Steward Financial Services

With regard to the complaint and the desired settlement a thorough review of your account has taken place. A payment was received on June 12, 2017 which paid the payments due for March 26, 2017 and April 26, 2017. In conjunction with the June 12, 2017 payment it was agreed that a deferral be...

processed for the payments due for May and June. As the team continued attempting to communicate with you through the months following July the next payment received was on December 15, 2017 which paid the payment due July 26, 2017 at 142 days past due. The team continued to reach out by phone and email. Policy requires that once an account is over 150 days past due it must be charged off. The payment due August 26, 2017, which was not paid, was 158 days past due on January 31, 2018 and the account has been charged off. The reporting provided to the credit bureau has been verified and you will be receiving a letter from us very soon explaining what your options are at this point.

This was a very unfortunate situation with the passing of Ms. [redacted].  Our Loan Servicing Manager, [redacted], spoke with several different parties regarding this situation and he became quite concerned about the collateral with the passing of Ms. [redacted].  He secured the vehicle...

because he felt it was the best way for us to manage the situation going forward.  He will be reaching out to Mr. [redacted] to ascertain if he would like to pay the vehicle loan off.  If he elects to do this, we will arrange for the vehicle to be returned.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: While I did receive the funds this morning, This was not a simple resolution as your statement makes it seem.It took 4 full business days of speaking with various customer service representatives for anyone to believe that I was actually charged 3 times. It then took 5 full business days of e-mailing, calling, leaving voicemails with numerous people to actually have someone from the accounting department believe me that this occurred--and then provide them with enough information that they felt was acceptable to refund me. I submitted different forms of the SAME statement until the final one this past Monday was seen as sufficient enough--even though it was the identical statement I submitted previously last Thursday. In the background of this whole ordeal, I had to put my rent on hold, visit the bank 4 times (once to provide a statement that was acceptable even though you have my bank and routing information) and 3 times to discuss paying overdraft fees that I accrued over the course of this issue that took 9 full business days to resolve. My bank has now been courteous enough to refund me the total of $105 in overdraft charges, but this was not a simple mistake that was fixed easily in 1 business day. I encourage you to revisit your customer service skills and procedures.
Regards,
[redacted]

I believe there must have been a communication issues between one of our Customer Service Reps and Ms. [redacted].  The debtor had accrued late fees, over the life of the loan, of $115.77 through June 16, 2014.  The manner in which a payment is distributed to one's account is as follows:...

 past due interest,  past due fees (not late fees), past due principal, past due late fees, current interest due, current principal.  Ms. [redacted] payment is due on the 25th of each month.  Due to the fact that she paid 9 days early, a portion of her payment ($115.77) went to the past due late fees that she owes us.  Because the payment was distributed in this manner, it left a shortage in her June principal and interest payment of $115.77.  We don't defer late fees to the back end of the loan-which is where the communication issue started.  We will ensure all of our CSR's communicate the proper way in which a payment is distributed going forward.

To whom it may concern,Mr. [redacted] was contacted on July 9th to address his complaint with the Revdex.com by the Loan Servicing Manager in our customer service to department.  This issue has been resolved with the customer. Kind Regards

[A default letter is provided here which...

indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
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.
Regards,
[redacted]

We will adjust the credit reporting in July.  Due to the way that credit reporting is reported to the individual bureaus, these changes won't be seen until late August.

Review: I have a auto loan through this company I pay my bill the 25th of each month I sent my payment in a week early 6/13/14 407.65 they chashed the check 6/16 I received a call 7/8/14 saying my payment was late I called and they told me since I sent payment in I had to pay late fees which I was told by a account manager I can pay at the end of the loan they used my car payment to make late fees leaving me with a balance due of 121.56 and more late fees on top of what they already took I want my money credited back for the car payment and not the late fees this creates my car payment as always being late and hurting my credit this a system the use to make more money off this car loan this also defeats the purpose of paying your car payment early and on timeDesired Settlement: Refund of payment to car payment and not late fees

Business

Response:

I believe there must have been a communication issues between one of our Customer Service Reps and Ms. [redacted]. The debtor had accrued late fees, over the life of the loan, of $115.77 through June 16, 2014. The manner in which a payment is distributed to one's account is as follows: past due interest, past due fees (not late fees), past due principal, past due late fees, current interest due, current principal. Ms. [redacted] payment is due on the 25th of each month. Due to the fact that she paid 9 days early, a portion of her payment ($115.77) went to the past due late fees that she owes us. Because the payment was distributed in this manner, it left a shortage in her June principal and interest payment of $115.77. We don't defer late fees to the back end of the loan-which is where the communication issue started. We will ensure all of our CSR's communicate the proper way in which a payment is distributed going forward.

