REPO - HSBC Paid Settlement

[liquid0h]

I figured repo's go in this section, if its not hopefully a forum mod will point me in the right direction.

 

Had a nice run in with HSBC Auto (please share your stories with HSBC anyone please) and have now ended up with a paid settlement after all of it. It's been about 3 years now and trying to get it off my CR. They never gave me many notices and from all of Why Chat's posts I'm wondering if I can poke holes in their case this late in the game.

 

For instance, I'm going through all the paperwork and can't find the notice, that they are supposed to let me voluntarily surrender the vehicle (according to Florida statues I believe). I was never given a notice.

 

Perhaps I lost some of the paperwork? Maybe I should try to DV them (they are an OC) and see if they can give me any paperwork they have?

 

Or say skip all this and just go for a 1-2 punch? (does it even work anymore?) Last time they reported it was mid 2007. Maybe they won't notice, lol.

 

Last option on my mind is to maybe just go for a goodwill letter. It was a bad time in my life with my pregnant wife at the time having to leave work because of our third child having complications...we lost income and therefore couldn't pay for the vehicle. I tried working with their customer service dept but they wouldn't lower the payments. So here we are today...3 years later with a repo. The ONLY bad entry on my entire credit report too. *sigh*

 

Oh and to top it all off. The installment is charged off on one line on my CR and then said to be bought by another lender. Guess who the other lender is? HFC, same company within the HSBC "collective". So I'm double dinged for one entry by one company, crazy huh?

[MarvBear]

moving to the main credit forum for more views and responses.

[DragonFlyer]

Ah yes...HSBC. We go way back.

 

7/2003: Bought a 2003 car for $13,900. Made payments on time, every time. No problems.

 

11/2004: DH was shot in Iraq and I went to DC to help in his recovery. The Army was supposed to pay me per diem to be there, but didn't. I gave up my job in Florida to be in DC. Somehow I was able to make payments, though mostly late, until February of 2005.

 

2/2005: I got a job at the hospital, but it took another five months for the Army to approve my employment contract. Still no money from the Army for per diem.

 

I called HSBC to tell them "Hey, I can't pay...it looks like it will be a couple of months before the Army will be able to process the funds for my orders to be here...but I got a job and I am waiting for the Army to approve my contract".

 

For those few months, they harassed me EVERY DAY. I told them where I was. I explained I had no income and to be patient because I would catch up. They knew why I was unemployed. They did NOT care...I know it's just business, but they ought to be a bit more helpful or understanding when someone's life almost ends.

 

3/2005: I was threatened by the HSBC rep to be arrested and that I was committing a felony. I said "Fine, come get the car. It's at: 6900 Georgia Avenue, NW in Washington, DC." They didn't. They charged the debt off and noted the account as a "skip trace".

 

4/2005: I still didn't have the money to pay them (Army never did pay me for my orders!) so I got another harassing call. I sat in the hotel lobby crying because it was just so nasty. I was at my wit's end.

 

This time the rep said on my voicemail: "We hope you get pulled over by the police because they will arrest you for committing a felony by not paying your debt. And when that happens, we hope your kids are in the car to see Mommy go to jail." So like I said, I finally broke and just cried right where I was standing.

 

A wonderful lady noticed how upset I was. She came up to me to ask if she could help. I handed her my cell and she listened to the harassing phone message on my cell. I found out that she ran a non-profit to help soldiers and their families. By 5pm that day she had gotten my entire situation resolved by refinancing my car loan (back through HSBC, unfortunately) to make it current and making two payments going forward. They had taken the car out of chargeoff status to do this, mind you.

 

6/2005...Two months later, when the next payment was due, I had JAG (military lawyers) go to bat for me because I was STILL waiting for the Army to reimburse me for my trip up to DC and for food/lodging costs. While I waited for the ITO orders to be appealed, the chief of the JAG department made arrangements with HSBC corporate for me to NOT have to pay my payments until I got back on my feet or until the Army processed my ITO orders. HSBC put the car in "protected" status, which meant they suspended all collection activity and promised not to repossess it. It also meant it would not be considered "late" while in that status. Finally it seemed I was getting somewhere!

 

From 7/05 to 3/06, I didn't make payments. They never called. I would periodically call to make sure I was being handled by their "Special" handling department. They assured me all was well and I kept them updated on my job status and location because I had moved to a suburb of DC. I needed to make sure they had my new address.

 

3/06: I got enough saved from my job and from DH's insurance payout and sent them a cashier's check for the FULL PAYOFF. I thought I would be DONE with them.

 

NOT.

 

I didn't find this out until much later, but they had to take it out of the special handling department to process my payment. By doing so, it immediately became "late" in their system and triggered a chargeoff even though they had full payment in their hands.

 

The bastards NOTED THE ACCOUNT AS A CHARGEOFF right before cashing my check!!! I didn't even "settle" with them...I paid the whole thing in full. I mean...the check was for $12,500+ dollars!!! It was only a little over a grand less than when I first bought the car because they tacked on so many "repo" fees in the first financing and carried them into the new contract.

 

But think of it this way...technically it was paid off two years early! In essence, they retroactively noted all the late payments and added a chargeoff the moment they released it from the special handling department and then cashed my check.

 

To this day, it shows as this:

 

 

Then I made the mistake of getting rid of that car and got another car a month later in 4/2006. I lost my job (contract not renewed) by September. I am now being sued by Cap One for that repo. I hired an attorney to help me sort that mess out.

