Complaint Review: Lobel Financial - Internet Internet

First of all....I was only late 1 time. I paid $7,500 upfront. The reason I had them wasn't because of a history of not paying my bills, it was because I didn't have any established credit at the time.  I had contacted their customer service and explained my pay dates changed and that I would pay on Monday,  but they took the car before I had the chance. When I tried to pay the past due they said NO, they wanted everything that was remaining on the car. They're a horrible company, which is  why so many people reported them to the BBB. I paid a good amount of the car, so of course they would want to repo it and resell it. 

Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr.  forced Lobel Financial, a sub-prime auto lender, to stop its "illegal campaign of harassment and intimidation" against borrowers behind in their bills.

 "This company charged its customers exorbitant interest rates for car loans and then waged an illegal campaign of harassment and intimidation when they couldn't pay up," Attorney General Brown said. "Now Lobel must stop its abusive tactics and comply with the law."

 Lobel Financial is headquartered in Anaheim, Calif. but makes loans to customers in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, the Bay Area, the Central Valley, and other areas of the state.

Lobel provides financing to people with poor credit who purchase vehicles through used-car dealerships. The typical interest rate of their loans is between 21-23 percent. Lobel performed its own debt collection efforts when consumers failed to make the required payments.

In 2007, the California Attorney General's Office initiated an investigation into Lobel's debt collection practices. The investigation found that Lobel frequently violated California's Fair Debt Collection Act by:

 Calling its customers repeatedly and allowing the phone to ring continuously;

 Calling a customer's employer and family members; and

 Using a false name when calling.

 Additionally, the company used more sophisticated "pre-texting" tactics to obtain confidential information of their customers.

 For instance, Lobel deceived ATT Wireless into providing confidential telecommunications records of at least 190 California ATT customers.

Lobel also used a calling card scam to con consumers into providing their calling information. Lobel had a third-party vendor send the customer a "free" phone card; the company would then obtain information about the calls made by the customer using the calling card.

Hundreds of California consumers across the State were victimized by Lobel's constant harassment and illegal debt collection activities.

Lobel Financial will pay $150,000 in civil penalties and $100,000 to the State for attorneys' fees

"I wasnt late more than a month from the due date in the 7 months I had it."

  This statement would lead me to believe that you were habitually late (but not by more than a month) in the short 7 months you had this loan.   What happened here is that Lobel finally got fed up and decided they could no longer risk their capital on you.

   The fact that you were with Lobel in the first place indicates that you didn't have a good track record in the credit department.  Lobel is a sub-prime lender that took a risk on you.  Most lenders will not repo after 14 days, but if you have a record of being consistently late, they will do it to protect their investment.  When your credit is shot to the point that you have to resort to a sub-prime lender, it's doubly important to make sure you make your payments in full and on time, everytime.