Car Contracts

[Synyster]

So, I'm one of many young people falling into the scam of what is a Car Dealership. The fun part about my story is, the dealership broke many federal laws in the deal they did with me. I, along with at least 10 other people, were pulled into a scam bad enough that the manager of the place reported what was going on to a lawyer. Needless to say, him and the man by his side in this lost their jobs. Another law broken by them. Anyways, this lawsuit has been going on with the dealership for months now. Here's what they told me had happened:

Many people like myself were getting cars when they technically shouldn't have been able to. The finance manager had people going in and signing a different contract for whatever reason. Turns out that reason was them lying to finance companies about our income. With that, they were able to cheat their way into getting us a car. This was all unknown to all the buyers, simply because the finance manager was hiding it by destroying certain documents we should have had knowledge about. To top it off, the finance manager was also arrested for stealing money from the company, and may possibly have stolen the money for my down payment, but there isn't enough evidence for that to be charged unfortunately. 

My situation now: I'm stuck in a car deal that I can't pay. I'm a good month or two behind on payments for it, and I hate it because I never had this issue with my last car. With my last car I made sure to pay a few days ahead and generally paid a little more than what was owed. Now I'm in fear of my credit getting destroyed at an early age and I have no idea what to do. I have been looking for ways to get out of the contract all together with out it damaging my credit or incurring high charges for early cancellation fees, etc. I'm having little luck right now, as it is NOT a lease, but a full on contract, under my name and I owe the finance company. 

 

My plan so far: While researching and trying to find an answer, I am going to contact the lawyer handling the current lawsuit against the company and see if there is a possibility of getting out of the contract all together. Other than that, I've got little to nothing.

 

So, friend of Nerd Fitness, what would you do? What are your experiences? What would you suggest?

 

EDIT: Other helpful information, I live in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. I know laws very state wide when it comes to dealerships, so I figured I should add that in there.

[ride_uphill]

What is the car worth vs. what do you owe?  Couldn't you just sell it and move on?  Even if you had to take a small loss, it may be worth it.  Didn't they tell you what your final payment was going to be each month when you signed the paperwork???

[Synyster]

Yeah I just looked at all that a bit ago actually. Final pay off at this moment is 19,677 and some change I believe. And honestly no, they hardly explained a thing. All it was the whole time was "We got you a better deal!" And finally "We got you the car without a cosigner!" Which at the time seemed great, especially since my schooling was about finished and part of the program I was in was supposed to help with job placement, I really believed it would work out. Then a bunch of other crap came up with the dealership and the deal turned into a nightmare. The car from what I have checked is worth anywhere from 15,000 to 18,000, but maybe..just maybe I will get the chance of one of the many very rich people living here to buy the car from me. I'm going to get it all cleaned up tomorrow and post some pictures on craigslist and see what happens.

[ride_uphill]

Yeah, unless there is actually legal action against the place you bought it from your best bet is just to try to sell it.  Hopefully you can sell it for whatever your payoff is.  The longer you can hang in there, the lower you can price it (obviously haha)... you probably know this, but you can only sell it for less than you owe if you have the cash available to pay off the loan so that the lein holder will release the title and the new owner can get it in their name.  I'm not sure, but you may be able to put the balance on a credit card if you sell it for less than you owe.  5k on a credit card sucks a lot, but it sucks waaaay less than a 19k car you can't afford the payments on.  Or maybe you know someone you could borrow cash from?  Chalk it up to a learning experience and move onwards and upwards! 

[WizardTrip]

One thing you may want to check is what title the finance company has. If the finance manager was having you sign a different contract, what car title were they submitting to the finance company? Selling the car will require you to pay off the entire balance, obtain the title from the finance company, then sign the car over to the buyer. Definitively check with the lawyer working on the case. If you signed a completely different contract than what you were buying, you may not be responsible for the contract and can give up the car.

 

*WizardTrip is not a lawyer, however; he use to sell cars.

[Synyster]

Yeah, unless there is actually legal action against the place you bought it from your best bet is just to try to sell it.  Hopefully you can sell it for whatever your payoff is.  The longer you can hang in there, the lower you can price it (obviously haha)... you probably know this, but you can only sell it for less than you owe if you have the cash available to pay off the loan so that the lein holder will release the title and the new owner can get it in their name.  I'm not sure, but you may be able to put the balance on a credit card if you sell it for less than you owe.  5k on a credit card sucks a lot, but it sucks waaaay less than a 19k car you can't afford the payments on.  Or maybe you know someone you could borrow cash from?  Chalk it up to a learning experience and move onwards and upwards! 

