Santander Consumer USA
reviews and complaints

We have been trying to refinance our primary mortgage under the new federal harp program since may 2012 and have been working with a terrific mortgage broker. He is offering a 3.375% apr on a 15yr term which we have locked into until the end of june. Currently, we do our personal banking with sovereign/santander. When sovereign inquired why we didn't refi with them, we told them our rate. They stated that that is a great rate and that they couldn't come close to it.

We also have a home equity line of credit (heloc) with sovereign since 2006 and have never made a late payment on it or any debt we own. Sovereign still required us to sign a line reduction on our heloc from $50k down to $15k in order to process the subordination and charged us a $250.00 fee.

As soon as we signed the line reduction they immediately reduced our credit line on june 8th. Sovereign then said that they require a drive by appraisal. When my mortgage broker and I asked why they didn't have that requirement on the subordination check list they told us they have a clause in it that states they reserve the right to require additional information. A customer service rep at sovereign's subordination department informed me that a new underwriter made an error and ordered the line reduction before the drive-by appraisal. Their first mistake.

Sovereign is supposed to withdraw our heloc payment from our checking account on the 21st of each month which usually hits on the 22nd, but because of what they call a "computer upgrade" our funds were withdrawn early on the 19th and posted on the 20th. They apologized for their second mistake... They are at least good at saying that they are sorry, but I don't think their customer service people care the least bit! It is evident by their attitudes.

It is now june 22nd and we haven't closed yet. We are waiting for the drive-by appraisal report to be completed by monday, june 25th (only 4 business day before our lock expires)

If I had computer problems and was late on a payment I wonder how forgiving they would be? I will be contacting the office of the comptroller of currency regarding the early withdrawal and bank through one of the credit unions I belong to.

Sovereign bank has the worst customer service ever. I recently refinanced my mortgage and ended up with sovereign. I pay my mortgage on time every month. Sometimes it is paid by the first of the month and always it is within the 16 day grace period which is industry standard. If sovereign doesn't receive payment by the first, they call, they harass, they demand. Their customer service people are rude, insulting and and downright inhuman. If I could pay my mortgage in full, I would, just to get away from them! There are a ton of banks out there. Stay away from this one!

I sold something on craigslist and of course the "cashier's check" I was given to pay for the item bounced. I understand that is my responsibility if the check doesn't go through. This put my account at a negative balance. Sovereign put a freeze on all six of my accounts. So even though I have money in one account, I have no access to a single penny — apparently until this negative balance in one account has been resolved. I put the amount needed into the account to bring it up to positive balance yesterday, but because sovereign conveniently holds all deposits for two days, they will still not unfreeze my accounts. I contacted them, stranded along the highway, unable to even put $5 of gas into my car to get myself home. Trying to contact them is a joke. With each call to "loss prevention" I sit on hold for a minimum of 20 minutes. Once the call is taken, the "specialists" on the other end are the rudest bunch of people I have ever dealt with. I asked for the supervisor and she was "in a meeting" at 12:25 pm. I left a message on her voice mail and 36 hours later, I still have not received a call back. At this time, my account is still frozen and I put in another 1400 today. I have $2000 above the negative balance, but still cannot get through to get the "freeze" taken off my account. I have had a frozen account for one week, unable to even take out $5 of my hard-earned money. I am sitting on hold right now, and have been for 24 minutes at [protected], option 1 — in case someone would like to give it a try and see if you can get through any faster. All this so I can ask for them to remove the freeze from my account. I figure I have been ripped off through a disgusting craigslist buyer, and now I am being ripped off by a bank that hires idiots and mistreats the people who use their bank. I have been with sovereign bank for seven years and if anyone were to ask me, I would tell them to run, don't walk — from sovereign bank. They are wonderful until you sign on and deposit your money.

When I got my car loan, I was dealing with citi bank and was reasonably happy with it, well then they sold my loan to santander and the experience has been horrible.

