Can they repossess our car? What can we do?

[Flamingo]

Your key in this whole mess is with Wachovia. You have stated you have already made a payment on the loan - did that payment get credited to your account?

Also something that needs to be checked - where is the title for this vehicle? Call your Motor Vehicle Division first thing Monday and find out how the title is listed. If all is as stated, the vehicle should be in your name with Wachovia as the lienholder. If that is on file, the dealer doesn't have a leg to stand on. If the state has nothing on file, I suggest contacting an attorney immediately.

[BigJohn]

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[BigJohn]

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[BassBoy]

It sounds like you were the victim of the Spot Delivery Scam. This when the "buyer" is allowed to take the vehicle off of the lot even though financing has not been completed and if the financing falls through, then what usually happens is the following, which you have just experienced:

Rewritten Contract/Backdating:
You never, never drive a vehicle off of the lot unless everything is finalized.

There are several more scams/fraud dealerships pull:

http://www.rosnerandmansfield.com/afi_11Tricks.html#009

[BigJohn]

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[poor@budgeting]

Why try to make the 1st payment exactly on the due date especially when there was already an issue raised days before? Did Wachovia actually cashed the payment(or even acknowled receiving it)?

[BigJohn]

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[AngelinaCatHub]

BigJohn, on the surface it sounds like a bit of old fashioned car dealer fraud. You have the car and they wish you to keep it but at a bigger profit.

Tell you a story: I had a nice ford as a young kid. The car "lust" came into my heart. I desired to drive the car and as a kid did not realize what was going on and I told the jerk more than one time, I wish to drive it not buy it yet. He said keep it overnight. So why am I signing these papers? Oh for insurance only. They traded my tag, and I signed. I did not like the car at all so Saturday morning I bring it back at 8:00 am and said so. The guy said, "I'm sorry, you purchased that car. I was pissed/errr upset. As I saw my old car sitting behind the locked gate, I had a spare key with me and a screwdriver. So I sat in their lot, innocently and secretly taking my tag off the new car. When the mechanics opened the gate, I ran for my car and stole it away, put my tag on it, and wrote them a letter. Never heard a thing about it again, and never got my original key ring back, but as a youngster I learned a bunch.

[BigJohn]

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[BigJohn]

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[HHM]

Yep, I think your car is toast, sorry to say. If there are no lien holders, than then that means, presumably, the dealership has not been paid and they have a right to repo the car.

If this is a mainline, franchise dealership, it sounds like some wires got crossed on the back-end financing. It is not your fault (except for the fact that you have bad credit ). but at the same time, it is out of your control. If you didn't write a check for the car, the car is not yours.

[BigJohn]

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[poor@budgeting]

I don't even think that the trustee will want you to keep the car if you go on BK soon.

'Really good transportation' does not mean a new $15k car.

[BigJohn]

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[EveryDayAdam]

to me it sounds like the dealership paid off your loan.

Depending on the laws in your state, you might actually now have the car free and clear. It looks like the dealership sold you the car, accepted the money from the bank, and you left. They then wanted more from you, so they "cancelled" your financing by paying the money back to the lender, and therefor, paying off your loan.

If you didn't sign any new paper work, i'd try and see if you could tell the dealership "thanks for paying for my car." Definitely call up the bank, record the call, and ask about the status of your loan again. Also give your lawyer copies of the title, and also try to get a letter from the bank giving you a statement of your account.

I bet if you fight this, you may end up screwing the dealership that tried to screw you.