my girlfriend signed a lease agreement last week on a new vehicle. didn't have much credit history and was in fairly immediate need of a vehicle when her old one pooped out and would cost more than it's worth to repair it. against my suggestion, she decided to put $1k down to secure the lease (part of the cap cost reduction included first month payment). i think the price of the vehicle was fair, she didn't get taken to the cleaners on it. today, however, she received a call from the finance department manager that worked the papers with her upon signing, saying that the financing fell through and she needs to come in to do more paperwork to get everything lined up and what not. Online, i've read that this is a day-in-day-out scam to scare people (especially seniors) into thinking that the dealer will take the car back unless you come in and rework the terms. Question is 1) have any of you heard about this? 2) anyone have suggestions on how to handle it? I've got an attorney friend that is willing to call and inquire as to the nature of the issue at hand. We have a copy of the contract, signed by both parties. And, she's already begun paperwork for filing complaints to the AG office and local BBB.
Start shopping for a another car elsewhere. Don't return the car until the dealer produces a money order for every penny she has paid to date. Tell them you want them to fax you a copy of the money order before you bring the car back. Typically this scam is called de-horsing because the dealer will take your trade and sell it before calling to tell you financing didn't work out. At that point you have very few options and are more likely to accept their pricey new loan terms. Your GF's car died, which did half the work for them. Tell them you're out of town, but you'll be back next week to come in and sign the new papers. In the mean time, go find another car. Also, forget the AG. Go straight to TxDOT and the Department of Motor Vehicles. These are the people that supervise auto dealers and have the right to penalize a dealer or even pull their license. Auto Dealer Complaints Bernard
thanks for the suggestion on contacting TxDOT. I didn't know they oversaw dealers. I don't think this is a de-horsing case, since there was no trade-in done at sales agreement time. Only a cap cost reduction/down payment. As for the credit issue I mentioned, it's not that she has bad credit (had enough to be pre-qualified for a respectable mortgage recently); just not a very long established record, since she hadn't carried any loans of significance. The dealer is out of the way for her to travel to, and we're heading out of town this week, so she's going to ask for a faxed copy of the revised contract they would like her to sign, have our attorney friend look it over, then stall a bit to see how much they want to pursue the spot delivery scam.
Let them know that your attorney is looking it over and that you will be needing a copy of the certified money order first for when you get back in town. When you do email them accidentally include a link to the definition of the scam.
I think i would just ignore them. If you signed the papers, got registration papers, got insurance on the car, etc how can they turn around and take the car back? I would look at the copy of the papers she signed and if there is nothing about "in case the financing falls through" I would just tell them to jump off a bridge.
It may be a scam, but it might not be. There are several lenders who have started engaging in the practice of approving a loan, including some conditional language in the approval, and then changing their minds later and justifying it by pointing to the conditional language. It happens more often with mortgages, but it also happens with auto lending. Wells Fargo and Bank of America are two of the more well-known revokers. There was a "7 On Your Side" blurb about it on the Austin news recently. I know for a fact that there are several dealerships on the Motor Mile North that ignore anything from Wells Fargo that isn't a confirmation of funding. That being said, having a good lawyer check it out for you is the best thing to do.
