My consumer complaints is probably very similar to many other victims of this financial organization.
I bought an 2000 Oldsmobile Bravada SUV from Enterprise Car Sales in October. At that time, I signed a contract for an 18% percentage rate, due to my bad credit history, and was told that I could refinance this loan after a year or so of establishing payments on time. Unfortunately, I did not read the "fine print" on the back of the contract.
I have been paying the payments on this automobile since November (and I paid a $1000 payment down) of $610.73/monthly, on a $24,900 automobile. The total payout on the paperwork was over $36,000 (of course, I "assumed" incorrectly as I have learned, that meant you did not have to pay the interest to the end of the contract if it was paid in full early).
The actual payout on this loan as of today, minus the interest, should be around $6,000.
My vehicle was totaled by State Farm after a young lady rear-ended me on a busy street, where I was stopped behind a number of other autos. Several cars were damaged; but mine was damaged beyond 75% of the value of the automobile. So, State Farm declared it totaled, which should have been fine with me. They offered what I thought was a generous settlement (it should have been enough to pay off the principal of the loan, plus give me a downpayment on a new automobile).
When State Farm contacted Arcadia, they were told that the total payoff was over $11,000. I knew immediately that this included all the interest to the end of the contract. After speaking with numerous people at Arcadia, an attorney, the CFO of a corporation, and the finance officer at an auto dealership, I learned that Arcadia's contracts fall under the "rule of 78", which means the client (me, in this case) has to pay the TOTAL amount of the loan, regardless of when it is paid in full.
You would think this would be an illegal practice for both the lender and the auto dealer (who, by the way, knows when he has you sign this contract that you are stuck with Arcadia forever because no other lender will refinance this car at any interest rate because they loan, plus interest and any other charges, must be paid IN FULL before they will release the title).
The auto dealer finance manager I spoke with, told me that his dealership NO LONGER accepted this type of contract. They quit using them later in 2000. I am wondering if there was legislation of some sort to stop this practice, or if there were lawsuits take to the Supreme Court, where a ruling was made to stop this type of loan from being offered to the unwary consumer.
When I spoke with Darrin Miller in "collections" at Arcadia, and asked him if Arcadia still was using the Rule of 78 contracts, he said he "did not know". I told him that was ridiculous, that of course, he knows what type of contracts they offer or he could not legally collect anything from anyone. He would not give me any information.
The only people at Arcadia who have been informative or helpful are the employees in the Physical Damages department. Of course, they want to collect on the vehicle, so they are anxious to please the consumer as much as they can. Unfortunately, they do not make the decision regarding contracts or payoffs, other than to give the insurance company a total dollar amount (which is given to them by the collections department).
It is impossible to get the name of any corporate officer of this firm. Most of the employees don't even know anyone to contact in any other department other than theirs. Many of them don't make any effort to return your telephone calls or cannot give you any viable information when they do.
The address I put on the form you require is one that I got off a recording at one of the numbers I called. They have so many addresses and phone numbers - I can provide you with several given to me by different people in different departments, that it is impossible to say where their offices actually are.
If anyone has any information about the Rule of 78 and whether there are any legal grounds to take action against Arcadia to release the title of this vehicle for the fair and equitable amount due, minus the interest, please contact me.
Bettie
Memphis, Tennessee
U.S.A.
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