Capital One Auto Finance Capital One Auto Finance deferred payment scam - accelerate debt - late posting of payment AFTER payment clears bank! Ripoff Plano Texas

On November 4th, 2006, I called Capital One Auto Finance to request deferral of my October 2006 car payment. They made an agreement over the phone to defer the Oct payment until the end of the term of the loan - and I agreed to pay - within 15 days - a deferral fee of 35 dollars. I paid the fee by Western Union on November 15th, and it was posted on November 16th to my account. I clearly stated "deferment fee on the Western Union advice that was transmitted with the payment.

As part of the agreement, I agreed to pay my next payment on or before it's due date i.e. November 18, 2006. (a Saturday)
The November payment cleared the bank it was drawn on, on Friday Novembeer 17 i.e. Capital One was in possession of the check at least by Wednesday, November 15. On Saturday I received a letter from Capital One stating their intent to accelerate payment of the loan due to my failure to meet the terms of the loan.

I emailed senior personnel in their Treasury Department and described the incompetency of the Plano office personnel, and further stated that I would contact the Harris County DAs Consumer Fraud Division and the TX State AGs office on Monday if the problem wasn't resolved completely by Capital One.

It hasn't been resolved yet and I'm in the process of retaining a lawyer and filing complaints with both the county and state offices (above).

This is a scam. Capital One had no basis for alleging that I didn't comply with any terms of the loan. It was a letter that basically contained coercive statements intended to have me pay an additional payment not yet owed and Capital One delayed posting of the November payment to my account. (as of Monday, November 20 the $234 has still not been posted to my account even though it cleared the bank on November 17th)
This opens me up to the threat (and action) by Capital One to repossess my vehicle if I don't make an additional payment by November 27th...a date stated in their letter.
Let me warn all Capital One Auto Finance customers... At best this is reckless and overly agreesive lending practices. However it is more accurately (as I allege in my complaints to the State AGs office and Harris County's DAs Office, outright fraud. It's not a timing problem or computer problem. It appears to be an outright attempt on thier part to intimidate and coerce me into paying an extra payment... or simply repossess my car, then leave the burden on me to prove that they improperly took the collateral.

Let me also suggest...do as I have done...be proactive and file complaints with state and local DAs office alleging fraud perpetrated by Capital One. Look on Google and check out other complaints filed against Capital One - their auto lending division, their credit card division, etc., including by Federal agencies such as the SEC.
The company is a shabby representation of fraudulent lending practices.

Don't deal with them.
Now they're attempting to enter the Houston banking market with a considerable expenditure of CTA (cost to acquire) funds e.g. TV advertising etc to attract new customers. This will be another way they can extend this type of fraudulent lending (via car loans, credit cards, etc) practices.

Beware of Capital One.... Just because their
logos and new offices look crisp and clean... it's the policies and practices they exercise that's important. STAY WITH REPUTABLE LENDING COMPANIES!
G

Jim
Houston, Texas
U.S.A.