My complaint is with the out-of-country customer service department. I should never to have my calls redirected during normal business hours (9am - 5pm) to someone in a different country. Yesterday I wasted over a two hours of my time, dealing with more than three different agents, trying to do a simple task with "undertrained" customer service agents. (this was expressed to me by the last agent whom I talked with and the manager of that office as well, that their agents were indeed undertrained) my account is current and they wanted to argue that I owe late charges from august 2010 during the time at which citibank sold the account. From my understanding of accounting that is impossible for an account to be up-to date and current and mail statement having no mention of late charges have pending late charges dating back over two years. "seriously what is wrong with this company". This was the worst service I have ever experienced.

I purchased a car in early 2010 for my wife. She didn't like it, so we traded it in on something else. Case closed, account closed, car paid off in mid/late 2010. This is verified. Come may 7, 2012 => charge of $2, 003.21. "since this is obviously fraudulance, our accounting department handles these cases (how many cases like this happen!?!?!?) within 48-72 hours." today is 16may12... I have spoken with every managerial employee possible on each day since that day to no positive outcome.

I am a 100% disabled combat infantry veteran of the united states army; veteran of the war in iraq from february 2003 to march 2004; participant of the initial invasion, and a war fighter for a straight 13 (thirteen) months after the invasion before getting my purple heart's. As well as a bronze star with valor, arcomm with valor, bronze star for merit, arcomm for merit, multiple coins, cib, etc. Etc. Etc.

Note: I would never say these things to brag! I mention this to make a point! I did not become a bedridden veteran so these #'s can steal my blood money!

May jesus have mercy on this corporation... Because I don't

God bless everyone struggling through all the hardships intentionally caused by this money hungry beast

This is about my 77 year old fathers account and his experience with sovereign bank as a warning to others. Sovereign bank had much of my fathers saving that he had put in cd's. A sovereign money manager keep calling my father to requesting him to come in saying his money is better in another type of account. This money manager, katie r., told my father that his money would be better in an insurance annuity. He signed nothing but wanted to think it over, after he left the office they started the process, transferred almost all to lpl financial, and into jackson national like insurance. He called several times every day for a week to contact katie and not have the money moved but instead leave the money in a cd. I looked at the form he had brought home and sure enough where my fathers signature should have been it was completely blank. They cleaned his account, moved his money to a fdic uninsured account all without his consent or signature. The electronic transfer to lpl financial was done without signature (they are also uninsured by fdic) and all in cooperation of another sovereign employee, peter b.. I'm am trying to get my fathers phone records to show contact effort, although not definitive. Jackson national life insurance has no affiliation with sovereign that I can see and has a customer disapproval rating of 53% according to other web sites.
Anybody know if a bank has the ability to transfer fund to a third party entity without signature?

I called for a buyout amount on my autoloan (simple interest auto loan) and I was given the full balance (including interest) as my buyout amount. My contract states I can buyout my loan early with an up to max $75.00 interest penalty.

Santander is lying about my payoff amount and won't give me the correct amount. Each day they delay costs me money.

This company has made more than 50 calls per week to collect money that is not owed and will not work to fix the problem. I have been insulted and insulted and insulted which is against the fair credit collections act.

I have not provided any references other than my mother during the credit application and purchase process.

They have broken many rules and have been harrassing my friends and family. Persons who are not listed on the application or any other reference for this loan or any other loan with this company. However, they have called everyone in my family tryijng to contact me, they have called my ex-girlfriend, 5 of my other friends and called 3 of my prior employers. I have over 100 calls recorded on my cell phone in less than 1 month.

I have records showing from my bank that I am current and have paid every month, and when reviewed with the bank, each month for the last 4 years, the checks or credit card charges have gone directly to santanderconsumerusa and referrenced my account, but according to santander, they say they have not received money. They are illegally harassing myself, my family, and my friends. Santander needs to be fined and punished for this type of collection action.

