Can you change to amount due on a remittance coupon for an auto loan to the pay off amount of the loan? I actually did this with Santander. After speaking with 3 managers they insist they to not accept coupons. I did send a letter, notorized, and certified mail. They did not send back coupon. With the last manager I told him I would be forced to send a conditional acceptance and file a UCC 1 then the manager gave me the address of Santander's legal dept. Im deciding whether to just write the legal dept a letter threatening a conditional acceptance or whether to go ahead and send a conditional acceptance. Im new to this, learning as I go so respectful comments only please.
2 Answers
I am also fighting Santander. We hit hard times and I chose to pay for electricity rather than a vehicle. I made three years of perfect, on-time payments before hard times hit - I emailed and called numerous times for a deferred payment and the customer service agents were TERRIBLE. And then, a friend introduced us to this knowledge... and I jumped in!
1. Sent a coupon - for a little more than the full pay-off - with a friendly remittance letter.
- received a letter stating they don't accept coupons as payment, but among acceptable forms of payment are checks and money orders (which the coupon was!).
2.
I found their EIN and made payments using THEIR info, which were ALL accepted and zeroed my account.
I asked for my title to be sent. The payments were all reversed within a week. I made my last double-dipper payment in August of 2023, started this process end of October 2023.
---The daily phone calls and text messages attempting to collect a debt were pushing me over the anxiety edge. No sleep, listening for a repo truck, because at this point, they said it was happening.
3. I sent a letter that was a mix of remittance and conditional acceptance, with another coupon, all of it notarized, certified and return receipt, to the CEO.
--- Daily debt-collecting phone calls and texts, occasional emails... still waiting for the repo man... balance is still outstanding and they sent me a bill for almost $5K unpaid!
4. I realized that about a week after I received the Green Card back to me (Postal Rule!) and not my last coupon (didn't return it so they accepted it!), my phone wasn't dinging with Santander threats. It's been a week. My account online hasn't changed, except they won't allow me to pay electronically now.
5. We are getting ready to send a straight-up Conditional Acceptance and Notice of Lien, but in the meantime, I've filed a 1099-A online for $500 over the pay-off.
When we have our success stories to share, I want to help everyone get free.
It was so exciting to see balances go down to $0, which I documented for future use, because they were reversed after my first attempt. I won't back down!
Don't use threats. That is showing your hand of cards. I would send a CA to the manager considering that they did accept the coupons because they didn't give them back. If they "don't accept" coupons then why didn't they give them back? If you can help it i wouldn't send the CA to the legal dept. I would send the CA to the manager directly maybe the CEO also but im also somewhat new to this stuff. Im like a collage grad. All book knowledge no real world experience.