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Report: #1096656

Complaint Review: Westlake Financial Services - Los Angeles California

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  • Reported By: CramScam — Enfield Illinois
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  • Westlake Financial Services Los Angeles, California USA

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This is a copy of an E-Mail I sent to Westlake Financial Services after multiple phone calls. This below is the address and general phone number I have. They do have multiple local numbers for different areas within the United States. I finally am so frustrated with them that I'm taking other steps in hopes of getting the word out about this company so others do not fall victim, also hoping some will learn there are a few options. I hope this might help someone. I'm open for more advise also.

(READ BOTTOM-NEWS ARTICLE RE: DEALERSHIP THEY FINANCED)  

 WestLake Financial Services   

4751 Wilshire Blvd #100    

Los Angeles, CA 90010 (888) 739-9192 

Since I have worked as management, head of customer service, loan department and teller in the banking system as well as multiple levels of management, training, customer and provider services in medical insurance I could offer you multiple areas of improvement needed.
 
 
For starters, look into your loans for legality of your contracts. Since I have worked in the loan department of a bank. I know for a fact that the loan financed by your company was done via fraud.The loan was finalized, vehicle possession given, before the title was signed for transfer of trade in of my vehicle. The purchased vehicle was not in my name. This is a violation.
 
 
I was called in regards to this happening, but paperwork was not done for over one month after vehicle was financed. My vehicle was not paid off for at least 2 months after title signed. Therefore, 3 months of payments were made by me. Which you added to the loan meaning it was charged twice at two different interest rates.
Also, I was unable  to drop the insurance until proof of payoff, meaning I was required to pay insurance on this vehicle also.
 
Then there is also the issue of the warranty on the financed vehicle. The dealership that this vehicle was purchased from is now closed. The warranty was only valid through the dealership. The dealership was closed for fraud. Illegal title work, state tax and plate transfer and ordering of plates required. They also were charged with lack of honoring warranties.
 
We have never been given credit on the warranty either. I also have never been given credit for a payment that I made, that I have showing on my bank statement. They also tried to repossess the vehicle due to a back balance of $63.67. This balance was less than 30 days past due. Due in October of 2013. The payment $339.67 they refuse to give credit for was made in May of 2013. They refuse to accept my bank statement as proof of payment. It even shows them on the statement as the recipient, date, amount, account number. What more should they need?
 
Per my calculations, we are owed, without interest $4,780. That doesn't include the double insurance paid or double interest paid on the trade in that has been paid off and is now being paid at a much higher rate. The rate was 12%. If you have any doubts.    
 
READ BELOW DIRECT  FROM NEWS:(WestLake Finance did financing for them)
 
The owner of a Carterville-based auto  dealership, RTO Auto Sales, was arrested Friday on filing a false police report regarding lost or stolen dealer plates and illegal use of special plates.
 
Kevin Darnell, 51, of Marion remained in Williamson County Jail on Friday. No bond  amount was set. He was arrested at Illinois Department of Motor Vehicles office in Carbondale, said Dave Druker of the Illinois Secretary of State’s office.
 
The defendant is accused of lying to Secretary of State investigators about several missing dealer plates that were reported to law enforcement as lost or stolen. One of the missing plates turned up on a RTO vehicle purchased by a customer to whom Darnell had not transferred title. Darnell also still had a personal lien on the vehicle with Scott Credit Union.
 
Months later, Darnell allegedly gave the same customer a 2013 dealer plate so the customer could continue driving the vehicle.Darnell’s arrest came on the heels of a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Williamson County circuit clerk’s office by the attorney general’s office alleging Darnell and his company engaged in deceptive sales tactics. It’s alleged RTO knowingly sold used cars that weren’t in good condition.
 
The Secretary of State’s office shut down the dealership the same day for allegedly repeatedly failing to process title applications.In the attorney general’s lawsuit that seeks civil penalties and a permanent injunction against the dealership in addition to seeking customer restitution from RTO, Darnell is alleged to have breached promises of vehicles in good condition.
 