In late june of 2011 our '04 ford taurus was a total loss when a wind storm broke a tree and caused it to fall on the car. Our insurance company, progressive, was quick to respond assess the damage and, as mentioned earlier, declare the vehicle a total loss. Progressive, per our coverage at the time of the claim, paid out two payments to santander. The first payment was for the value of the vehicle, $7, 304.91 and the second was for load/lease payoff coverage, $1, 951.23 for a total of $9, 256.14. The first payment was sent on july 1, 2011 and the second on july 7, 2011. I received a phone call from santander on or about july 19, 2011 stating that I was seven days past due paying my account and would I settle the payment over the phone. I answered that "no, I won't, you should have two payments from my insurance company to more than cover the balance of the loan." santander stated that they had received no payments from progressive.

I called the progressive claim's representative for my claim, david moss, immediately and explained the situation. David immediately stopped payment on the initial checks that had been sent and contacted santander to arrange new payments to be sent out. He overnighted the new payments to santander via usps. I again received a phone call from santander stating that I was delinquent in my payment. I asked if they had received the overnighted payments from progressive.

The customer service representative for santander was less than helpful. She knew of no payments and asked me if knew where the payments had been sent and could I track them down. Again, I called my claims representative; and again david called santander trying to figure out if, when or who received the payments that were sent via overnight mail. No one was able to locate the payments. So, once again david stopped payment on the checks and arranged to have the payments sent, again overnight, via federal express. David then gave me the fedex tracking number so that I would know the status of the package and when it was received by santander.

The payment was received in santander's office on a monday, july 25, 2011 and signed for by a d. Lee. On wednesday july 27, 2011 santander again called me stating I was delinquent. At this point I lost my temper. Once again I called my progressive claims representative. Once again david called santander to unravel the situation. Santander, after three failed attempts to pay them, said that they would open a case to investigate. After their investigation I received two letters on monday august 8, 2011 stating that they had received my payments but the monies were not enough to pay off my principal. I knew this information to be false. I promptly called santander's insurance department to discuss the matter. As it turns out, they did receive the payments, my account had a zero balance and was declared closed. Apparently santander had a "glitch" in their system that mailed out letters on closed accounts attempting to collect a debt. I also learned that I would not receive my reimbursement of $1083 until sometime after september 8, 2011 because it takes 30 to 45 days to process a reimbursement. To which I replied, "you wasted 30 days already because you obviously don't know how to process a payment!" I explained that I was not upset with jessica, the customer service representative for santander but rather I was upset at her company for their incompetence. Jessica apologized as best she could and remained professional. However, there seems to be some rather dubious dealings or business practices going on at santander consumer usa inc.

Soverign bank needs to be pressured with imminent (bk) threats or mediation law and procedures.
They are basically a giant collection agency. They purchase the distressed mortgage at extreme discounts from various key players in the sub-prime arena. They collect aggressively on this paper. They do not play by the rules and need to be pressed hard.

We have completed successful loan restructuring cases with sovereign. They are all long run and brutal battles.
Feel free to visit our website for further details on avoiding a pending sale date.

www.freshstart-mortgagesolutions.com or www.freshstart-legalnetwork.com
You may also call 1.877.297.7011

Good luck homeowners.

I have been paying a car note with sandander for over 4 years, I inquired as to pay-off. Current pay-off was still more than initial car loan, even more appalling was an interest rate of 25%, compounded daily. The original note was with drive finance and shortly thereafter transferred to santander. I do not recall ever signing a note such as this one, with such an escalated interest rate, this is truly unreal. Is this not a usury law violation? Currently seeking legal counsel.

Santander usa gets investigated in texas. Texas attorney general begins investigation. Watch video.
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/investigative/consumers-complain-about-santander-consumer-usa-021312#.Tzprv7s4360.mailto

In 2006 I puchased a 2003 cts with a roadloans (loan) check. Roadloans sold out to santander. I kept my payments up, but in 2009, my 3 year possession blew up on me. I told santander to come get it. First, they promised to help-then they tried to trick me to buy another car, while they tried to put the whole balance of this one on the price tag of the new one. They wanted me to pay for it when it was a certified car. It was towed, and I got a letter that it was sold. With a $3, 000.00 balance. Now, santander is trying to get $12, 000. From me. The original price of the blown up car. This is nothing but a rip-off! They have no integrity.

