In 2005 I got an auto loan with Citi for an old pickup truck. I always made my payments on time, and I did have to take out several additional loans to cover some repairs, but my payments were never late. Then in December 2007 I started having trouble making payments due to work, and that is when things went south. I couldn't make the December 2007 payment, and I got a call saying they were going to repossess my truck if I didn't make my almost $400 payment. I explained to the branch manager what was going on, that I was joining the service and doing my best to get the money together to make the payment. They still threatened to repo my truck after only 5 days of non-payment.
Another month goes by and I was harassed on a daily basis. By this point I decided they would repo it no matter what, so I stripped the truck legally. All they were entitled to was the VIN plate on the dashboard. I got a call after they had picked it up. They were angry that it had been stripped and demanded to know when I was shipping out to basic and what branch I was going to be in. I only told them when I was shipping out. I knew better than to tell them what branch, because then they could take all my money.
I shipped out on March 25th of 2008. I was formally discharged on April 9th from the Air Force due to medical reasons, and when I got home I was shown a summons for a civil suit filed March 26th by Citi Financial. I learned in basic that it is illegal for any company or person to file any type of suit against an active duty member of the service while in any type of training, boot camp or otherwise. This is due to the Patriot Act, and they knew this. They knew I would be gone long enough that I wouldn't be able to defend myself in court.
Now I know it is my fault that the loan got behind, but that does not explain how they treated me. There is no excuse for them not being willing to listen to me or work with me in hard times, or for using my willingness to serve my country against me. Now I have a judgment on my credit, and as soon as I have work, now that I've relocated to Texas, I'm going to have to file Chapter 13 to keep them from continuing to come after me.
My advice to anyone reading this: STAY AWAY from them. Their interest rates are sky high, and if you're late by 5 days you might as well kiss your collateral goodbye. Even if you're never late, they don't care. I'm just glad I'm not going to be dealing with them ever again. I'm going to stay off the credit radar for about 20 years so all my credit history disappears, then start over.
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