In May of 2010, I found their contact information on my credit report, as they'd listed my debt as $18,600 (original loan amount) "bad debt charge off." I called them, they stated they hadn't "had time" to contact me regarding my debt. I made payment arrangements with them, and they promised to send me all the account information, including amount owing and contract. They stated they would update my credit report with the amount actually owed and my monthly payments, if paid on time. They never contacted me.

I called them in July of 2010 and they stated it was my responsibility to keep contacting them if they didn't contact me. He stated there was no written contract. He stated that they were under no obligation to update my credit until the balance was paid in full. I filed a dispute with the Better Business Bureau and with the Federal Trade Commission. Two days later, Santander offered me a settlement of $3458.40, to be paid in monthly installments of $144.10 for 24 months. At that time, my credit score was 618, as the charge-off on my credit report was 3 years old.

I have made $482.30 in payments from July 2010 to October 2010. In those four months, Santander has added an $18,600 bad debt charge-off every single month, dropping my credit score to 550. The most recent hit on my credit from them was Friday, November 12, 2010.

I called them on Nov 15, 2010 and they said they would fix my credit once the debt was paid in full. They also have no record of the settlement offer they made me in July of 2010. The money I've sent them has gone to interest and hasn't dropped my balance at all.

I would like to bring your attention to the complaints about them on various websites, and the fact that the Better Business Bureau is investigating them for over 1,200 complaints. They are also named in a current lawsuit with a Ponzi scheme involving over 50 billion dollars of bad investments.