Another Auto Fraud Response. Yo Yo Set Up?

Q: I purchased a new Jeep and have not received financial information. The dealership is not responding. What action can I take?

I purchased a new Jeep 2 months ago. I have not received any information regarding my loan payments. The dealership made an error on the original contract and I was told I needed to sign a new contract and include my first payment. I have the signed contract of sale.

My Answer:

I would make payments according to the original agreement you have for now so as to not injure your credit. Straighten it out with your lender not the dealer. If it is favorable to you insist on keeping it.

The more important issue to my mind is is this actually an auto fraud YO YO Sale set up? Typically, the dishonest dealer will lure a buyer back into the dealership citing a mistake like this and then present you with a completely different deal, one much more favorable to the dealer than the first. If you do go in, do not bring the Jeep and do bring a friend with you, one who has backbone.

The dealer, that is, is “yo yo-ing” you back to the dealership to pressure you to rescind the contract and adopt a new one undoubtedly with a much higher rate of interest. The “basis” would be that the contract has to be revised anyway to remove the supposedly erroneous calculation. This is of course illegal since you already have a binding contract but most buyers don’t know it, assume the dealer is right and go along with everything.

You do not need to stand for any of this because you already have have signed papers and own the car, subject to making payments only, regardless of whether the vehicle has been financed or the dealer misstated the purchase price. A finance document showing payments, rebates, deposit, interest rate and other financial items is a binding contract, giving you specific legal rights under PA law. The dealer cannot change any of this legally once you have taken possession. The dealership is required to have a title issued to you.

See my article herein entitled “Y is for YO YO Sales” for additional information.

Auto Fraud Question Answered

Jan16

Q: Just signed papers on used car in Devon, Pa. End of day at closing time at a Mercedes-Benz dealer. 11/28/15.

Was advertised as certified & 1 owner. Was told it was bought new at this dealer & serviced throughout its life at this dealer. We were given the car fax report after signing the papers. Looked at the report & saw it wasn’t bought at this dealer. …

My Answer:

Without even referencing the lemon law or other laws regarding auto sales in PA, this is actionable common law fraud of a material nature. It is also in violation of the “catchall” clause of our state UDAP Statute. I believe I know this dealer as a quality operator generally and am very surprised at their behavior in this instance. Sounds to me like some renegade salesman trying desperately to make quota. Why material? Because you
indicate you would not have made the purchase had you known the truth about the car.
Why fraud? Because untrue statements were knowingly made with the intention of causing reliance upon which you reasonably relied in making the purchase. They cooked their own goose by handing you the Carfax only AFTER you signed, showing clear intent to defraud. I would say you have the right to ask for compensation as the remedies for auto fraud can be quite severe (above and beyond actual damages) and can even include reasonable legal fees in a proper case!

Best of luck to you.

More On Yo Yo Auto Sales (Auto Fraud)

Oct20

By Christopher C. Carr, Esq. Chester County bankruptcy attorney.

Tel: 610-380-7969 Email: cccarresq@aol.com

Website:

westchesterbankruptcyattorney.org

I work in autofraud relief for consumers and have posted previously here on YoYo’s. Recently I answered the following question for AVVO:

Q: I bought a new car and 3 days later they said they made a mistake on the contract and need me to come back.

3 days after the contract has been signed with me giving them $10,500 as down payment with a 780 credit score. They said they made a mistake by stating the price of $31,129.00 . They said that was supposed to have been including $2,000.00 in rebates. On the contract is states $31,129.00 and then subtracting my down payment plus $2,000.00 in rebates. Do I have to give them more money and resign a new contract. It states on the contract that once both parties have signed it is binding. Hayden, Idaho

A: It sounds like you are facing a variant of what is called a yo yo sale, also called a “Spot Delivery”, which simply refers to the dealer putting a consumer into a car “on the spot”, to get the sale and take the buyer off the market, only to “yo-yo” them back at a later date to extract additional funds. This then is a variety of the old bait and switch. Played to perfection, a dealer can pocket thousands of extra dollars in unearned fraudulent gain out of a single unsuspecting buyer.

However, because your credit is virtually spotless the dealer cannot employ the usual tactic of stating that your credit was not approved to lure you back in to sign new papers. (Your credit was good or the dealer would not have delivered the car to you at the price you agreed to pay.) That is, I believe that the dealer is doing more than simply trying to cheat you out of a rebate that was extended under a legally binding non conditional contract of sale, he is “yo yoing” you back to the dealership to pressure you to rescind the contract and adopt a new one undoubtedly with a much higher rate of interest. The “basis” would be that the contract has to be revised anyway to remove the supposedly erroneous rebate calculation. This is of course illegal since you already have a binding contract but most buyers don’t know it, assume the dealer is right and go along with everything.

