ComplaintsforDecatur Earthmover Credit Union

• Initial Complaint

  12/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On November 7, 2023 Decatur Earthmover towed my car stating I was 108 days behind on my payments. My car payments are due on the 21st of every month. I knew I was going to have surgery on August 28th of 2023 and that I would be out of work for a month. So on August 16th, 2023 I paid 2 car payments. My car payments are $241 & I gave them $500 even after hours using their deposit box. Then on September 3rd of 2023 I made another car payment of $241 in person. That would have put me on track to pay my payment on November 21st, but they towed it on the 7th. They didn’t give me a receipt for either transaction. Normally if I pay in person they give me a receipt, and if I pay after hours I get a receipt sent to my email which did not happen. Decatur Earthmover is telling me they also do not have those receipts. They wanted me to pay off the entire loan plus the towing fees which came to a total of $3091. Which I did not have at the time nor could I come up with that amount of money in 21 days. Now I am in debt to them and my credit is being effected when my car should have not been towed in the first place. They cannot provide me with the receipts, and I am not the first person they have done this to. On the same day my car got towed, Shawn Thompson also got her car towed. They told her the same thing, she owed $2000 and they couldn’t provide her the receipts.

  Business response

  01/02/2024

  On March 22, 2021, Ms. ******** ********** borrowed $6410.00 with a monthly payment of $241.00, first payment due on April 22,2021. In January of 2022 and February of 2022 no payments were received which put the loan payment delinquent by 60 days. In March 2022 a $241.00 payment was received still leaving the loan in a delinquent state. In April a repossession of the vehicle was issued, and the member redeemed the loan bringing everything current on April 20, 2022.  Payments were received timely for the months of May and June. No payment was received in July 2022. During August 2022, Ms. ********** made 2 payments bringing the loan current. No payment was received in September 2022 and the loan continued to be in a delinquent state until November 2023 at which time a second repossession was issued. On a second repossession, the outstanding balance in full and all associated fees are required to redeem the collateral.
  
  Regarding the August 16, 2023 payment, all items placed in the night depository are logged when they are retrieved during open hours. Our log indicates one (1) cash payment of $241.00 was received and credited on August 16, 2023. This payment would satisfy the missed July 2023 payment causing the loan to stay more than 30 days delinquent when the next payment of $241.00 was credited on September 5, 2023 for August payment. Each consecutive payment made was credited for the prior month due to the delinquency.
  
  Decatur Earthmover Credit Union stayed in communication with Ms. ********** during 2023 as the loan continued to be delinquent from August until action was taken in November. In November the member was given an opportunity to redeem the vehicle for the amount owed once the vehicle was repossessed.  When the member failed to redeem the vehicle, the vehicle was sold at auction. The auction value did not cover the full balance owed on the loan therefore leaving a balance owed by Ms. **********. Documentation was mailed to Ms. ********** during the repossession process to include the balance still owed.

  Customer response

  01/04/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

• Initial Complaint

  04/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I was at their establishment near 22nd st on March 26 to request a letter that they were a lean holder on my car. Per OH requirements, a certificate of title and paper statements for the loan. They refuse to send paper statements but can afford to and will send a statement when late. They only gave me a photo copy of title and I have never gotten the letter. On March 28 at the OH title office in Sandusky, OH, I filled out the OH title request form and the state of OH title office submitted a title request. All documents must be received by mail on or before April 24. They have been given more than enough time to satisfy OH state laws so I can get my OH drivers license and tags. I am ready to contact the state of OH and say just send them to the states attorney's office so my butt is covered. I declared residency and sign my lease on March 24. They have had ample time to get this done.

  Business response

  04/21/2022

  I spoke with Mr. ******* on April 21, 2022 regarding the issues with his title paperwork and loan payment notices.  Unfortunately we were unable to send the member's title and loan paperwork to Ohio without the correct request forms from the state.  The member should have been informed of this when he visited our branch at the end of March.  We did receive the proper paperwork on April 18th from Ohio and we sent off the completed form and the documentation they requested on April 19th, so this should be resolved shortly.

  Additionally, when I spoke to Mr. ******* regarding his loan payment notices, we were able to get him set up for email notices to be sent to him each month 10 days prior to his payment each month.