Santander bought my loan from hsbc in 2010. The debt was included in a chapter 13 bankruptcy in 03/2008. All payments have been made ontime through trustee. Santander began reporting the debt as 60-90 days past due in 2010 or 2011 and payments past due. Which is not true. I just found out through experian that when a debt is in bankruptcy they cannot report on it period. Experian quickly updated my file. Transunion and equifax have not. I have sent the attorney general a copy of documentation and even a letter certified letter signed by a holly thompson of santander trying to correct the matter. I am currently working with brennan of wiener and associates for a possible class action lawsuit. I will pursue with suing up to 1% of santander and sue holly thompson and anyone who knowningly updated e-oscar crediting reporting application falsely. After my 30 days is up from the 2nd time the certified notice was received. I the lawsuit will post this information on as many sites as possible advising them of the lawsuit. This will be similar to the same lawsuit filed in ca against santander.

I received letter in may stating that my account was turned over from united auto credit to santander consumer. I made my first payment in june. I called to verify address before heading to n.C. At that time I was told "your payment isn't due til jan.2012." I said that's wrong sir therefore I requested an audit. On or around aug4, 2010 I was then told I was behind $166.00. Supposedly missed payment oct. 2009. Which I disputed and to this day is still disputing. I sent fax of last statement I had from united which was april 2010 which showed me current and up to date on dec.1, 2010. Each month since aug 2010 til now which is mar. 24, 2011, i've been told over and over the account is under review. Meanwhile late charges are being added nor have this been resolved. Since they received my auto account their information has been wrong and seems they are ignoring the april statement from united auto credit which had me current and up to date. All the answer I keep receiving is my account is under review. I've requested detailed account history 5 times now and have yet to receive the information nor is the problem resolved.

Santander took over my auto loan from triad/roadloans in january 2010 without any notice or communication. I had stop receiving payment statements as well.in february ’10, I filed for chapter 7, but excluded my auto loan and continued to make payments.in july of ’10, I received a phone call from a repossession agency notifying me that my car was being repossessed. I call santander to inquire about the repossession and found that santander did not map my roadloans account number to a new santander account number they had assigned to my account. The checks that I was sending santander under my old account number was being applied to someone else account. I forwarded the agent copies of the checks and she stated that she would to credit the payments to my account and suspend the charge back/repossession procedures and return my loan payment status to good standing. Again, I did not receive any correspondence from santander, thus I thought my account status had been restored to good standing and my status was fine.

Fast forward, to february 18, 2010. I was visiting my son and on my son. I was told by his mother that my car was missing. Needless to say I was not happy. The next day I called santander to inquire if they had taken my car. The customer service agent was so rude and would not take the time to explain in any detail. I mentioned to him that there was an error in my account and that it was never corrected. Now, I did miss payments for december ’10 and january ’11, but I had mailed a check in for december ’10 in which santander cashed monday, february 14, 2011. I had planned on mailing them another check for january’s payment on the friday when the car was taken and another the final week of february to get caught up. Since I did not get any assistance from the agent, I waited until monday february 21 to contact another agent.in the mean time I was left without a vehicle and not sure whether or not I was going to get it back, thus I took the payment that I was going to send santander and purchased a car from a friend.