You do not need to stand for any of this because you already have you have signed papers and own the car, subject to making payments only, regardless of whether the vehicle has been financed or the dealer misstated the purchase price. A finance document showing payments, rebates, deposit, interest rate and other financial items is a binding contract, giving you specific legal rights under the laws of your state. The dealer cannot change any of this legally once you have taken possession.

Yoyo sales are a national problem, involving dealer fraud. The usual fraud is making the consumer think the sale was complete, while at the same time the dealer sets it up so that the dealer can call it off, seize the car, and sell it to another purchaser or insist on dealer enhanced terms in a revised contract. A few states already prohibit conditional auto transactions outright, Idaho not being one of them as far as I can see, but even in the ones that have not taken that step, state contract law still protects the vigilant buyer. In your case you were never told that the rebate was conditional, subject to being rescinded or the contract rewritten to change the price. That is, you signed purchase documents and, I assume a registration application; obtained insurance; had a new license plate put on the car and/or had your old plate transferred, so the car belongs to you and the dealer is stuck with the deal they initially made. (The dealer may try the legal argument that the contract was formed based on a mutual mistake but I do not think that will work for reasons that are beyond the scope of this answer.)

Now you state that you have been called back to the dealership to sign certain papers; best not to go at all or if you do, do so in a car other than the one you bought, bring a friend with you if possible and be prepared to resist a browbeating. If the finance manager asks for your papers at any time for any reason, refuse! Keep these documents in a safe place, not in the car. If you leave the papers they will also get them if they get the car. That leads me to my final point. You likely will need to retain a local lawyer with a good understanding of the laws of Idaho pertaining to auto sales to assist you. I say this because your best strategy is to have counsel at the ready to take steps to enforce your legal rights against threats of repossession of the automobile or other dubious tactics to try and get the car back if you do not appear. Best of luck to you and enjoy your new car.

Law Offices of Christopher C. Carr, MBA, P.C., is a quality bankruptcy and debt relief practice, located in Valley Township, west of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, where Attorney Christopher Carr, a Chester County bankruptcy attorney, who has over 30 years if diversified ;egal experience, concentrates on serving the residents of and businesses located within Western Chester County and Eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, including the communities in and around Atglen, Bird in Hand, Caln, Christiana, Coatesville, Downingtown, Eagle, Exton, Fallowfield Gap, Honeybrook, Lancaster, Lincoln University, Modena, New Holland, Parkesburg, Paradise, Ronks, Sadsbury, Thorndale, Valley Township, Wagontown & West Chester, Pennsylvania. If you reside or do business in the area and need assistance with a legal issue, please call Mr. Carr at (610)380-7969 or write him at cccarresq@aol.com today!

The Telltale Signs of an Email Fraud

Feb3

Edited by Jenny Greenhough of Rocket Lawyer | August 10, 2012

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Rocket Lawyer Guest contributor Christopher C. Carr , Esq., MBA on how to spot a fraudulent client or transaction in your inbox. Slightly reedited for this blog publication.

By Christopher C. Carr, Esq. Chester County bankruptcy attorney.

Don’t let a fraudster pull the wool over your eyes.

As discussed in my prior post, attorneys need to stay on alert for collection scams. Even for a savvy attorney, it’s easier to become an unwitting target of fraud than you may realize. For example, publicizing a big win in a lawsuit on your website may indeed bring you new clients, but some of them may actually be intent on profiting from a fraud perpetrated against your firm.

These scams can take on many guises. For example, a few weeks ago I got a very sophisticated scam letter. This time it was purportedly the representative of a Japanese law firm wanting local representation for litigation against debtors in the US. I immediately asked for his bona fides and he wrote back pretending to be insulted by my lack of trust. I then wrote back and explained that I had been taken in before and had lost some $2,000 in such a scheme and had thus adopted a policy whereby my firm holds all payments until final payment is issued to my bank by the depository bank on any settlement check (not just provisional payment because the check can still bounce until honored by the depositary institution).

Needless to say, I never heard from my Japanese “colleague” again.