  
  In speaking to Mr. ******* I believe all issues are now resolved.
  

  Customer response

  04/21/2022

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

• Initial Complaint

  01/31/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am following up with my message from January 20th and I have not received any more correspondence from this department. I requested that I get the information of someone who is above the credit union department due to an improper investigation from your department. Since I have not received a follow up I have decided to give one last chance to demand a re investigation and to give a thorough explanation as to how my rights as a consumer was violated from Decatur Earthmover Credit Union. (For everyone's protection and for a fair hearing I have cc'd a few people to this email to make sure we are all being heard and respected as individuals and as a consumer. So there would be no need not to correspond in an appropriate manner and to conduct a reasonable investigation.) On January 8th 2020 I entered into a credit transaction with Decatur Earthmover Credit Union. As Decatur Earthmover Stated, Originally the loan was subject to be sealed on January 7th 2020 with a 2014 chevy impala to be a security instrument with an interest rate of 4.15, a finance charge of $462.47, a payment schedule of $186 to be paid 38 times and 1 payment of $150.47 to be paid 1 time. And a total payment in the amount of $7,218.47. However things did not go entirely the way the credit union said it did in their response. The credit union allowed me to sign all paperwork and pick up the check on January 7th 2020 without me having the car or title in possession. It wasn't until later that night I went to Indiana to get the car and the title, when I noticed afterwards that the title had a rebuilt title.(see attachments for proof) The next day January 8th is when I emailed the loan officer requesting she give me a call so i can explain the situation,and hours later we came to an agreement of changing the loan from secure to unsecured and the agreements changed to an 8.9 percent interest rate, and a monthly payment of $219 with a term of 36 months which i did indeed sign on January 8th 2020 for those changes only. However, Decatur Earthmover failed to disclose to me due to the changing of the loan a few required documents that the Truth in lending act requires that every financial institution must give under a credit transaction PER 12 USC 1026.18. Those disclosures being a complete payment schedule with the correct terms and must be worded per the truth and lending act 12 usc 1026.18 (g)(1) i didn't get a full payment schedule under the truth in lending act for the $214 payments. Also i did not receive the total of payments per the truth in lending act 12 usc 1026.18 (h) this was given to me based on the original terms of the 4.15 interest rate not for the correct interest rate and terms of the 8.9. Also the finance charge per the truth in lending act 12 usc 1026.18 (d) was only given to me in the amount for the terms and agreements of the original 4.15 interest rate and not for the 8.9 interest and terms and agreements. And finally per the truth and lending act 12 usc 1026.18 (e) it describes the requirements of disclosing the apr and what verbiage must be given to the consumer. I did get the new apr info but i did not get it the way that the truth in lending act REQUIRES it to be given. The Illinois Department of Financial and professional regulation credit union department has stated based on the information they received from me and what the credit union gave them (all documents are attached to this email) they feel there is nothing else to be done and they can't assist me and that I did receive the proper documents. My argument with that is simple. Although I disagree fully about getting the documents I am required to get under the truth in lending act let's look into another matter that brings up another conflict. If the documents I received are truly in fact correct, would that not make Decatur Earthmover Credit union guilty of theft at this point and fraud. Attached you will see the original terms and agreements and if you notice it says, under the total of payments is (the amount i would have paid after you have made all payments as scheduled) $7,218.47. Well if you take what I'm currently paying 214 a month for 36 months that equals $7,714, but i'm signed and agreed to pay only $7,218.47 as long as I make my payments on the scheduled time . Also my finance charge was signed and agreed for $462.47 which was based on a 4.15 interest rate. What is my fiance charge for an 8.9 percent interest rate because I'm positive it's not $462.47?. Better yet let's ask Decatur Earthmover to show and prove how an 8.9 percent interest rate loan would have a finance charge of only $462.47. Because as of right now i don;t know what my fiance charge should be since i was never given that information which im required to receive under 12 usc 1026.18 (d) This is why The truth and lending act requires these documents to be given, because since Decatur Earthmover credit union did not complete their duty to ensure that i had all required documents now my loan agreement does not match up to what i am currently paying and have agreed to pay. Why would I want to pay more if i'm agreed to pay less? And because this contract is deceptive and constitutes fraud this would make this contract null and voided. So this is why I demand a proper re- investigation from the Illioins department of Financial and Professional Regulation credit union department. It is your duty to make sure consumer rights are not being violated and that financial institutions are following proper procedures and regulations. Decatur Earthmover Credit union did not do that with me and I'm not asking but I'm demanding you, *** ******** ********** ** ********* *********** *** ************ ********** ****** ***** department to do something about it. Thank you everyone for you time

