Lien released and bank wants more money....

[kt_mom]

So here's my situation. We paid off the car in Feb 2009 and recevied the signed lien release from the bank in March of 2009. The car was sold and retitled right away in the new owners name.

For whatever reason the title info didn't get done properly at the DMV and the city continued to send tax bills to the bank. The bank paid these tax bills, including one in August of this year. Remember the car was paid off and the lien released in early 2009.

Well, the bank never contacted me until the end of September this year about this. They called and asked when I was going to pay my past due balance. So after over an hour on the phone I figure out that the issue is these taxes. The bank refuses to look into it and says I'm obligated to pay it.

So I call the city and talk to them and then my husband (who works at the dealership) pulls all the paperwork on the sale of the car, calls NC and gets the title info on the new owner and sends it all to the city. The lady at the city contacts fifth third herself saying that the tax bills were sent in error.

It is now been over a month and I have recevied calls almost every other day from the banks collection department threatening me with all sorts of evils. Every time I have to explain the whole situation and they tell me that they are looking into it but that if I don't pay its going to affect my credit.

I have talked to several supervisors each time and am always told that I cannot escalate a complaint any higher then them. They have even refused to give the address to write to someone higher up at the bank.

I was called again today and spoke with yet another supervisor. This one is able to tell me that the bank requested a refund from the city but if they don't get it then I am contractually obligated to pay these bills. That they don't question the tax bills they just pay them, no matter what. Even a year or more after the car has been paid off and they no longer hold any financial ties to the car. Once again he refused to pass me higher or give me any other contact info for the bank.

So once again I called the city and they have now finally processed the refund but it could take 6-8 weeks to go through and in the meantime the bank will still be calling me asking for the money.

My husband is going to pull the paperwork again and look to see if it says anything in there about this and he said I need to ask the bank to send me something I signed saying that I was obligated for anything like this. He says that they are harrassing me and I should try to escalate a complaint.

Anyone ever had anything like this happen before? Even my husband is stumped and he's been in the car business for over 10 years.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would suggest that you, on the next phone call, tell the company that under the Debt Collection Act you want everything in writing, and not to call you again. And that they most provide proof that the debt is owed.

 

[Padstack]

I would suggest that you, on the next phone call, tell the company that under the Debt Collection Act you want everything in writing, and not to call you again. And that they most provide proof that the debt is owed.

Just telling them will not make them stop calling. You will need to send a Debt Verification Letter to the bank. It basically tells them that they have to send you all the paperwork that proves you owe this debt. It also states that they are not to call you on the phone and all communications must be done through mail.

Send the letter certified/return receipt, so you have proof that they received the letter. It will take about 4 - 5 business days before they receive and process the DVL, so expect to hear from them until that time. I would just ignore the phone calls during this period of time.

Google "Debt Validation Letter" and you will find several examples.

 

[Anthony1971]

If you tell them not to call the can not call you any longer... They can however have another agency call which is the common practice... also you will need a record of the converstaion. If you have an answering machine ask for the persons name and phone number and tell him you are recording the converstaion and tell them to stop calling...you can also request proof of the debit at the same time via phone. A DVL does the same but in writing so there is proof... or at least so long as you send it certified mail

 

[Leajess99]

Here is a great site with helpful letters dealing with debts and such. http://www.cardratings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14990&sid=00551a87b92832dd9588aa70307dc003

Send the bank a letter and do it certified mail, return receipt requested. Keep a copy of it as well. I have had to do this and one company kept calling me after I had sent them the letter. They finally stopped after the 10th call when I said, "ok now we will be going to court where you and your company will be paying me $10,000 for violating the fair debt relief act" and I have never heard from them again. The funny thing was it was a debt they could not prove I ever had.

 

[DisneyMom]

Brian T. Moynihan
Bank of America Corporate Affairs
100 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28255


I had a problem a number of years ago with my real estate taxes on a mortgage held by Bank of America and I wrote Hugh McCall (then president), not really expecting anything to happen and I was shocked that the situation was resolved within HOURS!

Good luck!

 

[kt_mom]

Brian T. Moynihan
Bank of America Corporate Affairs
100 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28255


I had a problem a number of years ago with my real estate taxes on a mortgage held by Bank of America and I wrote Hugh McCall (then president), not really expecting anything to happen and I was shocked that the situation was resolved within HOURS!

Good luck!

I think I am probably going to write a letter to the president. Fifth Third is the bank I'm dealing with. I asked one of the supervisors I talked to for the address so I could send a letter and she said there was no point, it would just end up on her desk. Very snotty. She said she was in the corporate office and I could go no higher then her.

I guess I'm just not sure how a customer is liable for taxes that the bank should never have paid. In the end the city is going to refund the money to Fifth Third. But I've had to do all the leg work to make this happen. If I hadn't done it then Fifth Third was just going to hold me liable for their mistake. What kind of bank pays bills without first making sure they owe it?

I mean, you get the tax bill, you look in your system and you see that you no longer hold a lien on this vehicle and haven't for quite some time. You should then either contact the customer or contact the city sending the property tax bill. But no they just paid it. Not once but 3 times! And then they want to tell me over a year later that they consider me past due because of this.

 

[miknsusn]

I think I would contact the local news station. Many cities have at least 1 station that help individuals solve problems with various businesses. You might even get a little joy from seeing the bank try to explain this all on camera!

