Date Received: 2020-09-26
Issue: Problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I had a Retail Installment Sales Contract with Truist, formerly SunTrust Bank ( Suntrust ) for my XXXX XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I put the vehicle on XXXX List and got a call from a potential buyer ( a Ms. XXXX from XXXX ) who wanted to know the outstanding balance on the loan. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent her a picture of the loan amount with the bank name and loan number, and the woman took that information and paid off the loan without there being an agreement or contract for sale, and demanded that we turn the vehicle over to her the same day. When I refused, she became threatening, demanding that I turn over the vehicle for the cost of the loan balance and before the payment cleared the bank. As soon as I learned that she was attempting to pay off my loan, I immediately called Suntrust and informed them that this was a scam and that there was no agreement reached as to sales price. I made numerous calls to various individuals at the bank, informed them that I made a police report, and begged them to refuse the payment in order to assist me in thwarting this scam. However, the bank employees reported that they were required to credit the payment even though they were informed that it was made using identity theft. One of the bank employees actually ridiculed me for continuing to call, laughing and saying she was sure that she would talk to me again since I would not stop calling. I attempted to continue making the payment on the vehicle and Suntrust refused to accept MY payment, while insisting on accepting payment that they knew was made through fraud. The individuals I spoke to include Ms. XXXX XXXX, the Branch Manager and Mr. XXXX XXXX, Universal Banker. I even called the banks fraud department and spoke with XXXX. She informed me that the transaction had been completed, directed me to take the lien release and title to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration to transfer the title, and promised me that no one could come back and seek payment on the loan ( see XX/XX/XXXX letter ). On XX/XX/XXXX, over four months later, I received notice from the bank that it wants me to pay for its loss as a result of the fraud. Apparently, the womans whose identity was stolen in order to access her bank account to pay off my loan eventually reported the fraud to her bank. That bank, as the RDFI, must now be seeking indemnity from Suntrust as the ODFI for breach of warranty of authorization for the payment. Now, Suntrust wants to justify its inaction by claiming that it had the victims social security number and bank account information. Allowing a bank to ignore information that an electronic transfer is being made as a result of identity theft simply because the thief was able to steal someones social security number and banking information, is not in the public interest. Suntrust can not represent that it was authorized, either by me or by a third party, to accept the payment because I informed them before they accepted payment that neither I nor the woman whose identity was stolen, agreed to the payment, and begged them not to accept the payment. The bank had every opportunity to prevent this crime, but refused to do so. Either Suntrust did not have commercially reasonable business practices in place for requiring additional verification when they were immediately informed of the identity theft or their employees did not want to take the time to follow those practices because they thought that the only people who could be injured by the fraud were the woman whose identity was stolen or some blue color nobody from XXXX ( me ). Suntrust allowed itself to be a knowing accessory to fraud and now wishes to pass on its loss to its customer ( see XX/XX/XXXX letter acknowledging the bank was on notice of the fraud, apologizing for any miscommunication with us, and directing us to forward any funds we may have been successful in obtaining from the individual who took possession of the vehicle ). While the bank states that it has taken this opportunity to input more coaching surrounding his issue, it is unfathomable that anyone in the banking industry would not already have been well aware of the prevalence of ACH fraud, and I understand that Suntrust has been involved in litigation over this type of fraud before. Suntrust has magnanimously offered to forego interest on the loan because it knows it has violated the Credit Grantor Closed End Credit provisions of Maryland law and can not seek interest at this point. The bank wants me to continue to pay on a loan for which it has already given me a release. I obtained clear title of the vehicle, AT THE BANKS INSISTENCE, and will not accept responsibility for Suntrusts egregious breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, which has resulted in its own loss. The banks actions have caused an incalculable amount of stress to me and my family that has negatively impacted my health, and if it takes court action to cause me financial loss as well as a result of its misrepresentations, I will seek punitive damages.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: MD
Zip: 21221
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-09-26
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-09-28
Issue: Closing an account
Subissue: Funds not received from closed account
Consumer Complaint: This is my second complaint against SUNTRUST! This company has continued to hold funds that were provided to be for my business. However, suntrust has made it their responsibility to mark my account as fraud. Although my account is legal and the funds were deposited legally!! This is money that I provided to me to help support my business. How dare Suntrust deny me my funds! Ive also received nothing but run around a from this company. This company is disgusting in how they do business and they should be shut down! Ive banked with other banks before and decided to try suntrust! And this has been the worst mistake!!! The only reason I chose them for my deposit is because they had a promotion going on! Ive been dealing with this since XXXX! Ive even contacted the company that provided the funds and they have not stated anything about the check being fraud, which means SUNTRUST has taken this upon themselves to do this without reason which is unethical! This is complete discrimination because they have no basis to hold my funds this long! SUNTRUST also has not contacted me about why they are still holding the funds or given me a reason why the investigation is still going on. I really wish that someone would at call me or email me directly! I have receive a check for XXXX $ but they are still holding on to my XXXX $ and I want my money released immediately!
