question re: laws protecting consumers financing auto...

[pain]

Hi there

Ok here is the deal.. my husband and I were in a pickle financially and therefore had to get our car at a buy here pay here dealership.

We just made our 2nd payment on it.. so we haven't had it that long.

However we just found out that the transmission is shot and will be undriveable in a matter of days.

Now.. #1.. when we go tthe car the lady specifically said : we technically can not finance, there fore can not charge a finance charge so we will add a few hundred onto the price of your car to cover our costs"

 

I guess my biggest question is... are we protected against any deceptive trade? fair credit? type of laws?

We live in NC if that helps at all...

I have been searching all over the internet for info and am getting so flusterred I thought I would ask all of you wonderfully smart credit guru's

 

Please any help you can offer... even a link to a site.. anything!

Thank You

Erin

[MarvBear]

Erin: did you sign a contract stipulating monthly payments or weekly payment or bi weekly payments.?

[pain]

technically I guess so.

We have 1 piece of paper that says the following:

Our names, address, etc..

the ammount of payments monthly and then the bottom portion says that we agree that if any payment is not made they may take repossession of the vehicle.

And it is signed by my husband.

 

So... it does have the monthly payments listed on there, but the actual term that we are signing to says that if we fail to make payments we agree that the car can be repo'd...

 

Why? What are you thinking?

 

Let me tell you what I am thinking... Truth in Lending Act prevents deceptive sales practices. And it is very obvious that the car place knew that the transmission was bad/goingbad... does this law protect me in any way?

Thanks in advance for any info...

Erin

[MarvBear]

Is there a Regulation Z box on the contract your hubby signed. The Reg Z box will contain the APR followed by the finance charge followed by the Amount Financed followed by the Total of Payments, followed by the Total Sale Price. It should be rather conspicuous on the face of the contract.

[pain]

Ok.. the contract does have the TILA disclosures...

 

APR-0

Finance Chg - 0

Ammount Financed is the price we pd.

But this is because when we pchs'ed the car she said she was not able to actually charge finance chg's therfore tacked an additional $500 onto the price of the car to cover her costs...

[MarvBear]

I do not know if there is a violation of TILA. Usually if you have signed an 'AS IS" disclaimer, then you may have no recourse.

 

I have called the consumer protection forum for assistance.

 

Pls stand by.

[pain]

standing by thank you so much

[four20nik]

Yep...marv is right...the AS IS doc releases them from liability.

 

lemme do some more digging.

[pain]

Do we have to have signed anything saying as is...?

We never did if that helps..

[four20nik]

Marv would know better than me. I remember always seeing the as-is paper in our docs we keep when purchaseing a used car....and I THINK we signed it....but cant remember for sure.

[pain]

Well.. I just called the place we bought it from and basically scared the crap out of this lady to a point that she is at least willing to talk about letting me take the money paid on our car and turn it over to another vehicle in the lot with the same deal...

I don't know if talking about it and doing it will be equally the same.. but we will see.

The one loophole I found in the contract is where it says that it is supposed to be notarized and wasn't.. so that was some minor ammunition.

I guess I am going to go down there and see what happens... please if you have any additional info.. it sure can help.

[MarvBear]

have to go to Doctor's office. well get back to you later, if I am still alive.

[MarvBear]

FWIW, all used vehicle sold Must have a "Buyers Guide" commonly referred to as an "as is" sticker in the window conspicuously advising the consumer of the warranty status of the automobile.

 

You must sign this form and be presented with a copy for your records and the dealer will likewise keep a copy for his records.

 

I wish I had one at the house here tonite and I would throw one up for you to look at and make sure you know what it is to look for.

 

I will see about doing that tomorrow as time allows.

[pain]

Ok guys

We never signed or were given anything that says as is... so I went down there as I stated before and threw myself around a little telling her you didn't give me this, that.. etc.. and that the APR must have been put in the TILA disclosures which they weren't.. so I threw that at her.

I told her to take a course in credit education

Anyway.. got a car that was about 1300 more for the same deal with all of my money transferred over from the POC car that I returned.

I bought an extended warantee on the car just in case this should be of normal practices for this business...(covering my own butt here) and hope all will be well.

 

I can't thank you guys enough because I even had to take 16 hours of testing for credit compliance for my job and still didn't think to look at the TILA disclosures.. and the fact that she didn't do what she was supposed to do just saved me from being trapped in a car I couldn't drive

[MarvBear]

Contratulations. Ya did good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pain]

I work for GE consumer finance... and had to take hours of compliance testing.. although still new at the job, I have a wealth of info in my head somewhere.. so if there is anything I can do for anyone.. just give me a shout

Thanks again.

[shreveport]

Nice job.

 

Glad it worked out.

 

Dan