Frustration with Westlake Financial - Seeking Help

I often keep my cool, but this situation has really upset me. I went to a dealership to purchase my car in January, and they informed me my lender was called AGORA CREDIT. They told me my first payment of $522 wouldn’t be due until March 1st and that I would receive instructions on how to make my payments by mail.

By the end of February, I hadn’t received any communication. No emails or phone calls at all. As my payment date approached, I started calling the dealership and searching for this Agora company online to understand the situation better. After a lot of back and forth, I was finally given a number for Agora. However, they told me I didn’t have an account with them.

Then in mid-March, I received an email from Westlake stating my account required immediate attention. I was confused because I didn’t even know I had an account with them. When I called, they explained Agora was a subsidiary of Westlake, and my loan was actually with them, leaving me nearly a month behind on payments through no fault of my own.

Fast forward to May, I lost my job, and as a single parent, I was struggling financially. I was about a month and two weeks behind on my payment, approximately $100, and they offered a deferred payment option. I signed an Extension Agreement through DocuSign, which stated that Westlake AGREES to defer my April payment until the end of my term.

However, two weeks later, my car was repossessed. I called to find out why, as I was not even 30 days late on my full May payment. They claimed my request for deferring April was denied. I pointed out that the document I signed said they agreed to it and questioned whether I had received any notifications about this denial. They claimed that they had called me numerous times, but I checked my call log and had no missed calls from them.

Eventually, after explaining the situation, they agreed to let me pay what I owed plus some fees totaling around $560 to get my car back, which I did.

Now it’s June, and I checked my account. Instead of just owing June’s payment, I was shocked to see a balance of over $2,200! They included July’s payment and claimed my May payment bounced, even though I paid it via debit card over the phone and the funds were deducted from my bank. They have also charged me $680 for the repossession, which seems excessively high for having the car for such a short time.

I’m feeling overwhelmed because I rely on my car for work while I search for new employment, and I have children to support. Has anyone else faced similar issues with Westlake? I’d appreciate any advice.

Westlake’s pulling classic subprime tricks, but they screwed up big time and that helps you. The Agora subsidiary thing is typical - they use different names to muddy the waters and make it harder to track your account. I’ve seen other big auto lenders do this exact same thing.

That DocuSign agreement you signed? That’s gold. Courts don’t care about phone calls they claim happened - written contracts beat verbal disputes every single time. If it says they ‘AGREE’ to defer, they can’t repo during that period. End of story.

Your balance jumping to $2,200 screams double-dipping. They’re loading fees and hoping you won’t notice. Fight every charge - demand itemized breakdowns for everything, especially that $680 repo fee. Most states cap repo fees or require them to be reasonable. $680 for a quick grab is straight robbery.

File complaints with your state AG’s consumer protection office and the CFPB. Federal complaints get tracked and Westlake has 15 days to respond. That pressure alone sometimes gets them to settle instead of dealing with regulators breathing down their necks.

Don’t just fight the fees - this whole mess looks like lawsuit material with all their documentation failures.

That Agora/Westlake setup sounds like a complete mess. I’ve been watching the subprime auto lending space, and while Westlake’s known for aggressive collections, your situation is way over the line. Repo’ing your car after you had a signed deferment agreement? That’s a massive red flag :triangular_flag_on_post:

Your documentation is solid gold - that DocuSign agreement where they “AGREE” to defer payment is huge. Most lenders are careful with their wording, so if it says they agree (not “we’ll consider it”), that’s legally binding in most states.

That $680 repo fee looks inflated too. Industry average runs $300-400 unless there were special circumstances. And claiming your debit payment bounced when you paid over the phone? Your bank records should shut that down fast.

This feels like a pattern I’m seeing more - subprime lenders getting nastier as delinquency rates climb. But Westlake might’ve screwed themselves with all these documentation screw-ups. Have you filed complaints with your state’s consumer protection agency? Sometimes that gets their attention way faster than customer service.

What a nightmare. Westlake’s notorious for this crap, but your situation’s even worse than usual. That shell game with Agora is sketchy as hell - they deliberately made it confusing so you’d miss payments.

Document everything now. Keep records of those calls, bank statements showing the debit went through, that DocuSign agreement, all of it. Westlake counts on people not having paperwork or giving up.

That $680 repo fee’s ridiculous. Mine was $350 a few years back after they had my car two weeks. They’re just throwing numbers around hoping you won’t question it.

The bounced payment thing really gets me. You paid by debit over the phone and have bank records showing it cleared - that’s their problem. They can’t claim it bounced and move on. Call your bank for official documentation that the payment processed.

Some people have luck reaching out to local news when lenders pull this stuff. Bad publicity sometimes gets results faster than their customer service maze.