Crest Financial Services, LLC

Ms. [redacted]' account with Crest Financial reflects her settlement and has been retracted from NAR for any further action. NAR will no longer appear on her credit report after the next reporting cycle.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: I had recieved my equifax report as of May ^, 2016 and they said they reported it to them March 22, 2016 if thats the case It would of shown up on my equifax report May 6, 2016
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Mr. [redacted] signed a lease agreement with Crest Financial on 10/22/14 for a chair, table set, sectional, counter table, bar stool, and 4 chairs plus assembly (please refer to attached invoice and digitally signed lease agreement). He made three of the 26 scheduled bi-weekly payments and, after the 4th...

payment was returned to us unpaid by his bank, did not make any further payments (please refer to attached payment history). Although the lease agreement includes terms to cancel the lease and return the merchandise, Mr. [redacted] did not contact us or answer any of our calls about that option and the merchandise was not returned or otherwise recovered by Crest Financial or the retailer. Therefore, the lease has been in default since 12/23/14, was charged off on 4/30/15, and the debt was transferred to North American Recovery, a third-party collection firm. The amount currently available to Mr. [redacted] to settle his account is $1,796.89, which is 50% of his outstanding balance of $3,593.78. He may pay this settlement amount in two payments, however both payments must be received no later than 2/14/18, which is 30 days from today. At that point his account will be noted as settled and recorded accordingly. If he fails to meet this commitment, his account will continue to be processed by North American Recovery. To take advantage of this settlement offer, he must contact us at Crest Financial to make the payments.

Ms. [redacted] seems to be misunderstanding the terms of her lease (rental purchase agreement) and is confused regarding the timeline of events, so hopefully the details in this response will help. A signed copy of her agreement is attached for reference. She received her merchandise from the retailer on...

4/21/16 and made her first two monthly payments of $140.89 on 5/23/16 and 6/28/16. On 7/26/16, she contacted us to say she was moving and was unable to make her payments. We offered her a two month hold and scheduled her next monthly payment of $140.89 for 9/28/16. She then was able to make that payment as well as the next three that were scheduled for 10/28/16, 11/28/16, and 12/28/16. Her next scheduled monthly payment of $140.89 on 1/28/17 was returned to us unpaid by her financial institution. She also did not make her next two scheduled monthly payments (2/28/17, 3/28/17) of $140.89 each. We began contacting her on 2/2/17 to seek payment for the overdue amount, and when we were able to speak with her she told us she was not making payments due to the merchandise being damaged. We explained that she would need to contact the retailer for repair. On 4/14/17 she contacted us indicating she wanted to cancel her lease because the retailer had taken the merchandise in for repair and hadn’t returned it to her yet. However, on 4/26/17, we confirmed with the retailer that her damaged merchandise had already been exchanged on 8/19/16 (retailer exchange order #212-783-772). We are willing to work with her to cancel her lease, however in order to do that she must first pay the overdue amount of the four monthly payments she chose not to make (1/28/17, 2/28/17, 3/28/17, and 4/18/17), which is $563.56 (refer to section 7 of the attached agreement). Another option we would like to bring to her attention is the Early Ownership Option (refer to section 6 of the attached agreement), which allows her to make a single lump sum payment to own her merchandise and settle the lease. In this one-time instance only, we will allow her to pay $279.58 by 5/25/17 and we will mark her account settled. We will also waive the fees associated with her four missed payments. Because she has asked us to cease contacting her, we cannot reach out to her to resolve this. If she would like to take advantage of either option, she may contact us at (855) 552-7378 and we will process whichever payment she requests.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Crest has responded with an indication they not only recognize the troubling issue but are going to actively pursue and implement steps to prevent this issue from occurring again. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Regardless of Ms. [redacted]’s intentions, she signed a legally-binding lease agreement that clearly states ownership options that must be met in order for her to own the merchandise. The steps for terminating the agreement and returning the merchandise to us are detailed in section 7 of the lease agreement attached previously in this thread of communication. Unfortunately, refunding any portion of Ms. [redacted]’s lease payments thus far is not an option. We’ve already identified a discounted payoff amount of $1,116.35, which Ms. [redacted] has summarily rejected. In an effort to meet Ms. [redacted]’s request for a further-reduced payment amount, we’re willing to accept $717.20 as a final payment which is 50% of the remaining total amount due under the terms of the lease. The conditions of this offer are: 1) it must be received in total no later than 30 days from the date of this posted response, and 2) a currently processing payment of $48.53 must clear Ms. [redacted]’s bank. Ms. [redacted] may split the payoff amount of $717.20 into whatever payment configuration is convenient to her, as long as the payments are received by us no later than 30 days from the date of this posted response. Ms. [redacted] will need to contact us at (855) 552-7378 to schedule those payments and change her current auto-draft schedule.