Well, there is definitely a lot of legal action against them at the moment. They're in such a "crisis" from it that they have not been making many sales, and as a result have over flow in their lot and seem to be going down more. I would go the credit card route, but considering my current situation, I would be lucky to qualify for one. I may give it a try though and see what happens! The only one I can possibly borrow from right now would be my parents, and I know they would help so that may be an option depending on how things turn out. Thank you for the help! (:

 

One thing you may want to check is what title the finance company has. If the finance manager was having you sign a different contract, what car title were they submitting to the finance company? Selling the car will require you to pay off the entire balance, obtain the title from the finance company, then sign the car over to the buyer. Definitively check with the lawyer working on the case. If you signed a completely different contract than what you were buying, you may not be responsible for the contract and can give up the car.

 

*WizardTrip is not a lawyer, however; he use to sell cars.

Can you explain it a little further please? Sorry, not trying to be difficult just that the whole different title thing is a little bit confusing to me! But basically, what you are telling me to do is ask the lawyer working on it how the title given to the finance company compares to what I signed for, correct? 

[WizardTrip]

 

 

Can you explain it a little further please? Sorry, not trying to be difficult just that the whole different title thing is a little bit confusing to me! But basically, what you are telling me to do is ask the lawyer working on it how the title given to the finance company compares to what I signed for, correct? 

 

 

Kinda. I would start with the lawyer and see what he says about the whole thing. As for the title, the only reason I bring it up is because it sounds like you signed a different contract than what was submitted to the finance company. If both contracts listed the same car with the same VIN, then the finance company would have gotten the proper title to your car. And thinking it through, this is probably what happened.

 

I'm not 100% sure how the dealership would have pulled this off, but were the terms on the contract you signed different than the terms the finance company would allow??? Or were they simply padding your income on the contract they were submitting to get the finance company to take the contract? Any way I can think of it, the terms the finance company agreed to were based on a falsified contract. If you had falsified your income, you would be fully liable for the car, etc; but since the dealership falsified the contract, to me they are liable. You really need to find out what the lawyer has to say.

 

Now, if you are able to get out of the contract, your next step will be repairing the past dues with the credit bureaus....but one step at a time, talk with the lawyer.

 

*again, WizardTrip is not a lawyer.

[Synyster]

Kinda. I would start with the lawyer and see what he says about the whole thing. As for the title, the only reason I bring it up is because it sounds like you signed a different contract than what was submitted to the finance company. If both contracts listed the same car with the same VIN, then the finance company would have gotten the proper title to your car. And thinking it through, this is probably what happened.

 

I'm not 100% sure how the dealership would have pulled this off, but were the terms on the contract you signed different than the terms the finance company would allow??? Or were they simply padding your income on the contract they were submitting to get the finance company to take the contract? Any way I can think of it, the terms the finance company agreed to were based on a falsified contract. If you had falsified your income, you would be fully liable for the car, etc; but since the dealership falsified the contract, to me they are liable. You really need to find out what the lawyer has to say.

 

Now, if you are able to get out of the contract, your next step will be repairing the past dues with the credit bureaus....but one step at a time, talk with the lawyer.

 

*again, WizardTrip is not a lawyer.

From what the lawyer had told me from the first call and the first face to face visit, the dealership had falsified my income on the contract. They knew what money I was getting, but they lied about it on a different one. The issue with this that they are having is that the finance manager destroyed a lot of documents. I will definitely get a hold of the lawyer and see what he says about it. On the other end of the spectrum, a company that handles "lease assumptions/loan transfers" etc., has said they would help me in selling the car. What the guy had told me was that they would do all the advertising and whatnot, find someone who wants to buy the car, offer them a different monthly payment rate, and if they accept and take the car, their company's bank will pay off what I owe, and then from there it all switches over to the person buying it. So...somewhat like a dealership, only handling it a little more personal I guess you could say? The total cost to me would be $300, which sounds great compared to the other not so great options I have. But, with what all you have mentioned, I will see what the lawyer says first, and if we can work something out that way...even better!

 

Thank you for the advice (:

[ride_uphill]

Sounds like you have leads and options here, that's encouraging!  Keep us updated!

[Synyster]

I will be sure to, thank you!