I'm trying to pay off my capital one auto loan. However, after checking the "pay off" amount, it showed to be about $1K MORE than the actual balance owed. So I called and spoke to a manager at their call center. And his response was that I've been behind on my payment for 52 weeks, and that the additional amount was tallied by late fees accrued for the entire period, and that I agreed to pay these fees when I signed the contract.... yada yada yada. This is outrageous and clearly predatory. I just want to pay off my loan without having to pay all these ridiculous fees, and was wondering if anyone here can share any tactics or ways that I can use to go around this. You can pm me if you do not wish to reveal it publicly. I am furious....
I was. But still this is too much profits into their pocket that I'd want to pay. I'm wondering if there are any negotiation tactics, such as paying off my balance first; at which point I will technically paid off my debt of the car, which will only leave the fees left on the table before they send me the title. Then I'll keep bugging them to drop them. Not sure if that will work.
If you're still over a year behind on payments then you may be able to negotiate a settlement with them. I'm frankly surprised Cap One hasn't turned this over to a CA or initiated a repo yet. But if they haven't, then you may want to make an offer in writing to pay off the full balance less an late fees, etc. I wouldn't just pay off what you believe to be the original balance first and then hope that they'll just forget about the late fees/interest. Chances are they won't, and you'll probably have better leverage negotiating a payoff before you've made any payment at all anyway.
No Josh I'm a month behind, not a year. What happened was I've been making payments each month, but I'm still a payment behind for the past 7 months or so. And as a result, I've been charged a late fee that has compounded this whole time. And I've already asked one of their call center manager to eliminate the fees, without luck. I'm thinking about calling again and speak to another rep right before paying it off, or perhaps ask for a settlement. Not sure if this will work though.
Ah- I'm following you now. How frustrating?! You've been making payments all this time, but what you really needed was to basically make 2 payments at once to get caught up so they couldn't hit you with late fees/interest every month. Didn't you ever receive monthly notices showing the late fees racking up? Anyway, you'll likely have to go higher than a call center manager to work anything out and get the fees waived, and yes- it may take multiple attempts too until you get the right supervisor that actually has the power to make something happen for you. Don't give up, though. It would be stupid, IMO, for them to not take a complete payoff so they can close out the loan just because they wanted to hold out for some extra late fees. Then again, credit issuers often do irrational things these days.
Do you think I should use the term "settlement" when I negotiate to have them drop the fees before paying it off? And if so, will that ding my credits?
Any sort of agreement that is reported as a settlement on your credit reports will hurt your FICO scores. Ideally, what you want to do is reach a settlement while convincing them to just report the account as Paid in Full. How are they currently reporting this on your credit reports? Do you just have a bunch of late pays?
So in the past few days I emailed to see if they would settle at my owed balance amount without including all the accrued late fees. And each time, I got this can response: "Thank you for choosing Capital One Auto Finance and contacting us by using our online secure messaging system. We will not be able to waive the late fees on your account. These fees will not cause your account to reflect as past due, and they will not accrue interest. You can take care of the late fees at your convenience by either paying the amount due in full, or in installments by including a small overage over a few of your monthly payments. Please be advised late fees can only be paid when the account is current and the payment is made on or before the next due date. The payment must include the regular payment amount and additional funds to cover any fees. If the payment intended for late fees is not included with the regular payment due, interest will be paid before late fees. If we can provide additional assistance, please contact us by using our online secure messaging system. We will be happy to assist you. Thank you for banking online with Capital One Auto Finance. " I wonder if there are any other tactics I can use to get them to drop the fees?
You can start out by not using their online email system anymore. That's not going to get you anywhere. Either make your offer in writing and send it to them (via a letter CMRRR), or talk to a supervisor first and then make your offer in writing.
I will consider that but why would you think making them the offer in writing (snail mail) is more effective than email?
Well written settlement letters sent CMRRR provide you with better documentation of all communication, and most people feel like actual letters garner a more serious response from the creditor too. Besides, you'll want any settlement agreement signed and in writing anyway. Something that's simply agreed to on the phone or via an email may not hold up.
