Legal Question in Consumer Law in Pennsylvania

Car dealership paid off the incorrect loan

Hi,

In June 2007, we traded in a SUV for a different SUV. At the trade in time, we expected the first SUV, the Suzuki, to be paid off as this is what usually happens and what they said.

We have 2 other car loans (3 vehicles). We specified which is for the Suzuki (and the VIN specifies)

The car dealership paid off the incorrect loan. I found this out yesterday, 2 months after purchase. Our car loan (for an uninvolved car in the trade) is paid in full & checks are being returned to us - & they have the title to this car) My Suzuki loan is late - and I found this out after 30 days, so it has affected my credit. Yesterday I had to pay 3 payments worth to get up to par while this is worked out.

What are our options here? I will make them payoff the Suzuki loan and all fees, but my credit can't be magically repaired (I know it can be removed from my report but the score doesn't always rebound right away). Legally, where does that leave us with the car they have the title to? If they can reopen it, are we legally required to pay it back? Morally, yes, but I'm not sure what we should do here to protect ourselves. Who knows if they will even release the title to the car loan if we reopen it at this point!

Thanks!


Asked on 8/15/07, 4:02 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Maxwell S. Kennerly The Beasley Firm

Re: Car dealership paid off the incorrect loan

What a mess!

Technically, your claim is breach of contract. Under your agreement with the dealership, the Suzuki was to be paid off, and the dealer failed to perform, and indeed interfered in your other relations. It's the dealers job to put you back where you would have been had they not messed up.

You seem reasonably knowledgeable about what to do (i.e., spend a lot of time on the phone politely but firmly asking everyone to clear this mess up), so I will jump to the credit and the other vehicle.

Regarding the credit, if you are not about to apply for credit, you likely don't need to worry about your credit score in the interim. If you are worried, you can file a dispute with the credit bureaus which will have that account marked as "disputed" whenever your potential competitor pulls your credit report. As a tip, even though it was clearly the fault of the dealer that you missed the payments on the Suzuki, the credit bureaus may not remove the late payment from your report unless the creditor that reported it agrees. So, you might want to preserve a good relationship with that creditor.

Regarding the other car, this mess was obviously a mistake, and the dealer is not entitled to your other car nor are you entitled to free payments for it. This was the dealer's mistake, so they need to be the one to fix it by reimbursing you for the payments you made on the Suzuki, correcting title, and putting you back in the correct position with the other car.

As always, if a business starts dragging their feet and refusing to help you, you can tell them that they need to shape up or you'll report them to the BBB.

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Answered on 8/15/07, 4:32 pm


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