When I got the new agent of the phone february 21, she assisted in reconciling my account and mentioned to me that they should have not taken the vehicle. Santander had made the changes to correct my account back in july of 2010, but they did not reverse the charge back in the system. Thus I had been paying on a car that had been charged off in july of 2010. Not only did they not reverse the charge back, but also due to the sale of roadloans to santander, my forgiveness of 2 payments missed in december of 2009 were not recorded on my account. When I asked for the payout balance, it appeared to be a higher amount than I it should have been. I believe that there had been some additional charges placed against my account. My records indicated that I had a balance was around $11k on the vehicle and there’s indicated a balance of $15k. I’m not sure of what the other fees were but I made my concerns known to the agent. The agent mentioned to me that I could possible pick my vehicle up in 2 days. She had put in the request to reverse the charge back, but it was going to take a couple of days to reverse. After a couple of days, I realized that I no longer wanted the car that was taken back from me in error, thus, I plan on letting santander keep the car.

This experience has left me not willing to deal with santander and their business practices. Since I have made this decision, I went on the internet and found that there are hundreds who share my experience since their auto loans had been sold to santander. To add, they made me drive for 2 hours to a small town north of my city to get my personal belonging. When I arrived at the repo location, I was informed that the auto was moved south to another location that was 40 miles from my house. I had to wait 2.5 hours to get my belonging. The agent at the auction center said that this was very unusual. I hope that the attorney general or some other federal agency investigates santander’s business practices.

I expect them to sell the vehicle in the next couple of days and bill me for the balance like they have done too many of their customers. I fully intend to file complaints with everyone who will listen. I have cc’d my local and federal agencies to voice my concerns and experience with this financial institution. I have also included a link to hundreds of individuals who are not happy with santande’s business practices

Santander bought the loan on my pickup after I had financed it thru hsbc. I decided to sell a couple of years later. The bank wired the payoff thru january 20th. Santander added finance charges thru february 2nd. They refused to send the lien release until I paid the account thru february 2nd. They said they would reimburse whatever portion they felt was owed — approx 45 days later! Whey do they get to keep my money for 45 day?! Maybe to draw interest from my money as well as everyother customer they do this to?

Hi my name is kim hockerson, I originally had a auto loan with citifinancial. My payments with this company was finish in january 2011, some how santander had bought out my loan and I kid you not seem like this company santander started my loan all over from the beginning. When santander got a hold to my loan seem like the interest rate had triple the payments they had me owning them 11, 000. How could I old them this amount when my car note loan was finish like I said in january of 2011 something is not right or adding up santander is getting over on me, so now my payments are down to 6, 000 by me making payments to them theirs no way my late fees and what else they are charging me with should be that high like a new car loan. I think santander consumer usa is a rip off the customers and not only that but how thy calls me before 8:30 a. M and after 8:30 p. M everyday sometimes three times out of the day. I have had some of the sales rep; to call me being rude to me or should I say nasty attitude about my money wanting a payment and its not like if I am a month or three months behind its just late due to hardship. I can be reached @ [protected].
Thank you
Kim hockerson

Santander aquired our loan in sept. 2010 an every since its been a total nightmare the trouble started from citi an has continued with them we have asked for a payoff quote several times an each time we get something different we are continuouslly sending money to get the payoff lower but every time we send in a payment they don't even appear to be deducting it instead they will add fees to the balance, how in the hell do they expect us to pay off the balance if they continue adding fees to it apparently to keep us from paying it off. They get on the phone with us an tell us lies about what they are going to do an thats it they don't do anything to work with you, so I realize the only way you are going to verify what these people tell you is to have your call with them monitored just like they claim their call is being recorded or monitored then so should the customer call be monitored on their end. These people are beyond any business I have ever dealt with how can they keep doing this to so many people, how long do they think they are going to get away with these practices and always make sure you keep all of your records.

We have a loan with citi financial who turned it over to santander consumer. They call everyday and every person we talk to has no idea what their even talking about. We have sent payments and now were being told were late and could apply for a deferment. The best part is someone else told us we had to pay everything on the loan immediately. Everyone you talk to has a different story on your account and no one actually listens to anything. I told someone I sent a payment in the mail and that they should have it in a day or two and they still wanted my checking account number and the check number I used. Get real santander and maybe hire people who aren't complete #s.