ComplaintsforMonterra Credit Union

• Initial Complaint

  02/24/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am not liable for this debt of $8402.00 with San Mateo Credit Union. I do not have a contract with MONTRACU, they did not provide me with the original contract as requested.

  Business response

  02/26/2024

  Based on the information provided in this complaint, it appears this member has  loans that are outstanding with the credit union.  For security reasons I cannot provide loan agreements on a public platform.   

  I reviewed notes on this account as far back as 2012. I do not see a request for copies of the documents, but do have notes of conversations with member in 2018-2019 acknowledging the debt owed. 

  ****************** may contact our Financial Assistance Director, ************************* at ************ for any additional information/documentation.  We will need to verify the individual writing this complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  04/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  San Mateo credit Union charged the estate of my deceased family member late fees monthly, despite being advised of death , sent death certificate x2 ( which they later denied receiving), ignored letters and creditors claim sent by attorney, threatened grieving family member with foreclosure vs completing simple creditors claim

  Business response

  04/19/2023

  We previously responded to ****************** regarding the circumstances surrounding this matter. 
  **** received government notification of her relative being deceased as of April 2022. We did not receive any further information from the estate until October 2022. 
  At that point we learned who the attorney was representing the estate.  We reached out to the attorney several times without any response to obtain the death certificate.  By tracking the court records, in October we then learned that ****************** was the named administrator.   We contacted her on 10/24/2022 to obtain the death certificate and it was received two days later.  Once we received the official letters from the court in November that Ms. ************* had full authority, we reached out to her again as we still could not reach the attorney representing the estate. She asked that all communication go through her attorney, which we honored.
  We recognize that for someone in this situation, the process of handling the affairs of a lost loved one can be daunting. Our goal was to move the process forward and minimize more trauma. We were  just attempting to find clarity of the intentions of the estate.
  In most similar situations, the family usually reaches out to address maintaining the property/accounts. We try to respect the emotions that family may be experiencing and wait a respectful period before addressing the survivors.   In this instance, six months went by before anything was addressed.  At this point the home has been sold and the secondary loan outstanding has been forgiven. 
  We again apologize for any misperception ****************** may have had in this situation. As I stated in my previous communication If she needs further clarification she can address with me directly.

  Customer response

  04/24/2023

   
  Complaint: 19925933
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Customer response

  04/24/2023

  The response I sent was only partial and I sent written response and attachments in my email 

  Good Afternoon. 
  
  
  i think the documents i had attached to my response were larger than allowed. 
  When I went back to edit, I accidentally sent without my written response, and some of the more poignant documents. 
  
  
  
  
  Complaint: 19925933
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  "We previously responded to ****************** regarding the circumstances surrounding this matter.
  **** received government notification of her relative being deceased as of April 2022. We did not receive any further information from the estate until October 2022.
  At that point we learned who the attorney was representing the estate. " 
  
  Response:
  This is inaccurate, SMCU filed a creditors claim in 6/2022 with the court. Attached.
  At this time death certificate sent and  SMCU had been in contact with my attorney ***********************.
  I called the credit union in May, 2022, however, since I did not have any legal standing to the account, the customer service rep who answered the phone would not discuss things further and advised me to  bring in documentation of executor or administrator ( which I did not have due to the delays in the court.).
  
  "We contacted her on 10/24/2022 to obtain the death certificate and it was received two days later.  Once we received the official letters from the court in November that Ms.  ******* had full authority, we reached out to her again as we still could not reach the attorney representing the estate. She asked that all communication go through her attorney, which we honored." 
  response:
  This is inaccurate. I sent it the *** it was requested, 10/24/22. I sent to *********************, within an hour after she called me. The request to contact my attorney was not honored. She sent a cease and desist letter. Even after she it, I received weekly letters to my home in ******* demanding payments.
  I was not appointed administrator until 11/09/22.
  I have been advised by legal counsel to pay all debts  only after creditors claims filed. SMCU failed to file subsequent creditors claim with the court, limiting me legally to  submit a payment.
  I was legally UNABLE to access funds from the estate until I had been appointed administrator. This included the funds in the checking account at SMCU. I did not have access to, and when i requested them ( 3x before it was honored), it was sent to my attorney, in her name and her address in **********.
  As the attorney, she is not the administrator, and I had difficulty having a bank in ******* accepting the cashiers check.
  
  "We were  just attempting to find clarity of the intentions of the estate." 
  
  Not accurate, every verbal and written communication was harassment to pay. There were many legal issues involved, and the intention of the estate was to follow the legal guidelines.
  
  "We again apologize for any misperception ****************** may have had in this situation. As I stated in my previous communication If she needs further clarification she can address with me directly. "
  
  - I did not have any misperception.  I find this insulting.
  I was harassed, cease and desist from attorney ignored, correspondence from my attorney with subsequent creditors claims forms sent ignored and not filed. 
  