 

I have tried for three years to get HSBC to fix how it is being reported. I learned that even paying the full amount won't clean your report in any way. Even with attorneys involved, they will not hesitate to screw you. They went back and noted all the late payments even though they "promised" not to.

 

Those two autos are killing my credit. So here I am on CB trying to learn how to fix this. There was a time when I thought I could offer to pay the defaulted amount on a car and count on my credit improving. Thanks to HSBC, I don't trust that to happen. Now I am trying to protect my credit as much as I can. I am willing to pay Cap One but NOT if they are going to report for the next seven years like HSBC did.

[liquid0h]

Wow, that crazy Dragon...and our story has similarities (sadly).

 

When talking with their customer service at night after I got off work, their reps would call in the day and harass my wife. They did the exact same thing they did to you, threatened to arrest me. They would have my wife crying by the time I got home after work, she was just so worked up and scared that they could do something like that. If I knew some of the laws I've read on here lately I would have put a stop to that crap back then.

 

At one point I even tried to just give the vehicle up (my wife quit her job for the 3rd term of preg, why would we need it?). The rep on the phone convinced me I should keep trying to make up for my payments by talking with my family, friends, etc. for money. Then they turn around a few months later and slam me with a repo. "Special handling" dept my flowers.

 

Well hang in there. Hopefully some of the knowledgeable folks here at CB can help point us in the right direction.

[DragonFlyer]

I am sorry that it happened to you. I really am. I know how stressful it was for me when we were going through it. It wasn't fun...and yes...they were NASTY! I didn't know they couldn't threaten me...I really hadn't dealt with anything like that before.

 

I think they added at least three "repo" fees and refused to remove them. There was never a repo...and there never was a time they had to "skip trace" me. They just couldn't get on the federal property where I had been living at the time and were probably ticked about that. I couldn't help it if I lived and worked on federal property.

 

If you look at the 3-in-1 report you will see they reported it nearly a year later as a chargeoff.

 

If I can't get them to delete it now since it's already paid, I would hope I could find a way to have it report as PAID and get the CO status removed.

 

ETA: As a side note, when I lost my job I called Cap One to let them know immediately. I wasn't late yet and just told them "Come get it before I do go late..." They didn't give me the right to cure or notify me in writing of the defaulted amount after the sale of the vehicle. I had to call them to find out the balance. Then they refused to allow me to make any partial payments or pay monthly installments to give them the balance. I did send a check for $500 in good faith to show that I was willing to make payments. The next month they demanded ALL the money and refused any further installments. That was the last I spoke to them and the last I heard about it until I got served a summons. They are now asking four times the original amount!

 

We've since bought two cars...cash. I refuse to finance a car ever again.

Edited January 20, 2009 by DragonFlyer

[liquid0h]

Oh they didn't care if I was on federal property. Once they found out I was military, they knew they could call my 1st Sgt and yank it from my door step (definitely embarrassing).

 

Yeah I checked your 3-in-1 report and that's crazy...especially one year later as a chargeoff.

 

I dunno about having them change it as reported paid and CO removed. Sounds to me like they would just want more money for that. Maybe a good will letter is all you have to resort too. I'm feeling that's all I might be able to do as well with my situation up above. It just seems you have little bargaining power once they are paid/settled.

[Why Chat]

You do NOT want to try to get it "corrected" on your reports, you want to try to get it DELETED.

 

Opt out

http://whychat.5u.com/OPTOUTINST.HTML

Get old addresses removed if possible

 

Send the initial dispute letter to the CRA's where it is reporting.

http://whychat.5u.com/initdispltrsol.html

Send the rest of the letters if you don't get a deletion

http://whychat.5u.com/repoltr.html

Follow all the directions.

Edited January 20, 2009 by Why Chat

[liquid0h]

Awesome, thanks Why Chat...will do as directed.

 

If you need help with anything military, just let me know =)

[liquid0h]

You do NOT want to try to get it "corrected" on your reports, you want to try to get it DELETED.

 

Opt out

http://whychat.5u.com/OPTOUTINST.HTML

Get old addresses removed if possible

 

Send the initial dispute letter to the CRA's where it is reporting.

http://whychat.5u.com/initdispltrsol.html

Send the rest of the letters if you don't get a deletion

http://whychat.5u.com/repoltr.html

Follow all the directions.

 

On your initial dispute letter with the CRA's: What is RR? Don't know what that is and it's not in the Newbie's Glossary section...

[DragonFlyer]

CMRRR is Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested

 

RR is Return Receipt

 

Since he indicated not to send it RR, that means just certified.

Edited January 21, 2009 by DragonFlyer

[liquid0h]

Oh ok, thanks you Dragon.

[DragonFlyer]

You are quite welcome!

 

I also wanted to thank WhyChat for hopping in with exceptional info. Thanks!

[DragonFlyer]

I just pulled that HSBC account via FICO EQ report. Funny how it was "repossessed" a year after it was fully paid and was also reported as 90+ days late. UGH!!!

 

 

 

[liquid0h]

They have to have some kind of paperwork backing that crap up right? I mean things have to be filed when a repossession occurs I thought. They can't file with your CRA that it's a repo when they never did. Sounds unlawful...

[liquid0h]

I send my dispute letter to the CRAs about the repo on my record. Just waiting for reply now or deletion.

 

What I don't understand is Why Chat's 14 day rule on his deficiency letter. They really only have 14 days to verify? Even in the state of Florida?

 

I think he lives here too...he probably knows statues better than most I hope though.