Legal Question in Consumer Law in Oregon

Forged signature on service contract

I signed a third party service contract through a dealership when I purchased my car in June. I have the signed contract. My car is currently at a repair facility needing repair and I find out they've never sent the contract into the service company. Many phone calls later, they tell me it's all worked out. Next day, I receive in the mail, a copy of a signature page from a new contract. This new contract has my name but it's a different contract number with a different plan type listed on it. Where the signatures should be, it's blacked out. So I call the service company and find out they've sent in a new contract for me, changing my plan to a lesser plan, one that covers less, yet has a higher deductible. I told them I never signed for a different plan and they tell me there is a signature on it. I ask them to fax it to me. My name is signed in the space they blacked out on the copy they sent me, only it's very clearly, NOT my signature. I called and tried to speak to the owners of the dealership but neither called me back. Their assistant called me to tell me that they put the wrong terms on the first contract so they sent in another one. How should I proceed? What they did is clearly illegal.

thank you.


Asked on 8/29/07, 8:17 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Daniel Meek Daniel W. Meek

Re: Forged signature on service contract

Yes, they are acting illegally. Demand full payment for your car repairs, as provided for by the original agreement. If the dealership refuses, file a complaint in Small Claims Court (for claims of up to $5,000) and get a judgment against it. They will probably not bother to defend in court. Then you can use the judgdment to attach the dealership's bank account and get paid.

There are many attorneys who specialize in "collections." Once you get judgment in small claims court, you might want to hire one of those attorneys in order to really get your money.

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Answered on 8/29/07, 8:28 pm
Elizabeth Powell ELizabeth Powell PS Inc

Re: Forged signature on service contract

Forgery is a crime. If I were looking at what you describe I would urge you to call the Attorney general's office. Who knows if this dealership and or this service contractor has pulled this stunt before and gotten away with it. The sooner you contact the AG, the better.

The police won't care because no one is in immediate danger, but this is what the AG's consumer division does.

Also, the small claims jurisdictional limit in WA is $4K, not $5K. And you can't prosecute a fraud claim in small claims.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell

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Answered on 8/30/07, 11:08 am


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