He is accused also of refusing to refund customers. The suit also alleges Darnell promised but failed to pay off at least one customer’s loan on a trade-in vehicle, and in some cases, failed to remit costs for license plates, titles and sales taxes, according to a state attorney general’s news release. The attorney general’s office received nine complaints against Darnell and RTO with local customers reporting from $500 to almost $3,500 in losses.
 
In one case, a customer remained financially responsible for a traded-in vehicle he no longer possessed and the customer’s credit rating consequently suffered, according to the news release.In another case, a car began to overheat five hours after a customer purchased it. Coolant leaked from the radiator. The customer returned the car to dealership and was told by Darnell necessary repairs would be made at no cost. Within four days of receiving the promised repaired vehicle, the car’s engine failed. Darnell refused to provide a refund, but exchanged a functioning car for the de-fective model. The functioning car stopped running within six days. The customer eventually paid about $800 for needed repairs on the exchanged vehicle, according to the news release.
 
scott.fitzgerald@thesouthern.com
 
I hope this sheds some light about the facts that I'm trying to express to you. I would  also like you to know, that I do have paperwork from the Attorney General to pursue this issue. This issue is not resolved. I am making this issue aware to all in every way that I can. Websites I have access to, Better Business Bureau, Letters to the Editor, and other avenues I have access to. I feel all should be made aware. I want no one else to become a victim of this type of  situation.
 
BEWARE: WESTLAKE FINANCE....They are quick to finance and quick to attempt repo, high intrest rate apporx 26%, seem to lose payments, do not log calls to customer service, supervisors who cannot give you an answer to your question, hang up on you. Their legal department is conveniently never available.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 11/03/2013 01:56 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/westlake-financial-services/los-angeles-california-90001/westlake-financial-services-titled-unsigned-3rd-party-auto-claim-due-6367-may-pd-wbank-1096656. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
1Author
3Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#4 Consumer Comment

This company ongoing with their sister company, Wilshire, is a HUGE scam and rip off

AUTHOR: Rkirk - ()

POSTED: Wednesday, January 08, 2014

First off, pay no Mind to this other person, he is obviously an employee, who else would waste their time on a rip off report site DEFENDING another company. They are on here responding to ALL reports about this company as well as Wilshire. It's a scare tactic and they are trying to discourage you from taking any further action. It's their job to make you feel stupid, dishonest, that to make it seem like you don't have any recourse. YOU DO HAVE RECOURSE! Along with my personal experience with this company I have done my own research on them as well, and you are in the right my friend. Please dont let anyone discourage you from taking legal action against them, that's what they are hoping will happen when they come on here and tell you things like this. This isnt some Q&A site or advice blog. Trust me, people on here are dealing with their own rip offs and don't have time to pick apart other people's stories. They should identify themselves when responding as an employee or ex employee, but if they did that would mean they can't treat you the way they can when they say they are a consumer as well. Second you are totally right about this company:

