Complaint Review: Springleaf Financial - Anahiem California

Leticia phoned me at spring leaf finance April of 2013, she informed me that i would qualify for a 3,000.00 auto loan. She told me i had to find a car right away, one day that week even. If I didn't, she said she could not guarantee a title loan for me. I was in university classes and in the end of one online class to getting into a degree-required class that week. I was in great need of an auto, my husband passed away may of 2012, and his car was towed while in the hospital and I didn't know this until it was too much for me to pay to get it out, I had not purchased a car for over 20 years. I was called again that same early evening by Leticia to see if i found a car during the day, I told her it was going to be difficult for me to just drop everything to car hunt that quick, ANDGET A CAR THAT WAS WORTH THE AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS I'D HAVE TO PAY WITH INSURANCE ANDGAS, ECT. the NEXT DAY SHE CALLED twice telling  me she was just checking to see if i had an auto to get the loan on, I was beginning to worry it was a chance i couldn't let go of in order to transport my three teens to school and work and myself to doctors and stores. I was phoned again the third morning and began to feel pushed to stop everything and find a car. I put my full attention on finding an auto worthy of the 3,000.00 and on craigslist was the EdieBauer white expedition ford which was just posted that same morning. I called and he told me his name was Vu, he said someone else was interested and it needed to be sold by the next day because he had a boat he was obligated to purchase with the money for the automobile, i called Leticia with his terms which was cash and to complete the deal the next morning, she made an appointment for me the next morning at 9 a.m., i told her i didn’t have a way to see the car and asked her if she would call VU and find out if the car was up to date and up to par on everything. She called him, then called me and told me everything was okay and she asked him to come in at 9:15 a.m. so i could sign the

loan papers first. I ended up paying money for a taxi to Anaheim which cost over $40, i was excited to be finally getting transportation, i had to walk everywhere having a lichen plan-us disease affecting my feet, so I was anxious to get relief and a sense of how it was to feel free to drive where we needed to go. I got there on time and brought the items she asked of me, to best of my ability, then VU came in and Leticia had e wait as she got a check for VU for the loan i had just been signing papers for. Leticia had me put my name of the pink and they put their name on the pink as the lien holders. She told me I had to pay the registration fee and if Vu and I worked together i could say it was gift or whatever price we wanted, and she told us the lower the

Better. I paid the fees the next day and I obtained insurance even before the auto became transferred to me. I was in a whirlwind with my family life, my school and my children’s school and work and the cost of gas was a shock. I was told by DMV that the seller had 5 days to notify them of the sale, and that he did not provide the smog certificate, which was against the law to not provide. I was not helped when I called Leticia to find out if they, at spring leaf let VU know they had to have the smog certificate before they could do the sale transaction. She told me she wasn't aware that a smog was a requirement and i asked to speak with the manager of spring leaf robertrussell. He laughed at me as if to make fun of me, saying "oh well. i guess you're going to have to get the smog, its too late now. I began to worry about it and so took the car to be smogged and paid for it, only to find out it wasn't able to be smogged, and therefore i asked spring leaf to help get Vu to get the car fixed and get it smogged so i could drive the car, i was paying for. I paid a neighbors mechanic $165.00 to help me get the cars check engine light to go off and for the codes to be cleared by smog station. It did go off for a few miles, yet after stopping and starting it came on again, by this time it was breaking my heart, my life apart, and i had recurring shingles due to all of the pressure on me and my education and my kids with now this huge problem i shouldn’t of ever had. I did not know about buying and selling autos and wasn’t given time enough to investigate these things or even ask when the car registration was due, i did however put my faith in Leticia and Spring leaf that they had it all covered, and was patronized even to the point of feeling stupid every time i called them. I contacted DMV three to four times that week trying to find out what to do, so i applied for BAR to help me pay the costs, yet they turned me down twice, once initially and once on my appeal...they told me it didn’t need a smog and that it was in the middle of a title transfer and it was not able to drive due to it being out of order at that time. I tried very hard to get help, my shingles got worse and worse and my life began to fall, i wasn’t able to get anything done or communicate without being in unbearable pain and feeling also my blood pressure going up. I was able to get two short term extensions so i cold drive, i continued making payments yet when extension was expired i couldn’t drive the car and so didn't renew my insurance, because of this spring leaf took out a protective policy adding over $40.00 per month on my loan payments, to protect their interest only.

I had to borrow and pay a neighbor to use her car and had tried to fix it with paying others to help diagnose it for me, It was bothering me so much i started to feel taken advantage of in my state of being a widow and needing an auto, i was left with worry every minute of every day of how i would get car fixed and smogged without it making me lose the credit i had worked so hard to build back up, but my life is back to being in debt and unable to concentrate, think straight or focus on anything because i am also getting tickets for parking it on the street lately of 86.00 each. i purchased my own insurance again because I was told it would replace the extra money due on my loan each month. I received a letter from spring leaf that they received my letter of complaint in the legal department, but had to get back to me in the future of what can be done, but they are not at all concerned with anything i have to say or providing the repair, to get the smog. I feel dumb and stupid and used. My daughter was hurt at school and has to see our doctor every two days for awhile to recheck the wounds, i have to drive her to school and pick her up and take her to Costa mesa and so had to get a rental which costs almost $200 a week, this is the fourth week i have had to pay for a rental car through a rental car company over the past 9 weeks. i have a large amount held as deposit for the rental, which is preventing me from making my payments on the car, because i also have to pay insurance and also student loans and my university is requiring i pay them $3,000.00 for the course i was enrolled in which i became to ill to deal with the course and had a finance counselor with recurring shingles, from the extremely high level of anxiety this auto transaction had and has caused me,devistation and stress have left me feeling worse than ever, and fallen back down wondering what to do in this catch 22, there is nothing i am able to do, fixing the problem will cost over $700.00 I took it to pep boys because the left side of the car lights wiring went out and that cost over a hundred dollars, i didn't have the money to get it fixed, so it sits out front of my house and i wonder with stress and worry 24 hours a day what is going to happen and will it be repo'd ruining my reputation and my credit i had, which I’ve watched be destroyed in a spiral downward. Spring leaf neglected to protect my interest and are only out for their own, they have made this very clear.