn't and they are not going to release their lien on the vehicle until you cough up some additional cash.  As an example let's say  you have a 36 month loan and after you have made 36 payments to them (one or more of these payments was late) you will still owe a balance because of the added accrued interest.  This additional interest can easily exceed several hundred or even a couple thousand dollars.

BTW, I don't work for them.  I am a certified consumer credit counselor (NACCC) and I see this happen to folks quite frequently. 

To cut your losses, you should contact them and ask them how much you have to pay to bring the loan CURRENT, INCLUDING THE ADDITIONAL INTEREST caused by your late payments, so that your loan is back on track for the original number of SCHEDULED payments to satisfy the loan.  Then PAY THAT AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY.  This way, you're loan is back on track and when you make that final scheduled payment, there will be no remaining balance and they will release the lien.  Keep going the way you are and at the end of the scheduled loan payments, you're going to end up owing them a significant amount of money before they'll release the vehicle.  If you refuse to pay this additional interest at that time, they will repossess the vehicle, sell it, and then maybe give you any of the funds that were above the remaining balance.  If, instead, there is sill a short fall after they sell it, they'll sue you for the remainder (including repossession fees, court cost, and legal fees.)

On one hand you say there are times when you are late...your paycheck date apparently doesn't jive with the payment due date and BY YOUR OWN ADMISSION you say there are times when you are "a few days late".  Then later you claim you never missed a payment.  Which is it?  If the payment is due on the 15th, if you can somehow understand this, at midnight the 15th becomes the 16th.  If you make the payment on the 15th and they get it on the 15th that payment is "on time".  If you make it at one minute past midnight on the 16th, IT IS LATE.  If they have no grace period, then you make absolutely, positively sure you make it on time.  The fact your paycheck doesn't correspond to the due date is none of their concern or business.  The payment is due when it is due. 

This lender is a SUBPRIME operation which means it will lend money on behalf of individuals who have a well demonstrated and well documented history/reputuation of NOT paying their bills on time...LIKE YOU DO.  Because you have obviously taken such a casual approach to your financial responsibilitites in the past and quite frankly now, they can and will manage your account much more closely than if your financial reputation was positive.  Translated Genius, THEY DON'T MESS AROUND.  You can cry and whine all you want but YOU put YOURSELF in this exact situation by NOT paying your bills on time.  Anybody who reads the contract they signed, which apparently you haven't, knows full well the threat of a repo is always present when YOU don't make your payments on time...one month late, one week late, one day late. 

So Genius with all the big talk, you let them repo the car when your payment is late.  Then you get your attorney, which I'm sure you have tons of money to pay even though you STILL don't pay your bills on time and then you sue them.  Be sure to write back with the Court Docket Number so we can follow your case.  Like I said to another typical subprime thinking looser, when you win, I'll fly you here and you can tell your story before our quarterly Bar Association get together.  I will personally introduce you and all in attendance will be glued to your story as to how you beat a legal repo!

heck I've never been more than 10 days late and they are threatening repossession. GO AHEAD! repo the car and I'll sue you!
- Did you keep a straight face when you wrote that line?  As that is probably one of the funniest things I have heard in a while.  Actually in thinking about it you probably did keep a straight face because you honestly believe it, and that is your problem.

So here is a reality check for you.  First of all you are with a Sub-Prime lender so I doubt this is your first time with credit "issues", and if you keep this attitude up you will be with Sub-Prime lenders for the rest of your life.

You made a legal agreement to pay them a set amount on a SPECIFIC DATE, not a date you see fit to "grace" them with a payment.  Even with companies that have "grace periods" if you pay past the "due date" you are still LATE because it is AFTER the due date.  The ONLY thing a grace period is for is before you get assessed additional late fees and interest.

As for them calling you, again you are a sub-prime borrower and they want to make sure they get the several thousand dollars they loaned you back.  As a result they are going to be a bit more aggressive in reminding you to make your payment.  They hear the "check is in the mail" all of the time so of course until they actually get it they are not going to believe you. So if you want them to stop calling then hold up YOUR end of the legal agreement and pay them on or before the DUE DATE.