Business

Response:

There was no "penalty" for making the payment early. The funds were distributed in accordance with our policy and system set-up; which happens to be within the guidelines of the law. I apologize that we informed you that you could defer the late fees to the back of the loan. What I will do is waive the $5.79 late fee that was associated with your June 25th payment. That being said, there remains a balance of $115.77 of principal and interest for your June 25th payment.

Consumer

Response:

On the bill there is a $20 late fee not $5 so I guess branch managers are lying also nice to know for public info you cannot state one thing and do another remove all late fees from june payment because it was not late the bank was just shady and said one thing and did another

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Regards,

Review: On March 27th 2015, I called in to change my due date on my car loan with this company. I was told by [redacted] that I needed to be up to date on my payments before I could receive the paperwork to do so. I made the payment and she sent me a request form to change my due date from the 6th of the month to the 21st of the month. I received this via email at 4:26pm that same day. I signed the paperwork and returned it the same day at 7:10pm. I had not heard anything back from anyone that they had received it, so being nervous about it I resent it on April 10th at 2:50pm. All emails were received from and replied to [redacted]. In her original email she had stated it would take 30 days from receiving that signed letter for the pay date to change. I began getting phone calls non stop about my payment being almost 30 days past due on June 22nd. Obviously I wasn't sure why they were calling like this as I have already changed my due date to the 21st. I called back asking to speak to [redacted] and kept getting her voicemail every time I was transferred. We then played phone tag back and forth for awhile. I then spoke with someone named [redacted] on July 1st who told me they never received my letter to change the date and I needed to make a payment before they could send me a new paper (same thing I was told before). So I set for a payment to be made July 4th (I got paid on the 3rd). She told me she would process the payment on "Monday the 6th" and first thing in the morning send me the paperwork I needed to AGAIN sign. Well today of the 6th and still no paperwork. I called in, and some other girl told me I needed to make a payment before it could be sent out. Even though I had just made the payment to get me current. This company has AWFUL customer service! They are only worried about getting their money and don't care at all about their customers! I will be sure to take my complaint as far as I can do that this does not happen to more people!!!Desired Settlement: I have asked if I could forward them the EXACT email that was sent to [redacted] so they could see the date and time and my signature. They will not accept it. I just want me date changed to help me be able to make the payments on time, and not keep getting the run around. I half tempted to just trade this car in and get another car just so I can not deal with these incompetent people any longer.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,Mr. [redacted] was contacted on July 9th to address his complaint with the Revdex.com by the Loan Servicing Manager in our customer service to department. This issue has been resolved with the customer. Kind Regards

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

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

Regards,

Review: Steward financial is posting unauthorized payments to my bank account without my consent. My banking institution is willing to give me a letter showing how many transactions Steward Financial has attempted to make towards my banking account. When I contact Steward Financial I get the run around. I authorized a payment to be processed on 6/19/14 via my checking account. Prior to that date there have been 5 transactions to my checking account. I have made several attempts to contact Steward Financial in which I spoke to [redacted]. Ms. [redacted] is the one who initially took the call and set up the payment. When I explained to her the payments went through earlier then I agreed to, she read the notes on the account and confirmed I was right. She then said let me get my supervisor [redacted] on the line. Let just say the supervisor never came to the phone and refused too address the issue at hand. Ms. [redacted] then said they needed to listen to the recorded phone call. I told her that was fine , but why listen to the recorded phone call when you have written comments on my account that collaborate that the payment was not suppose to go through until 6/19/14...Ms. [redacted] asked me to hold and never came back to the phone. I called back four times, asked for Ms. [redacted] and [redacted] the supervisor, neither came to the phone. Finally the operator/receptionist gave me the directors name : [redacted] I left a message for him to call needless to say I have not received a call from him. This fly by night company is terrible with their business practices and their employees are worst. I am trying to see what I can do to start a class action law suit against them for their business practices but I need the Revdex.com to investigate this company. Also I made a regular payment and Steward Financial only posted a portion of my payment, and they show me due for a balance that I do not owe, this has to be illegal. Please help me investigate this company so I can take this to my attorney and pursue them legally.Desired Settlement: Refund in the amount of $140.00 for fees incurred to my bank account for Steward financial neglect.