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: SC
Zip: 29445
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-09-28
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-09-28
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: About 7-9 weeks ago I received an email acknowledging my upgrade to XXXX XXXX XXXX, which I had done, FROM THE XXXX WEBSITE, USING MY XXXX ID AND PASSWORD. The email i received had the XXXX logo and usual text at the top of the email. It was someone who said they worked there and they were just acknowledging the upgrade. A couple weeks later, I was driving down the road when I received a call from a number I had stored as XXXX. They told me that I could reduce the number of devices covered from 5 computers and 5 phones to 2 each, and recieve a discount, this seemed OK, and so they asked me if had access to my computer, and i said no, but they could call me back a couple of hours later and I would be there. A couple of hours later, I was in my office, they called back and they said they would transfer me to the upgrade dept. They transfered me and they told me they were XXXX XXXX and that they needed access to my computer via remote and that they were going to be downloading some files onto my computer to do the update. So they downloaded a system called XXXX XXXX and asked me to click on it. All of this was no different than what XXXX XXXX had done in the past when I had problems with viruses, etc. After a minute or so, they said that they needed to issue me a refund, and that they needed access to my bank to do it, and asked me to open my bank software app to give me the refund. After this he popped a black window up on the desktop that had a bunch of text in it and ended in a line that had a $ sign at the end of the line. He asked me if i saw the line with the $ sign and told me that the refund was going to be done in 2 parts, a {$100.00} and a {$290.00}. Next he told me to type in XXXX and it would appear at the end of the line. So I typed XXXX, but I immediately noticed that the decimal point didn't take. And he says ... oh no! You didn't hit the decimal point, which refunds you {$10000.00} not {$100.00}. This is your fault, you see on your bank screen that the system has refunded you {$10.00}, this is your fault, you should have known that your decimal key wasn't working! This your fault, we need you to refund us {$9600.00} today to fix this, I'm going to text you the info you need to wire the money to, so head to your bank and I will text you the info ... So I headed to the bank which was only open to drive thru customers due to Corona Virus. So I went to the bank drive thru and told them I needed to do a wire transfer from my account to a wire location, so she asked me to send an email to the bank manager and that she would get it setup and would meet me at the front door to gave me sign it. So I said OK and copied the email text to an email to XXXX XXXX and she got started on it. I then went around to the front door and signed the forms. It wasn't until the next day, when i logged into my bank account, that realized what had happened was that the {$10000.00} they had put in my business account had come from my XXXX XXXX, and that I had wired them the {$9600.00} without them haven giving me the {$10000.00}. I tried to call them back no one would answer. I then called the bank and told them to put a freeze on my accounts, and they told me to file this report. The first number that called me that i called back was : XXXX, the other number was : XXXX. I have the wiring info and provide it when asked. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: GA
Zip: 31204
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-10-01
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-09-28
Issue: Opening an account
Subissue: Account opened as a result of fraud
Consumer Complaint: Sun Trust Bank allowed an account to be opened with my name and address and a social security number that deviated one digit from my true social security number. An account was opened fraudulently with my information on XX/XX/2020 and the account was immediately overdrawn. They did not verify identity and let someone open an account in my name without identification or proper social and let them overdraft the account, when I call to get info they refuse to give me any info due to the fact that the social they used is one digit off even though the account is in my name and they used my address. There are no brick and mortar suntrust banks in my state ( Oklahoma ) so I have no way of finding out whats going on when they are using my information.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: OK
Zip: 73072
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-10-01
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-09-25
Issue: Opening an account
Subissue: Confusing or missing disclosures
Consumer Complaint: Suntrust Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Tn XXXX phone number : XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ) phone number : Ms. XXXX XXXX ( branch manager ) RSSD # XXXX FDIC-Cert # XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX I opened 7 accounts totaling XXXX with SunTrust Now Truist. Mrs XXXX the bank manager approved for Ms. XXXX XXXX to open the accounts pending that I make arrangements to pay the bank the XXXX owed to the bank. Ms. XXXX and I both spoke with Ms. XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX I called the bank and was informed that I needed to call the bank head quarters XXXX. They informed me my account was flagged and frozen. I was given very confusing information as to why. I was told I would have to wait 15 days for an review of the account and 10-12 days if any money would be mailed to me. On XX/XX/XXXX I filed a complaint with the bank and the XXXX .On XX/XX/XXXX I called the 800 number listed above and XXXX from consumer care department finally helped and spoke to the back office because I explained that the check deposited was from the XXXX XXXX and accident insurance company ; that i had lost my husband XX/XX/XXXX and our family needed our money back quickly and waiting months was going to be unacceptable. On Friday XX/XX/XXXX I was told by Ms. XXXX that they would be opening back up my accounts. XXXX XXXX from Suntrust now Truist left a voice message on XX/XX/XXXX stating Ms XXXX would call me in 15 or less days concerning my complaint with the XXXX XXXX XXXX. Now on XX/XX/XXXX I was told by Ms. XXXX that they had closed the accounts and on XX/XX/XXXX that they mailed me out 7 checks for each account open. Today XX/XX/XXXX I received false information that " This notice is generated when we receive your request to close your account, or when your account has had a XXXX balance for 35 consecutive days. ''