  I have attached email correspondence with *********************,  copies of communication with ***********************, copies ( not all - as i mentioned, these arrived weekly,  initial creditors claimed filed, letter i sent with my concerns with more inaccuracies and blaming me).
  Clearly, SMCU  continues to stand by this harassment as a business practice, with lack of empathy and a basic understanding of probate in San Mateo County. I have had NO control over these process, (there was not a legal will in place at the time of my aunts death), or the delays with the court appointing administrator, a process I began in May, 2022.
  I am requesting the late fees  for  July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, ********* and March back to the estate. Total =$410.76.
  Clearly, **** was aware of the circumstances once the first creditors claim was filed and it was satisfied.
  **** appears to be trying to profit from the estate of a deceased elderly person, who retired from San Mateo *************** and lived in the county for 50 years.
  
  I have many other documents I can send, however, this limits how many I can attach. 
  I hope BBB can assist, so other family members are not put through similar treatment.
  
  thank you for your attention to this matter.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Business response

  05/15/2023

  I have reviewed ********************** response and if she would like to discuss it further, I'd appreciate her calling me directly at ************. I am sure we can come to an amicable resolution. 

  Customer response

  05/15/2023

   
  Complaint: 19925933
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
    I do not know who is writing contact me directly.  
  I have found previous communications with SMCU to include many inaccuracies, blaming, and filled with inconsistencies. Contacting a bereaved family member and threatening foreclosure AFTER receiving a cease and desist, is one of the many reasons for the lack of trust.

  As stated, I am requesting the estate be credited back the late fees that were charged monthly.  I had NO access to the estate funds ( including the funds in the checking account at this institution), nor the legal standing to pay the debt. The credit union has multiple creditors claims sent to be filed as means to collect the outstanding balance.  This  not arbitrary on my part, instead following the probate terms and conditions. SMCU appears to seek profit from the elderly, &deceased. I will not engage in a phone conversation without meditator present. If you are willing to reach an agreement, send a refund for the late fees as requested. 
  

  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  05/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This bank ran my credit twice when every employee assured me that cudl will not rerun my credit. I am extremely disappointed how they miss handled my credit check. I spoke to three employees and everyone assured me it wont be reran again. Also the San Mateo branch lost my automatic payment form. Another disappointment. I want them to remove one credit check

  Business response

  05/23/2022

  ****************,

  I have reviewed the activity on your account and can see that there was an inquiry from the branch when you went to open your membership, as well as one from the dealer.  Removing an inquiry is a manual process and we have initiated the process to remove one of the inquiries. We do not control the timing with how Experian processes our request.

  Another method to quickly have Experian respond is to address directly with them (to dual track).   You can contact them directly at Experian.com. This is likely a faster way to get the duplicate inquiry deleted. 

   

  If you have additional questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly at ************.

   

  *************************

   

• Initial Complaint

  02/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  San Mateo credit union bank continues to defraud my deceased wife's who passed August 29th, 2021, by refusing to close out her accounts and continued to charge maintenance fees after husband and court trustee of the estate submitted documentation and requested that her accounts be closed. I've spoken with *****, ******* ****** *************************, and ***** in the financial department, which hindered my closing of my deceased wife's account. These individuals have refused to give me information after I've sent verification that I am the court trustee of my wife's estate. Moreover, being misleading on count payments to collect late fees, payment transactions and other effects to charge and defraud account.

  Business response

  02/15/2022

  2/13/22

  ***********************
  ******************************************************************** 92519

   

  **************,

  First, let me offer my sincere in the loss of your wife.

  I am writing this letter in response to the complaint you filed with the Better Business Bureau. To better address your complaint, I will review our processes to date as well as next steps.

  Our records show *********************** passed away in August, we realize that it does take time to gather the documentation that is needed for the Letter of Administration and the appointment of the Administrator. While we had periodic conversations with you regarding the death of your wife, the Death Certificate was not provided to SMCU until December while the Letter of Administration was provided in January.

  Our records also show that on October 8, 2021, you requested that we do not initiate any phone calls to you. While this is unusual, we noted your request and have continued to honor that request.

  On February 2, 2022, you called and spoke with our Sr. ********* Assistance Manager regarding closing the membership completely. The structure of a credit union requires all loans to be paid in full before a membership can be closed.  You were advised that the checking account could be closed once we received verification of your identity. In addition to providing a copy of your Driver License, the process includes completion of the Fiduciary Signature card which facilitates updating the legal ownership of the account   from the deceased to the Fiduciary Account with you as Administrator Because you live out of the area, we will mail you the additional required forms to update the account and to close the checking account.

  Once the documents to change the membership are returned, it will then be under the Fiduciary Account ownership with the  Home Equity Line of Credit (*****) remaining open until the loan is paid off or refinanced. Advances on the ***** are no longer an option as of the date of your wifes passing. If you have any questions regarding the *****, I would be happy to talk to you about payment and/or however we can assist you in during this difficult time.

  In response to your assertion of excessive fees being charged, I reviewed   the account activity and did not find any excessive fees being charged on either the checking or the Home Equity loan (*****).  In fact, there are no fees at all being assessed on these accounts.  Now that you provided the required documents including your ID and the Letter of Administration, we would be happy to provide an account history showing all activity on the membership accounts.   We can mail the information, however it may be helpful to you if we walked through the statements together. Either way, we are here to help. Please feel free to call me directly at ************** so that we can discuss the accounts.

  You will receive a follow up letter addressing next steps.

  Sincerely,

  *************************

  VP/Credit Risk

   

   

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