Long Beach Acceptance Corp of Paramus, New Jersey, needs to be investigated for deceitful business practice with regard to denying payments are received, in order to make demands for phone and Western Union payments, and to keep your account in arrears, and report this to credit bureaus.
The start of the situation: Nearly two years ago, my 18 year old daughter unfortunately, against my advice, got taken in by a flim-flam car salesman who took advantage of the fact that she was leaving for college out of state and needed reliable transportation.
I initially went with her to look at cars, and the salesman touted a "zero % financing' deal, which I knew she would never qualitfy for, since she had just turned 18 and had no credit. IF the financing as he described it was possible, the deal was worth at least looking into, but I told him right up front that we were ONLY interested in the 0% financing, since he was talking a new car when we went to look at used cars, and NO other arrangements other than 0%!
We filled out paperwork, he told us it had been approved, and she left with the car.By the time we got home, he was calling saying "final approval was denied", but not to worry, he could arrange something else, which I told him FORGET IT, this is a bait-and-switch, and she is returning the car ASAP.
I had to go to work, so she drove down there with a friend following to drive her back. Later she showed up with the car again, all ecstatic, saying the salesman made some calls and got her the financing.
I asked to see the papers, since I sincerely doubted anyone would finance a new car for an 18 year old with no credit history, and also asked how this was possible, and she said she asked the same question "Doesn't my mother have to come and sign???" And the salesman told her "NO, this is your loan and has nothing to do with your mother".
At that time my daughter was the ONLY person who signed any paperwork with financing arrangements. She said the salesman walked into a back room, then came out and said it had been approved.
About a week later, I received mail from Long Beach Acceptance addressed to my daughter and ME, and by this time she had left for orientation at college out of state. The dealer insisted it was a mistake, that it was HER loan, but Long Beach insists MY name is also on the financing papers, though they have not sent me any proof of this.
When my daughter got home from college on break, she finally showed me the papers, and the yellow copy of the financing paper for Long Beach does NOT have my name on it at all, only the original purchase and sale for the car, when we were told the financing was 0% through Huyndai.
What the dealer wrote on the new paperwork with Long Beach, where the signature of a co-signer (me) would have gone, is "on file".in other words, not even a legal signature, of course, since I was not present and did not give my consent, and specifically stated to him that I did NOT consent to any other arrangements.
That was the beginning of this horror show. The dealer will wind up in jail by the time I finish with him, but Long Beach has been a total disaster to do business with.
They cannot produce any LOAN paperwork with my name on it. I have the copy of the paperwork that has "on file" where a legal signature is supposed to be. Long Beach refuses to remove my name from the loan and makes reports against my credit file.
Since the original arrangement between my daughter and ex-husband was that her half of the child support would go towards her car payment, I am dependent upon the arrival of such to make the payments.
What killed the system is when you send a payment and Long Beach insists they have not received it, even more than two weeks later, then reports to credit bureaus that you are late with payments.
So like a fool, I started overnight and priority mailing all payments, and still two weeks later they are still denying receipt of payment, in other words, they keep you 30 days or more behind, even when you are on time.
Then comes all the harrassing phone calls demanding that you run down to Western Union with cash, which would cost a ridiculous amount to do, so I refused to do that, after spending all that I spend on priority and overnight mail.
Or they demand phone payments, and like a fool, not wanting to make the credit situation worse, allowed them to set up phone payments, to cover the payments already sent which they deny receiving, but they get all upset when you want to run to your bank first and put a stop payment on the check already sent.
Then two weeks after that the same man calls stating they did not get payments, and I recognized his voice, and confronted him with the fact of setting up the payments just two weeks ago, and the account balance verifies the deductions, and he lied outright and denied setting up the two payments. These people are really pathological.
Again three weeks ago I sent in a check priority mail, and right up till yesterday, the last time I took a phone call from them, they are still denying payment was received.
I called the bank and had to pay to put a stop payment on that check, in the meantime had mailed them the current months payment, also priority mail, but this time spoke with the postmaster, who told me to send it certified mail with return receipt, signature required. He said that way you will have written proof that the payment is at their office. He suggested sending it to a physical location where someone can sign for it, rather than to the post office box Long Beach lists on the payment coupon. He said if you have a name of someone that is even better, send it attention to that person.
So this morning, after stopping payment on the check from three weeks ago, I had to have a certified bank check made out, now my credit union will also have a copy as a back-up, and sent the payment certified mail with delivery confirmation, return receipt and signature required. Unfortunately, I will have to make every payment for the life of this stupid loan in that manner, just to protect my and my daughter's credit.
It is a bloody shame that making payments to any other person or organization only costs me 34 cents, but in order to get a payment to Long Beach Acceptance that they cannot deny receiving, and be calling for weeks claiming they did not get payment and demanding phone checks, and Western Union payments etc., it means paying $7.10 just to mail in a loan payment.
Also, as if the above were not insult enough, I am also one of those whose workplace has been repeatedly harrassed, and even though I repeatedly told them they are forbidden to call that number, that is a line for medical personnel and patients only, they repeatedly called and disturbed the agency.
They also called everyone in the phone book with the same last name and told them my daughter was not making her car payments, getting her grandmother all upset, and telling them they were going to repossess her car, etc. They have sent what they call "field agents" to our door with nasty letters demanding more payments.
They are what I refer to as a "thug operation", slimey, no class, flimpflam, uncouth, unprofessional, and even though the original problem occurred with the shady Huyndai dealership, Long Beach has no interest in doing what is right or legal.
I was so upset and outraged with this whole thing that I contacted the loan manager by mail, and reported all the horrendous things that were going on, and received back a very sarcastic and nasty letter. Right from the top, the management, they perpetuate this evil aura.
Well, I will do whatever I can to bring them to their knees. It is costing me a small fortune to get payments to them, and it kills me to do it, but I have found it costs even more to stop payments on checks, or do Western Union transactions, and phone payments cost money, and that did not work out in the past either. At least now I will have proof of payment, and proof of the day it arrived on their premises. I will also be writing to the credit bureaus about this too.
Cari
Dartmouth, Massachusetts
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