Reading the signs

Let’s look at some if the identifying marks of this trade:

Typos and other language errors: Note the punctuation errors and idiomatic problems in the text above. These are harbingers of this type of fraud and may actually be intentional for the purpose of hiding the true identity of the author from the authorities. However, the message will virtually always contain typos or non-idiomatic English usage, suggesting that the drafter is not even employed by the institution they claim to represent.
No logos/Crude or Incomplete Logos: Another dead giveaway is a suspiciously “plain” appearance. But don’t use this as your only guide. I have recently begun seeing fake PayPal and even some bank items bearing an authentic looking logo.
International debt collection: The message will nearly always solicit your assistance to collect a debt purportedly owed by some American commercial entity or ex-spouse of a foreign national.
Different names: The account you are supposed to credit with the payment will not be in the same name as your client. There may be some excuse like “it’s my mother’s account and she has a different last name than mine.”
Urgency: Anyone who pressures you to pay them however gently or subtlety should be immediately suspect; it means they’re trying to get paid before you receive notice of final payment.
Slow build-up: Sometimes the scammers take a different route: they actually pay a couple of checks for smaller amounts to lull you into a false sense of security. Then they float a big rubber check with a reason like: “We are in a cash flow crunch, would you please pay us early just this once because you are holding up a lot of our money.” If you fall for it, the check bounces and they are never heard from again.
Righteous indignation: When you express doubt about their claims or start asking questions, they respond as if they’re offended. In actuality, they’re trying to make you doubt your own better judgment.
Reality check: As always if it seems to be too good to be true, it probably is!

So how do you test for legitimacy?

If you see any of the telltale signs above or anything else that makes you suspicious, make sure you:

Check their IP address. It should be in the same location as they claim.
Ask them to wait until you are notified of final payment. Just watch for the “slow build-up trick”.
Ask for their ID. Make sure it’s legitimate, and do some in depth Internet research as well to see if the company they claim association with is legit and has a real address where they say it is.

If you use caution, common sense, and follow the tips above, you should be able to spot a scammer without too much trouble. The old adage applies: IF IT SEEMS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT MOST LIKELY IS. Otherwise, you and your family or coworkers could find yourself the victim of a home-shattering or firm-busting fraudulent transaction.
About the Author

Mr. Carr blogs regularly on debt and bankruptcy topics at https://christophercarrlaw.wordpress.com/.

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“CAN I GET MY CAR BACK AFTER REPOSSESSION BY FILING BANKRUPTCY”? (THE LETTER “Y” IS FOR YO-YO AUTO SALES}

Dec2

By Christopher C. Carr, Esq. Chester County bankruptcy attorney.

Tel: 610-380-7969 Email: cccarresq@aol.com

Website:

westchesterbankruptcyattorney.org

A yo-yo sale is a consumer vehicle purchase under a valid signed agreement of installment sale which is followed, days or weeks later, by a phone call from a sales person at the agency that sold the vehicle who states that the consumer must return the vehicle, get a co-signer for the loan or sign new paperwork typically because, “the financing fell through.” Of course, this is impossible because the financing was locked in before the car was ever delivered but even so the befuddled consumer will fall for this line and present himself and his vehicle at the dealership for a new round of negotiations.

The way this scheme plays out the dishonest dealer will either negotiate more favorable terms after the fact or to repossess the car and resell it. With touch ups to the paint and an (illegal) odometer rollback, he may be able to pass it off as brand new. While yoyo sales are actually quite illegal under various federal and also state laws, they are quite prevalent especially in economic downturns. And they can result in the loss of your vehicle to repossession and oftentimes with it all the valuable property you left within it.

With the help of a skilled attorney, Yoyo’s can often be prevented especially if reported right away so they can be documented while in progress. However, you must still at least pay according to the original terms of the installment agreement or the vehicle can legitimately be repossessed by the dealer or the creditor.

Oftentimes, the Yo-yo victim, not knowing what to do or where to turn will simply stop paying his or her car payment entirely. This is a very bad idea because they will have then not complied with the terms of the original agreement and have lost most if not all of the ammunition needed to fight the Yo-yo legally but also will ultimately lose the vehicle as well to the repo man. What remedies may be left to help you to get your car back in such a situation? Well, bankruptcy may still help, to a greater or lesser degree, depending on whether you elect to proceed under a chapter 13 or a 7.

SO, CAN I GET MY CAR BACK AFTER REPOSSESSION BY FILING A CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCY?