  Business response

  01/31/2022

  Ms. ******* believes the changes to her loan were not properly documented.  She has previously filed complaints to the credit union and the ******** ********** ** ********* *** ************ *********** 

  We have responded to each of her complaints by contacting Ms. ******* and the *****.  She would have received copies of our responses which should have answered any questions Ms. ******* may have.  She was also provided with the contact information for our legal counsel if she needed for further questions or explanations.
  

  The documentation supplied to Ms. ******* for the initial loan and the subsequent changes is the appropriate documentation for the transaction.  The Subsequent Action form she signed is an addendum to her original paperwork and modifies the initial loan documentation to convert it to an unsecured loan with the corresponding interest rate and payment amounts.  Therefore, we respectfully deny her request for suspension of the loan and reimbursement for all previous payments made on the loan.
  

• Initial Complaint

  12/29/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Verified lawyers, 10+ years of experience ***** ***** ******, Lawyer's Assistant Welcome! How can I help with your business law question? You Hi, i wanted to know who can I talk to about a bank. I would like an account of mine to be looked at. I had asked for a Christmas club account last December at 25$ a week. They said great. This November they moved 1,250 over to my saving. It sat in my account for almost a month then I started using it for Christmas gifts. Well a couple of days ago I got a call from my bank saying that that money I used was not mine. It had been pulling all year long from a different member and I owed the bank 1300$. Of course I was blown away. She told me she would call me tomorrow so i can tell her how I was going to pay them back. She said the bank would work with me. I was upset. That’s a lot of money to come up with after Christmas. I had questions about how this could happen. I hung up went to look at my account figured up my weekly payments and called her back and told her she made a mistake cause I do have 25$ taken out for that. She looked it up saying g oh you have 25$ going to a savings account for my grandson. I had forgotten about that. But that account is not listed with my other accounts and it not even listed on my statements of I would have noticed not enough money was coming out of my account. Well the next morning she called and said I already took the money from your vacation fund. I told her I did not want her to do that because the money I had there was being saved for my insurance and taxes. In February I have a 1800$ payment coming out for insurance. I told her I have a credit card with then 0% interest just take it from there and set up smaller payments so i can still afford a Christmas club for next year and pay this off. She said she did not think she could do that. I asked her what could she do to help. She said she could give me a loan with interest. I wanted yo cry. This was their mistake.

  Business response

  12/30/2021

  On December 27, 2021, DECU was contacted by a member stating DECU was auto transferring $25 weekly from his account without his request.  After researching, it was uncovered the $25 auto transfer was initiated by a different member (****** ******) to start January 1, 2021 from her checking to her Christmas Club.  In error, the auto transfer was setup to pull from the wrong member’s account.
  
  At this time, ****** ****** was contacted to inform her of the DECU error.  Ms. ****** was credited $1300 in funds that were debited from a different member’s account.  Therefore, it was communicated to Ms. ****** that she need to reimburse the funds.  Ms. ****** was given several options on how to reimburse the funds, she chose to advance $1100 from her 0% DECU visa and the remainder from her Christmas Club.
  
  Ms. ****** is a joint owner on her grandson’s account, which is a different account number.  The statement for her grandson are mailed quarterly to Ms. ******’ address, which reflect the $25 auto transfer weekly from her checking to his savings (this is the $25 transfer that the complaint references)..
  
  On December 29, 2021, Ms. ****** was emailed her Christmas Club account history.  A DECU employee will reach out to Ms. ****** today to offer emailing the grandson’s account history.