We're not sure exactly what's being requested or why the resolution was rejected. We understand the frustration Mr. [redacted] is feeling, and we've conceded that it was the result of a paperwork and process (system) miscommunication. We're pleased that he brought this to our attention in a way that will allow us to use his feedback to improve both process and communication, and our commitment to his retail business and that of the fellow retailers he mentions in his original complaint is to prevent this from happening again in the future.

As we have explained to the customer before, we are not responsible for what appears on a customer’s credit report. We report information accurately to the credit bureau Equifax through a third-party “translation” service that turns our information into a format understandable by Equifax’s...

processing system. Beyond that, there is nothing we can do to change or alter the report. We are not responsible for the information that Equifax chooses to include or update on a report. This account is under review by our management team to ensure that all payments have been reported properly. This is all we are able to do.

Mr. [redacted] entered into a lease with Crest Financial on 8/7/2014. A signed copy of that lease plus signed copy of the receipt of goods form are attached. Mr. [redacted] provided us with bank account information for automatic drafting of scheduled payments ($213.79 monthly), however the first two...

payments were returned to us unpaid by his bank and that bank account was subsequently closed by Mr. [redacted]. We attempted to contact Mr. [redacted] numerous times after that with no response, and eventually charged off the account. The credit reporting is therefore accurate. The lease agreement clearly states that the lease transaction is between Mr. [redacted] and Crest Financial, and payments were to be made to Crest Financial. If the retailer accepted payments from Mr. [redacted] on this account, Mr. [redacted] should file a police report and pursue a fraud claim against the retailer. As of this date, the balance owed on Mr. [redacted]’s account with Crest Financial is $2,619.43. Malano Furniture is still in operation, contrary to Mr. [redacted]’s assertion that it is no longer in business. The business appears to have relocated since the time of our lease transaction, however, and is now at 2605 N. State Road 7, Lauderhill FL 33133. We hope this information is helpful to Mr. [redacted].

Revdex.com:
I am prepared to accept this offer if they acknowledge that their system is flawed and will do everything in their power to not put other people in this situation. In their statement they said that I made a large payment and several months later made another payment which is 100% false. I made the large payment so that my account would be paid in full. They said they bill 3 days in advance but in my case my balance was paid in full 7 days before billing so that should not have affected me. Then when I called on the 11th of this month to make them aware of the situation they made me get all type of documentation to prove that the money was taken from my account which is completely unnecessary if u know you billed 3 days before it's due. Today is the 17th and I am still without funds that I should have never been missing. I'm glad that they are finally giving my money back but an apology would be appreciatedSincerely, 
[redacted]

We sincerely apologize for the confusion. This was a mistake on our part and we apologize that it took so long to correct it. Since this problem occurred, we have taken steps to correct our tracking of returned goods to ensure this problem does not happen again. We have charged off this account,...

meaning we will not attempt any future collections efforts. We have marked all contact information as “Do Not Contact” so we will not contact you again regarding this account. We have also deleted all credit reporting so Crest Financial will not show up is any way on your credit report. (Please note this change to your credit report may take up to 30 days to show up.)

When Ms. [redacted] initiated her lease with Crest Financial on August 12, 2016, she agreed to make weekly payments totaling $2,371 over the course of the 12-month lease. The lease agreement (attached for reference, along with Ms. [redacted]’s signature page) clearly states in the “total of payments” box that...

she would be able to “buy the property for less using an Early Ownership Option.” Neither this agreement nor any promotional materials supporting our program refer to a “30 days same as cash” option. Section 6 of the lease agreement defines both the “90 Day Option” as well as the “Early Purchase Option” along with amounts and additional fees. Ms. [redacted] indicates that she was unable to take advantage of the “90 Day Option,” which she correctly identifies as having expired on November 10, 2016. The next communication we had with Ms. [redacted] was on January 2, 2017 with regard to a scheduled payment on December 22, 2016 that was returned to us unpaid by her bank. During that call, she committed to make the missed payment on January 5, 2017. She was also notified of her total balance due of $1,551.06 (which includes the lease fees identified in the “cost of rental” box on the lease agreement) as well as the Early Purchase Option of $1,116.35 that she could take advantage of now that the 90 Day Option has expired. Ms. [redacted] ended that call by yelling at our phone support representative and then abruptly hanging up, so we’re unclear as to her intentions moving forward. Ms. [redacted]’s requested settlement in this complaint is to “pay what is owed as of today,” and that amount is the Early Purchase Option of $1,116.35. She may also continue to make her regularly scheduled weekly payments of $44.83 (plus tax) until the lease is completed on August 17, 2017.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: However, I understand that you are able to draft a payment from other means but that is if you were given that card when making up a payment.  I used the card in the store when making the down payment, one card was used and did not go through, then I used another card.  I did not know that my cards were being kept in their system.  Because if I was told that then I would not have done the purchase.  I would like to return the merchandise and cancel the contract because this is not the way I do business and you should not be doing business this way either.

