I am in the military and when I was a new private I made the mistake of going right off post to purchase a car. I was financed by Consumer Portfolio Services (CPS) on the spot saying I had bad credit.
I needed a car for my wife and daughter so I accepted the terms without much thought, even at 17% interest... I set up an allotment on the spot because it was the only way in order to be financed through CPS.
I set it up to the amount rounded up because of odd change, plus the fee for the bank that handled allotments (Ft Knox). Done! So I am driving the car and before I get to the gate on post, the check i=engine light came on...
Six months down the road, I get a nasty call on a Saturday morning saying I am late on a payment. I ask how this can be and they said it was $6 so there would be a process fee tacked onto it of $17.25. I tried to explain the allotment process to the woman, but she didn't want to hear it, only threatened repossession because I had "horrible" credit anyways.
I hung up refusing to pay, and called Ft Knox about the allotment. Sure enough the helpful folk there informed me that there was $6 dollars in the account unclaimed, that the recipient had chosen a smaller amount to be sent to their bank. I had them send that to their bank account anyways and called CPS back.
I told this next very rude person that that was their fault and they would only get that money. They proceeded to threaten and harass me at my home until I paid the processing fee because I was about to deploy. I am now deployed and it has been about one year since then. I called my wife this morning and she said that CPS sent a letter and says we owe $4 plus the process fee of $17.25.
I wonder if this affects my credit, and the fact that CPS probably makes millions of dollars with this scam... I will trade in the car when I get home just to get out from under them!
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