  Customer response

  12/31/2021

   I am rejecting this response because: that’s not true! I was told The bank would work with me on a payment plan but the only choice she gave me was to take out a loan paying them interest for a mistake they made. Then she stole the money out of another account of mine without my  permission that next morning! I was the one who asked if they could take it from my visa! And now my monthly payments are going to be a couple hundred. I should have been able to pay it back they same way they took it from that other member and I asked if i could pay it back at 25$ a week until paid off and she said that was not an option. I think they should have to put account numbers on their statements where it’s coming from and where it’s going to so I could have seen that it was not coming from my account from that transfer. They send me a quarterly statement if my grandsons savings but it is not on my online banking or my statement that I am putting into it. Also online it shows the amount they take out weekly but if you click on it, it does not itemized where each payment goes! That would have prevented this! No one would like to be told a few days after Christmas you owe the bank 1300$. That’s a huge bill! The bank is not taking any responsibility on their mistake. I was treated like a problem because I was upset about all this. I would like it see my account audited. Because if they can overlook this big of a mistake where else is there being mistakes made?  I asked ****** the lady whom I talked with if any of that money was added by me she said no. When I looked at the account and simply scrolled to the beginning of It, I seen I started it with 50$ and I also added 100$ that next month. Looked at my past statements to verify it came from me and it did. She did not even know. And she did not send me a statement of the Christmas  account. she might have tried but if you click on the link she send it’s a big picture of her! Maybe  they need a better training program if these people are going to be responsible for other peoples money!
  
  
  

  Business response

  01/07/2022

  A full review of the account has been done internally and we will refer it to the accounting firm who reviews our internal procedures and accounts. 

   

  After doing our internal review, it was verified that the amount Ms. ****** was required to reimburse was correct.  Ms. ****** opened the account with an initial $50 deposit and $100 was subsequently deposited by Ms. ****** during the year.  The automatic transfers into the account from the other member totaled $1,100 before the disbursement of funds into Ms. ****** account.  After the disbursement of funds to Ms. ******, an additional $200 of transfer were made into the account.

  Ms. ****** surrendered the $200 that was transferred after the disbursement on 11/1/2021 and she was required to reimburse the $1,100 that was erroneously deposited into her account.

  Per the membership agreement, Decatur Earthmover Credit Union has the right to offset funds in any of the member’s accounts against an obligation owed to the credit union.  

  By putting the monies owed on her 0% credit card with the credit union, she is not being charged any interest on the account.  Her minimum payment is $50 or 10% of the balance, so her payment for the $1,100 will be $110 the first month and will decline each month.

  We have mailed through the postal service a history on her Christmas Club account since she had issues opening/reading the electronic (.pdf) statement we sent her.

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  11/15/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We have a car that we make payments on each week through earthmover. We make our payments each week on the car and then we go outside and the car was repoed. This all happened November 14th and it was a Sunday so we couldn't contact anyone to be able to find out whats going on. So we call the bank the next morning and they say that it was repoed because we were behind on the payments because they were charging us for car insurance. I pay the car insurance and have it taken out of my account automatically every month and they didn't have it taken out it somehow got froze. I didn't get notified of this and my insurance canceled. I talked to my insurance agent and he had no idea my insurance had canceled either. So the insurance company says there's nothing that they can do about the mishap in THEIR system and the bank did not notify us that we didn't have insurance. They didn't tell us they were charging for it OR that we were behind on payments. We had absolutely no warning that they were going to repo the car. And now they want 800 to get the car back and I don't see how any of this is legal? We've left our contact information with the bank with every single payment that we've made in their box and they have never said anything and they basically said that the way we told them to contact us (by email) and we provided our new number which they somehow have no record of us giving them. When we called to talk to someone about it the manager or whoever I talked to rudely hangup the phone. How can neither business notify either of us and that be legal?

  Business response

  12/07/2021

  We received the complaint from Ms. ****** and researched the issue.  As Ms. ****** is not a member of the credit union we cannot divulge information about any of our member's accounts to her due to privacy concerns.

  We cannot confirm to her any of the particulars in the repossession she is referencing, but we can confirm we provided all required notifications and have resolved the issues with the interested parties (our member).  The credit union followed all required procedures to protect the collateral and the credit union's interests per the loan agreements.
  

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