Are You Being Sued by TD Auto Finance in Florida?
Are you being sued by TD Auto Finance? Are you afraid you will be soon? Keep reading.
A Little Background
TD Auto Finance is an indirect auto financing company that finances cars through car dealerships. They are actually a subsidiary of TD Bank, which is one of the 10 biggest banks in the United States. TD Bank has branches throughout Florida, various other states and Canada.
TD Auto Finance and TD Bank are members of TD Bank Group. TD Bank Group is quite a big outfit with over $900 billion in assets. They have more than 83,000 employees worldwide. The TD stands for Toronto-Dominion, and it’s been around 150 years.
But TD Auto Finance hasn’t been around that long. Toronto-Dominion Bank announced at the end of December 2010 that it was acquiring Chrysler Financial from Cerberus Capital Management. This new acquisition was renamed TD Auto Finance in June 2011.
With this kind of pedigree, you would think they would have their act together by now. But as you will see, often that’s not the case.
What Does “Indirect Auto Financing” Mean?
To explain “indirect auto financing,” you can’t walk into a TD Bank Auto Finance and take out a car loan with TD Auto Finance or borrow from them online. However, if you apply for a loan at some car dealerships, you may be applying for a TD Bank Auto loan.
If that’s the case and you stop paying on your car loan, you may think after your car is repossessed that’s the end of it. But often you owe more on the car than the amount for which it will be resold. That’s called a deficiency, and you are expected to pay that amount. In other cases, TD Finance may buy deficient accounts from other lenders.
However, they came to hold the accounts, TD Auto Finance goes after deficient debtors. In fact, they file thousands of debt collection lawsuits every year. Often, they hire local debt collection attorneys to file and litigate their lawsuits.
Common Complaints Against TD Auto Finance
TD Auto Finance isn’t the evil empire. On the upside, their interest rates and fees are usually competitive. But neither are they the most competent or consumer-friendly source of auto financing out there.
We can’t speak to the veracity of the following complaints to the Better Business Bureau, but the following are not the only complaints.
Mistakes that Can Cost You Money
Some consumers report mistakes that TD Finance has made that unfairly end up costing them money.
Here is one example:
“Cannot get address right on statements… I made it abundantly clear at the dealership when I signed papers on this vehicle that any mailed correspondence was to come to our P.O. box. They finally got this right after four months and a couple of late payments that were 100% due to their inability to get the statement to the right address. …”
Not Sending Final Title Documents or Reporting Payoffs
Some consumers have claimed it can be very difficult to get final title documents from TD Finance once you have repaid your loan. They have also been called to task for not reporting payoffs to credit agencies.
Here’s just one example:
“After I paid my loan off TD Auto didn’t release the lien as per the SLA they have with the state… and they also didn’t care to help. It took me several calls and messages using their “secure message” center to get it resolved. I only got my title released to me 6 months after paying it off…”
Customer Service Issues
It’s one thing to make mistakes but it’s worse when you won’t make it right or make it hard to communicate. TD Auto Finance’s service line is open six days a week, but call wait times can sometimes exceed an hour.
Here is just one of the customer service complaints reported to the BBB.
“I would like to just be able to get ahold of someone on the phone. We traded in our vehicle and the company cannot get ahold of anyone to get an updated payoff amount. In the meantime, we are stuck in limbo…”
What Happens if I Can’t Make Payments to TD Auto Finance?
Time Before They Act
As with any lender, if you are going to be late, contact them. After 30 days they may report your late payment to credit agencies and after that, you are probably looking at repossession and a law suit.
Credit Report
If you pay late to TD Auto Finance, expect it to show up on your credit report. They report to both Equifax and Experian.
Due Date Issues
If the reason you are late making payments is because of your payment due date, you may be able to change it. Sometimes everything falls due at the same time. On their website, TD Finance tells people to call 800-222-5522 to discuss. (But we’ve seen calling them can be a challenge.)
Debt Collection Lawsuit
Eventually, if you or your Florida debt collection relief attorney cannot work things out with TD Finance, your car will likely be repossessed and they may sue for the difference between what you owe and the amount for which the car could be sold.
As with any lawsuit, you do not want to ignore it, or they will get an automatic judgment and may be able to tack on additional fees. So, if it gets to the point you are concerned with repossession and legal action, you will want to either work things out with TD Finance or hire an attorney.
If you answer their complaint, they will need to prove that you owe the money to them. Your Florida debt collection defense attorney may be able to determine various defenses depending on your situation or at least prevent extra fees from being tacked onto your bill.
Don’t Ignore a Lawsuit
If are reading this article, you are likely late in repaying TD Finance or have already been sued by them. Or perhaps you are just trying to get a title to a car you paid off months ago.
If you have already been sued, you need to act. If you ignore it, they will win a judgment against you probably for in the amount for which they ask.
Contact us at Ziegler Diamond Law: Debt Fighters for a free consultation by submitting this form. Or just call us directly at (727) 538-4188 in Clearwater, (813) 225-3111 in Tampa or (352) 600-1326 in Mt. Dora.
