ATLANTA — Federal regulators stepped in last year after a Channel 2 Action News investigation exposed wrongdoing by an Atlanta financial company called GreenSky, but customers are reporting the company is still a chronic problem.
The settlement says GreenSky broke federal law. They are legally bound by this agreement to pay back millions to customers that were wronged and change the way they do business.
But Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray found dozens of new official complaints about GreenSky to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Andrea Carlomusto told Gray that she thought the calls would finally end when Atlanta-based GreenSky agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement with federal regulators last summer, but they didn’t.
“It’s constant harassment. It’s just your heart jumps every 2 seconds,” Carlomusto said. “They call pretty much every hour-and-a-half, every 2 hours.”
GreenSky provides loans directly to vendors or merchants, not the customers.
In a series of Channel 2 Action News investigations last year, we introduced you to GreenSky customers like Della Patterson.
She signed up for a GreenSky loan she didn’t want by a roofer for work that was never done.
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“Sometimes I just lay up in the bed and cry, and wonder why they do me like that,” Patterson said.
Richard Lucia ended up with a 27% interest rate on the GreenSky loan for his septic system.
“They guaranteed me it wouldn’t be any more than 3%,” Lucia said.
In Carlomusto’s case, it was dental surgery. She said she never agreed to an $18,000 loan for a procedure she never had.
“When I called GreenSky and told them I didn’t sign off for this, I didn’t know what was going on, can you please refund it, they said no,” Carlomusto said.
Last summer, federal regulators at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stepped in, slapping GreenSky with a multimillion-dollar weldment agreement for violating federal law.
GreenSky is agreeing to pay back $9 million to customers harmed by its illegal conduct.
In March, banking giant Goldman Sachs bought GreenSky for $2.2 billion.
But a check of the CFPB database shows that Carlomusto is not alone -- there have still been dozens more similar complaints filed after that legal settlement with regulators.
A Goldman Sachs spokesperson sent Gray a quote, saying:
“We take concerns raised by our customers very seriously and work to make sure the service provided to them by their merchants is in line with our core values so that their experience is simple, transparent and provides value.”
“I have zero intention on paying anything. I will file bankruptcy before I do,” Carlomusto said.
Channel 2 Action News also reached out to those federal regulators at the CFPB. The sent in a statement, saying:
“We have dedicated units in Enforcement and Supervision working on detecting repeat offenses and corporate recidivists and to better hold them accountable. This includes scrutiny to ensure orders are being followed and closer coordination with partner agencies to ensure that each agency’s orders are not treated as suggestions.”
CFPB told Gray that consumers can file official complaints online or by phone.
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