If your car has already been taken out of your driveway, and if it has not yet been sold, you can get the car back in a Chapter 13. See Note 1 below. You will not need to come current (as you do in a Chapter 7, see below), but will just have to be able to make regular Chapter 13 car payments, which will almost always be smaller than the payments that you were making before filing. See Note 2 below for an example of how the car payments can be reduced. You usually also have to pay a reasonable repossession fee, these range in the hundreds of dollars, and wait anywhere from one week to a couple of months before getting it back.

Most vehicle lenders will return a car voluntarily once you file a chapter 13 (provided the car is not already sold) if you show adequate insurance. This policy generally must include collision and name the finance company as a loss payee, i.e. the policy must mention the loan companyby name as the entity which gets paid first in the event of a loss or claim.

But why deal with the delay, inconvenience, added expense and potential damage to your car and/or loss of personal property involved in a typical repossession? A Chapter 13 filed before the repo man does his dirty work is your best bet.

CALL ME IF YOU ARE BEHIND IN PAYMENTS AND WE CAN AVOID THIS NASTY SCENARIO AND LOWER YOUR PAYMENTS TO BOOT. See Note 2 below.

BUT, CAN I ALSO GET MY CAR BACK AFTER REPOSSESSION BY FILING A CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY:

In a Chapter 7, no, you cannot get the car back without the creditor’s permission because chapter 7 involves liquidation of the debtor’s non-exempt property. The only way that most creditors are going to agree to return your car to you is if you are able to catch up on the payments right away and sometimes the creditor will not even accept this but will accelerate the note and demand the entire balance due and owing on the vehicle. So, there is virtually no difference between this and not filing at all in terms of what you have to pay.

A Chapter 7 filed before repossession will stop the repo man temporarily, but it won’t take long for the creditor to get the court’s permission for relief from the stay and take the car anyway. The only sure way to save a car is in a Chapter 13, unless you can find a way to pay the value of the car in one lump sum but if you can chances are you probably aren’t thinking about bankruptcy.

Note 1: In Pennsylvania where I practice, you can stop the repo man from coming on your property to take your car if you are watchful enough to spot him in the act. That is trespass. It is however suggested that if you meet with resistance, you call 911 and summon the local constabulary rather than attempt to defend the property yourself. This of course is not true for a sheriff who enters upon real properly with a valid writ of execution or if your car is parked on a public thoroughfare or in the parking area of your apartment building, since you do not own it.

Note 2: For instance, let’s say you have a car that is worth $15,000.00, on which you still owe $20,000, and are paying $519.00 per month at 19% interest on a 60 month note. (This is only an example…every situation will vary.) I can always lower the interest rate down to 2 or 3 points above the prime rate and in many cases, assuming you have owned the vehicle long enough; we can set the payments based on the $15,000 valuation, rather than the $20,000 debt.

In this example, the monthly payments would be reduced to roughly $380.00, for a savings of $139 per month or a whopping $8,325 over the life of the loan, (based on the WSJ prime rate quote for 11/8/2012 of 3.25 plus 2% Risk Factor or 5.25% total.) If we are able to drop the loan down to $15,000 the payment would be only about $285 per month, for a savings of $234 per month. The same thing applies to boats, RV’s, motorcycles, motor homes, appliances, furniture, electronics, and any other secured property, except for primary residences.

I also provide Mortgage Modification Services.

Other lawyers asking “Y” include:

Photo by takomabiblilot

Christopher Carr, Esq. on Debt Relief

A Frank Discussion of Debtor's Rights & Consumer Bankruptcy

Category Archives: Rip Offs

Another Auto Fraud Response. Yo Yo Set Up?

Q: I purchased a new Jeep and have not received financial information. The dealership is not responding. What action can I take?

My Answer:

Auto Fraud Question Answered

Q: Just signed papers on used car in Devon, Pa. End of day at closing time at a Mercedes-Benz dealer. 11/28/15.

My Answer:

More On Yo Yo Auto Sales (Auto Fraud)

The Telltale Signs of an Email Fraud

“CAN I GET MY CAR BACK AFTER REPOSSESSION BY FILING BANKRUPTCY”? (THE LETTER “Y” IS FOR YO-YO AUTO SALES}

Q: I purchased a new Jeep and have not received financial information. The dealership is not responding. What action can I take?

My Answer:

Rate this:

Q: Just signed papers on used car in Devon, Pa. End of day at closing time at a Mercedes-Benz dealer. 11/28/15.

My Answer:

Rate this:

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