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: TN
Zip: 37415
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-09-25
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-09-25
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Subissue: Account status incorrect
Consumer Complaint: XX/XX/XXXX Found & disputed open " Line of Credit '' Account ( " XXXX '' ) w/BB & T on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX reported ( Report # XXXX ) " The company that reported the information has certified to XXXX that the information is accurate. '' XX/XX/XXXX Called BB & T Branch I formerly ( XXXX ) had relationship with @ XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, VA XXXX ; spoke to XXXX XXXX who knows me well ; explained that BB & T was showing me with an open account & asked that that be corrected ; she advised that she would 'have to check with her manager. ' XX/XX/XXXX Sent letter to " Bank Manager '' at above address confirming my conversation w.Ms. XXXX and again explaining the problem w/copy of XXXX report & copy of BB & T " New Account Opening '' form showing " Account Options/Overdraft Protection Provided by XXXX '' XX/XX/XXXX. Requested that all 3 Credit agencies be advised that the account was Not active. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX continues to show this as an active account, and I have had no response from BB & T. All documents mentioned above can be provided.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: VA
Zip: 23832
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-09-25
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-09-25
Issue: Managing an account
Subissue: Problem using a debit or ATM card
Consumer Complaint: Early 2020 - fraud charges XX/XX/2020 - Fraud reported within 60 days per the law XX/XX/XXXX - Determined no error occured XXXX - requested complete copy of investigation - was sent nothing except a blank " affadavit of fraud '' This was returned XX/XX/XXXX - told the account was charge off and charges a fee XXXX - threatened to report me to credit bureaus SunTrust is the most corrupt organization I have ever encountered
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: SC
Zip: 29650
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-09-25
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-09-25
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Subissue: Overdrafts and overdraft fees
Consumer Complaint: Medical Hardship : I suffered complete XXXX XXXX and was placed on XXXX XXXX XXXX at the same time my partner lost his job due to Covid. I contacted the bank regarding this hardship and informed them of change in income and uncertainty of claim processing dates. As result of the change in income my account was over drafted and subsequently closed.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: FL
Zip: 33334
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-09-25
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-09-24
Issue: Problem when making payments
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I fell behind on my loan due to employment and COVID starting XX/XX/2020. I have recently made two payments but the company has called me every day possible since XXXX. I have told them several times that this behavior is harassment and will not help them get their money fast. Yet, they call me multiple times every day. They are a harassing faction and should be punished. Their number is XXXX
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: MI
Zip: 48224
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-09-29
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2020-09-23
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I was sent {$11000.00} around XXXX. I cant get the exact dates because Suntrust has a temporary hold on my account and I cant access my statements. When my deposit came, Suntrust immediately put a hold on my account. Its been 3 months, going on 4, that Suntrust still has a hold on my account and have still not closed my account to send me my money in a check. I call every other week and they give me the same response, We talked to the Fraud department and we cant give you any explanation other than there is still an on going investigation on your account. I asked them, why? My account STILL has yet to even be closed! That money was supposed to go to bills, my child, school, and I still have yet to receive anything but a vague answer. And they then go on to say my account is in a high end investigation meaning they grouped many accounts into different groups to investigate. The problem is, I shouldnt even be grouped with anyone else because my money was a money transfer. Please investigate this problem because I believe they are inappropriately using their power to hold onto many peoples money. Theres been a lot more people in my same situation with Suntrust bank.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: GA
Zip: 30092
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2020-09-24
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A