Business

Response:

Ms. [redacted] called our office on 6/19/2014 and according to our notes, I believe this situation was resolved. We did inadvertently put a payment through on her account one day early due to a clerical error. We offered to pay any fees that the bank assessed her for that transaction. As to the claim of posting unauthorized payments on the account, I can't speak to those. If a payment is bounced by a bank for insufficient funds, our policy is to re-deposit the check/transaction one additional time. This may be where some of the confusion is. All of the payments posted to Ms. [redacted] account in the past 18 months have all been initiated online; either by herself or in speaking to one of our Customer Service Representatives.Ms. [redacted] called me last week and I left her a voicemail on 6/19/2014-I have not received a call back as of yet. I will be sure to reach out to her again to see if there is anything left to explain.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: I called the Director of Steward Financial on several occasions and he is right, I did not receive a return call back regarding the situation at hand. So I contacted the Revdex.com to file my complaint. I think the problem is one hand does not know what the other hand is doing at this company and everyone is singing to the beat of their own drum ......translation: each employee makes up their own rules when it comes to this finance company. When this mishap first happened with the payment, I received a call from your organization Ms. [redacted]. When we spoke I asked her if the payment was going to be submitted a second time, she told me "NO". She also explained that your accounting department makes that decision to send the payment back or not. So if that is true why would Ms. [redacted] not tell your accounting department that it was a mistake and not to resubmit the payment???? The very next day it was submitted back to my account. There is no excuse for not knowing the rules and regulations for your return payment policies. After I sent my complaint to the Revdex.com it was not until then that Ms. [redacted] called me and asked me to send your company a statement showing the fees I incurred due to the payment coming back to my account several times, which is more than just twice. At this point I have other payments that did not clear due to this mistake, not to mention my account is a total mess thanks to Steward Financial. BOA has been very kind to me and very understanding they are trying to help me by working with me for the fees in incurred. But again they too have made it clear that Steward Financial should take responsibility and reimburse me for my fees since it was their mishap. Ms. [redacted] did apologize for the error but your manager [redacted] ?? (Not sure that her last name is) is a total disappointment to your company , she would not even get on the telephone when I asked to speak to a manager...and this is who you want to be in charge of your Finance Department, Wow this says a lot about your company. But I cannot blame anyone but me, having such hard times and my credit being affected by it only allowed me to get financing with companies like yours......I made a promise to myself that I will never be in this situation again, if I can help it.

Regards,

Review: I have had an auto loan account with Steward Financial Services for the past 4 years. I have fallen behind in my payments and my account has been charges late fees which is understandable. My issue is that I was offered and accepted a 1 month deferment in November/December for December/January. I accepted the deferment and my account was then paid up to date. I made my next monthly payment on 1-7-15. I was then notified on 1-21-15 that I was now over 11 days past due. I found this odd being that I had already made my payment on time. I received a call on 1-22-14 from the collections department requesting January's payment. I was advised that because I made the payment a day before the due date that my payment was applied to the fees and not the monthly payment. I was also advised that my payment would have been applied to my January bill if I waited until my due date or past my due date to make the payment. This is very misleading and I was never told about this policy during this deferment process. Steward Financial Services refuses to apply the payment to the monthly payment as I expected. I will now be charged new late fees until I make the double payment.Desired Settlement: I would be completely satisfied if the payment I made on 1-7-15 was applied to my monthly payment as I expected so I will not incur any more fees.

Business

Response:

I spoke with the customer and the issue has been resolved. His payment was re-applied to principal and interest.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

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

Regards,