I have a $3,000 loan from them, always made on time payments and one morning I woke up and my car was gone. After contacting the police department I found out it was repo'd. After talking to Angel who I guess is my account manager, he said that I hadn't made a payment this month! Knowing this wasn't true cause I'm the one who wrote the checks myself AFTER trying to pay online, which is how i was told i could pay and actually prefer to pay. I checked the last three months of payment stubs where I had the check number and date mailed written on it. Angel insisted I never paid anything, so I checked my bank account and saw that the check was never deposited. I insisted that I had mailed it but at this point I knew I was screwed. I paid the payment right then, which had to be in cash through western union only. I also had to pay a $400 repo fee and some other minor fees that totaled like $120 or so. It then took them 5 days to send the release to the tow yard. Well, about a week or so later guess what I get in my mailbox? Three envelopes that have "return to sender not at this address" written on them, and whats inside? MY PAYMENTS! I checked the address on their payment coupon with the address I had written on the envelope and they matched, so I hadn't sent it to the wrong place. I figured they either knew I sent the payment and just wanted the extra repo fees or they lost it and instead of owning up to it when it was found, just sent it back to me. I called them to let them know that they had returned the payment back to me and that I had paid it, and that I expected to be reimbursed for the fees. They basically laughed at me and called me a liar. The next day I received another bill from them stating that I owe $680 in "other unpaid fees". When I called and asked about it they said it was their fee because I got my car repo'd. I told them that I already paid over $500 just in repossesion fees and they told me that that was the fee JUST TO GET MY CAR OUT, and that this fee was for the inconvenience of them having to repo the car from me. I tried explaining what had happened, but it was useless. Since then I have kept up with my payments, but I refuse to pay the extra $680 fees they added, and are trying to repo my car AGAIN for that. With all of that, I have already paid over $4000 to them and they say my payoff amount is just over $5000! 
I am in California and I URGE anyone else in California to file a small claims suit against them, report them to your local DA, and the attorney general. I haven't had my court date yet, but after much research I have found A LOT of their business practices are illegal! Not to mention their collection practices being that they have contacted almost all of my family members several times after each one has asked them not to, and have come to my house ringing the doorbell and kicking the door several times late at night, once they came at 4:30am.
They lie about being able to pay online, they lie about fees, they lie about not receiving payments, their collection practices are illegal, and their interest rates are usury. I would like to suggest that everyone, and their are plenty of us, who have been ripped off by this company colaborate together. They can only get away with this as long as we let them.

feel free to contact me vis email at: rochellekirk@ymail.com

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#3 Author of original report

PLEASE READ ALL DETAILS

AUTHOR: CramScam - ()

POSTED: Tuesday, November 05, 2013

If you had read full details and closely. They took and financed MY VEHICLE on a loan without a clear title. The title to that vehicle had never been signed. It also was not signed for more than one month after the loan was made. After the title was signed the vehicle I owned still was not paid off for over two months. They were made aware of this issue. I am not the only person who has made payments to this company they refuse to give credit to. This is my son's truck purchased. This is why I'm so angry. This is also why the Attorney General is getting involved. It is not just us. There are multiple parties affected by this company through this dealership. The states attorney is referring all involved to the Attorney General. My suggestion, read up on this company. I've been on multiple sites. Negative comments all over. Some even surprised me.

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#2 UPDATE Employee

"We apologize for the negative experience"

AUTHOR: Westlake Financial Services - ()

POSTED: Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Thank you for sharing your feedback with Westlake Financial Services. We take all of our customers’ concerns seriously. We apologize for the negative experience you had with our company. We do not support this type of customer service, and we are working very hard to make sure that everyone is helped effectively and within a timely manner. If you have any questions about your account, please contact our customer service team at 888-739-9192.

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#1 Consumer Comment

Here is your problem...

AUTHOR: Robert - ()

POSTED: Monday, November 04, 2013

 Nothing you have shown here is a "RipOff" of from the Finance Company.

With all of your "experience" you should realize that a Finance company only finances the loan.  They have NOTHING to do with ANYTHING the dealer does.  If you have warranty issues..that is with the dealer.  Finance companies don't pay off vehicles..that is with the dealer. If you had any problems with the "legality" of the loan how come you didn't bring it up at that time?  If you had a problem with the Interest Rate, again the time to bring that up was BEFORE you signed the loan documents.  Or with all of your experience are you saying that you didn't read what you were signing?

I also have never been given credit for a payment that I made, that I have showing on my bank statement. They also tried to repossess the vehicle due to a back balance of $63.67. This balance was less than 30 days past due. Due in October of 2013. The payment $339.67 they refuse to give credit for was made in May of 2013.

- Last time I checked May 2013 to October 2013 is about 5 months.  If the payment in question was according to you less than 30 days late..seems like there is something missing.  They are not claiming a missing payment so of course there is no reason for them to accept your statement as proof. 

Per my calculations, we are owed, without interest $4,780.

- And just how do your "calculations" get you to this amount?

 I would  also like you to know, that I do have paperwork from the Attorney General to pursue this issue.

- The AG does not usually take a legal stand on individual complaints.  The most you usually get out of them is "Well we will keep this on file, but for now you are free to pursue them legally on your own".  So exactly what paperwork do you have that makes the Finance company liable?

 

 

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