 

[holyschmolly]

5/3 local headquarters/corporate numbers are:

Customer Service 513-579-5353

Loans 513-579-5626

Main Office/corp. 513-579-5203

A person should be able to help you at one of those numbers.....if not, let them know you need escalated to Kevin Kabat...the President

 

[Green Tea]

Did you go to the city and tell them you sold the car? In my county if we buy a new vehicle or sell one that had previously been on our list of personal property we have 30 days to go to the county commissioner of revenue's office and report the sale or the addition. They have big fines if we do it after the 30 day deadline. This is completley separate from the state DMV.

 

[kt_mom]

They have called me twice this morning already. I called the number someone had listed for corporate and its a branch in Ohio but the very nice woman I talked to gave me the address to write to the office of the president and said that if I did they would open an investigation.

I realize in a matter of weeks this will be handled because they will receive the refund from the city. But I'm just appalled at the way they have handled it and the way I have been spoken to by their collections department.

It also blows my mind that their policy apparently is to just pay any and all tax bills that come in without any type of verification. I mean, I paid off the vehicle in February of 2009, they signed the lien release on march 9, 2009. Yet they paid a tax bill that they recevied in August of 2010. If they had questioned the first one they received in May of 2009 this would have been taken care of long ago.

But I wasn't even contacted until the end of September 2010 and all they said was when was I going to pay my past due balance. It took me forever to find out what it was even about. I've had to spend hours of my time dealing with this. It's just frustrating. And kind of scary that the bank operates the way they do. They definitely won't get any more business from me.

 

[tkitty]

Here is a great site with helpful letters dealing with debts and such. http://www.cardratings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14990&sid=00551a87b92832dd9588aa70307dc003

Send the bank a letter and do it certified mail, return receipt requested. Keep a copy of it as well. I have had to do this and one company kept calling me after I had sent them the letter. They finally stopped after the 10th call when I said, "ok now we will be going to court where you and your company will be paying me $10,000 for violating the fair debt relief act" and I have never heard from them again. The funny thing was it was a debt they could not prove I ever had.

I'm going through a situation with a collection co. right now and used a similar site as quoted to send a letter asking to validate the debt,(I've now sent 3 registered letters) I did ask that I am only contacted by mail also. I cannot get anything from them showing that it is my debt, but they still send the notices.
I just sent a complaint to my Attorney Generals office to see if they can help.
I hope you have it taken care of, I sure know how horrible it is to have this kind of thing hanging over you. It's not right that you have to spend your time with this- they have to prove it's your debt.
Good luck- hope it's over soon.

 

[cm8]

Just telling them will not make them stop calling. You will need to send a Debt Verification Letter to the bank. It basically tells them that they have to send you all the paperwork that proves you owe this debt. It also states that they are not to call you on the phone and all communications must be done through mail.

Send the letter certified/return receipt, so you have proof that they received the letter. It will take about 4 - 5 business days before they receive and process the DVL, so expect to hear from them until that time. I would just ignore the phone calls during this period of time.

Google "Debt Validation Letter" and you will find several examples.

 

[mistysue]

Do you have to pay property tax on your car or something?

Not meaning to hijack, but I've never heard of a city taxing a car... is that a state thing? We are probably going to be moving around the country, where do I need to think about this sort of thing?

 

[Angry Eyes]

You may be able to get help from your state's Attorney General's office. They helped me once resolve a dispute with ADT security for a debt that I did not owe and you can always file a complaint with the BBB. It may not help immediately, but they will have to spend their man hours to resolve the error.

 

[amylynne01]

Do you have to pay property tax on your car or something?

Not meaning to hijack, but I've never heard of a city taxing a car... is that a state thing? We are probably going to be moving around the country, where do I need to think about this sort of thing?

I pay an excise tax on my vehicles to my town. It's based on the value of the car. We just bought a car at the end of August, and I am sending a check to my town's tax office today to cover the excise taxes for the year. I live in MA.

 

[dfchelbay]

So, the bank that sign the Lien Release kept paying the taxes on the car? In their own file they should know who is the proper owner of the car. If they, themselves signed the Release, wouldn't their file be essentially closed at that point? They are no longer a lien holder, since the car is paid in full and they release the title to you. Wouldn't their computer at the bank show that the file for your car is no longer active. This sounds to me like the bank needs to just eat the cost on this one due to poor record keeping on their end. Once a bill came from the city and they are to pay it, don't they enter this debt into the computer under your name and account number and see that it is a closed file. Also, forgive me if this is a silly question, but why do you pay taxes to the city for your car. I've never heard of such a thing.

 

[Green Tea]

I am confused by this whole thing because the situation is so different for me. We pay personal property taxes on vehicles whether we have a car loan or own them outright. We have 30 days to notify the county if we buy or sell a vehicle. The bank is never involved in paying the taxes. It is the responsibility of the car owner to pay them.

 

[mistysue]

That is so strange.
How much are these taxes? Do they go by blue book value or something?
If my car is a $10,000 car, how much would I expect to pay? Are we talking $5/year? hundreds? thousands?

 

[GoofyGolferGirl]

In KY you would expect to pay 2-3 hundred a year on a 10,00 dollar car. Taxes you gotta love them!!