Ms. [redacted]’s account was created under her former surname of [redacted], so attached documentation reflects that name. The lease agreement Ms. [redacted] received on 1/10/17 was not the signed copy, it was a template reference copy. The lease agreement and receipt of goods forms attached to this...

response were extracted directly from Ms. [redacted]’s account. They were electronically signed by Ms. [redacted] using DocuSign, an industry-leading tool with the most rigorous certification standards and strongest available data encryption for secure transactions.  Each page of each document includes a unique “envelope ID” at the top as well as adjacent to her electronic signature. Ms. [redacted] was presented with the lease agreement electronically at the retailer’s location, at which point she had the opportunity to review the document she was about to sign by scrolling through each page at her own pace. She then added her electronic signature to the document using a system of verification through her personal email ([redacted]). At the point her document was signed and executed, an electronically signed version was emailed to her at that same email address for her future reference. The boxes at the top of the first page of the lease agreement she signed shows the total of all payments (noting that the Early Ownership Option allows the lessee to buy the merchandise for less than total of all payments), cost of rental, cash price, amount of each payment, number of payments, and rental period. As of this date, Ms. [redacted] has made nine of the 13 payments she committed to make by signing this agreement, and is scheduled to make four more payments of $65.39 on 1/30/17, 2/28/17, 3/30/17, and 4/30/17. In order pay her account in full and not be in breach of this agreement, she would have to pay $261.56. However, we are willing to accept one final payment of $65.39 if it is received on or before 1/30/17 and her account will then be recorded as paid in full. Ms. [redacted] will need to contact us at (855) 552-7378 to finalize this arrangement.

The deposit for this funding will post to Mr. [redacted]'s account later today (11/28/17) or tomorrow. The delay is related to his very low volume of business with us and our shift to a new lender that requires us to prioritize fundings in a different way than we have in the past. We apologize for the...

confusion that has caused his frustration, and we hope he understands that we're neither insolvent nor victimizing any businesses.

The customer has been making payments since April and received a copy of the lease agreement
at the time of signing. If the customer believes their signature was forged on
lease agreement, they need to file a police report as they would for other
forged documents. The customer needs to send a copy of a completed police
report to our fraud team, who can open an internal fraud investigation.

At Crest Financial, we provide families with no credit needed leasing options through selected retail partnerships. Customers select merchandise from their local retailer, Crest Financial pays the retailer for the merchandise and the customer leases the merchandise from Crest Financial for 12 months...

or until the customer utilizes an early buyout option. As a customer courtesy, we report their positive payments to Equifax. We have been making upgrades to our automatic credit reporting system so we have been unable to automatically report credit. We will manually report Mr. [redacted]’s payoff to Equifax. It may take up to 30 days for any change to show on his credit report.

We're sorry the agreement was confusing for Ms. [redacted], and we've processed a refund for the $105 fee. Please allow 7 - 10 business days for the credit to appear.

This problem may have stemmed from a misunderstanding about biweekly versus semi-monthly payments. Bi-weekly payments are set up every other week, on the same day of the week (every other Friday). Semi-monthly payments are set up twice a month on the same day every month (the 5th and the 19th). When...

payments are made bi-weekly, there may be 3 payments in a month, depending on how the dates fall within the month (for instance, there are 5 Fridays this month, so payments might be scheduled for the 2nd, 16th and 30th). The payments are slightly smaller to accommodate those additional payments. At her request, Ms. [redacted] is set up on bi-weekly payments, so we processed payments on the 3rd, the 17th and the 31st of July. The payment on the 3rd returned unpaid, so we processed a make-up payment on the 13th instead. The customer is currently past due because her payment on August 28 returned unpaid. Ms. [redacted] will need to make up that payment to get her account current before we can make any changes to her payment schedule. We received her faxed bank statements showing those payments; however, they were still listed as “processing” on the statement. If Ms. [redacted] can provide updated bank statements showing shows 2 returned payments as fully processed, we will, of course, investigate the problem between us and her bank. All of the information the customer is requesting can be viewed in our online portal. If she believes there are problems with that information, our support team would be happy to investigate or explain via phone call or online chat. We do require that payments be scheduled either from a bank account or a credit card. Scheduling those payments does require some processing time, so we can’t cancel or change payments with less than 3 days’ notice. However, Ms. [redacted] can call more than 3 days before her scheduled payment and make alternate arrangements. We just have to keep the scheduled payment in our system as a contingency and to abide by our lease agreement.