Car Dealership Scammers
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Car Dealership Scammers
I financed a vehicle from a dealership smaller one on my town and it has been nothing but problems. My 30 day tags expired 2/18 and I have been trying to get them to get my hard tags but they keep coming up with excuses stalling. They claimed they couldnt give me a copy of the contract I signed because I would get a copy of it from the finance company in the mail. When I got ahold of the finance company for the contract, I see the clerk from the dealership took the copy of the itemization of deductions I signed out and signed my name herself and spelled it wrong, everything else was my signature. Now, they are trying to charge me $422 for my hard tags This does not include property taxes by the way. On my contract, I paid for the title fee, license fee, and documentation fees. A friend of mine who works for a larger car dealership said I should not be paying out of pocket for tags if I was charged those fees but even if so definitely not that much. Also, when I finally got ahold of someone at the dealership they told me that the title had not been reassigned yet so that is why they couldn’t get my tags from the DMV. So if the title was still registered to the previous owner, how did they sell me the vehicle? I have a vehicle I can not legally drive because I do not have legal plates. Any advice on how I should proceed?
Asked on March 8, 2017 under Business Law, North Carolina
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Yes--sue them for breach of contract (violating their agreement, e.g. in regard to what you'd have to pay for; and not providing you title to the vehicle) and fraud (lying about what they could or would do). You can bring this matter on an "emergent" (think: "urgent" or "emergency") basis to get into court quicker while seeking a court order that they do transfer ownership to you and do anything else (or pay for any costs) they are supposed to. Filing actions on an emergent basis is more complicated than filing a "regular" lawsuit: you should retain an attorney to help you. It's important to do this on an emergent basis, since that can get you into court--that is, get a resolution--in weeks, not many months.
In the meantime, don't drive the car if you can't drive it legally. If you have to rent a car to drive, include that cost in your lawsuit.
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Yes--sue them for breach of contract (violating their agreement, e.g. in regard to what you'd have to pay for; and not providing you title to the vehicle) and fraud (lying about what they could or would do). You can bring this matter on an "emergent" (think: "urgent" or "emergency") basis to get into court quicker while seeking a court order that they do transfer ownership to you and do anything else (or pay for any costs) they are supposed to. Filing actions on an emergent basis is more complicated than filing a "regular" lawsuit: you should retain an attorney to help you. It's important to do this on an emergent basis, since that can get you into court--that is, get a resolution--in weeks, not many months.
In the meantime, don't drive the car if you can't drive it legally. If you have to rent a car to drive, include that cost in your lawsuit.
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