BMW Financial Services wrongfully STOLE $12,670 from me

Please advise LeaserHacker Community

BMW Financial Services is wrongfully withholding $12,670 from me, as a result of a claim I made with my auto insurance Carrier, Connect. The accident occurred on December 11, 2021. BMW was advised of the accident and had the car picked up the same day. Then, 10 days later, on December 21, 2021, after it was established that the car was totaled, BMW Financial Services issued a demand letter (copy attached) seeking the pay off the amount of $28,069.50, including all associated costs, and even included a sample check-in that letter, indicating that the amount that BMW Financial Services demanded was $28,069.50.

Then, my auto insurance company established, for my benefit, a fair market value, for a replacement vehicle (that I would need to buy on the open market, to replace the one totaled) in the amount of $40,740.44. This amount included the sales tax, registration, and $500 deductible amount for me to buy the replacement vehicle. When I first contacted BMWFS local office, concerned that they received a check in the amount of $12,670 above their demand amount, I was told not to worry, that the difference would be returned to me. Then, since days passed and no check was received, I contacted their office again, to find out how soon I would be receiving the overage check in the amount of $12,670. Shockingly, I was advised that there would be no check sent to me other than one for $100, and when I asked “why”, I was told “No comment”. I guess my only mistake is that I trusted BMW Financial Services to do the right thing, as they first told me they would. Even my insurance company, upon realizing the mistake they made in sending BMW Financial Services the check for $40,470, contacted them, requesting they send back the check and that they would issue a new check in the amount of $28,069.50. They were told that BMW Financial Services had already deposited the check and that they were not going to do anything. What is particularly shocking is that BMW Financial Services has now collected twice for Sales taxed Registration fees, etc…, as they collected it the first time when the lease was first established. This is DOUBLE DIPPING! Please note, this whole situation is both a civil and criminal fraud, as well as a civil and criminal conversion of the money that is owed to me.

First, nowhere in Paragraphs 20,24, and 25 is there a single word that addresses the issue of a gain or overage between the buyout amount of the vehicle and the current cash value of the vehicle. Specifically, paragraph 25 speaks ONLY to a “Gap Waiver” in which the cash value of the loss vehicle is less than the lease buy-out amount. Even BMWFS Guaranteed Auto Protection Plan pamphlet (copy attached) speaks to paragraph 25 as ONLY a gap payment waiver in the case of a total loss. BMWFS has failed to indicate any paragraph in my lease that gives BMWFS the right to retain the gain or overage when the cash value of the vehicle exceeds the buy-out amount. BMW’s response that “Your obligations under Section 25, whether the actual cash value exceeds the Adjusted Lease Balance or not, are limited to……” is nothing more than an opinion of words that do not exist in Paragraph 25.

Secondly, they are unable to cite and state the law (or for that matter what paragraph in my contractual lease agreement) states that (1) “the payoff on the account is no longer applicable when there is a total loss of the vehicle”, and (2) “as the owner of the leased vehicle, BMWFS is entitled to the insurance proceeds in the event of a total loss…”? As a matter of fact, BMWFS in their letter to me of December 21, 2021, stated that all BMWFS was seeking, with full knowledge of the fact that the vehicle was totaled, was the payout amount of $28,069.50. Just by that one communication to me, they have admitted that I am entitled to the difference between the cash value of the vehicle ($40,740) and the buy-out of the vehicle ($28,069), or $12,671.

BMWFS offer to settle this matter for $2,500 towards a future lease of a BMW with BMWFS, based on everything that has happened in this matter, is a total insult to my intelligence and was rejected.

Section 25 “Gap Amount” Wavier

This has been discussed in several other posts. It comes down to the fact that they own the car and there is a paragraph in the lease contract that says they do in fact get to keep the overage from your insurance company. In normal times on a BMW this would not be an issue as you would normally owe more that it is worth and your gap coverage would kick in the difference.

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I wish it stated that as it would make things a lot easier. On other forums on here, I noticed other lease agreements will state what happens in this case. I had an attorney review my lease contract and nowhere in the lease contract does it state they can keep the overage. BMWFS is trying to say section 25 “Gap Amount” Waiver allows them to keep overage however this section is regarding in which the cash value of the loss vehicle is less than the lease buy-out amount.

They’re probably going to point to the latter half of that paragraph that states that you’re obligated to personally reimburse them for any delta between the insurance payouts and the actual cash value of the vehicle.

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You don’t own the car. BMW did not steal from you.

These cases are insurance provider and lease captive dependent (i.e. someone said CCAP gave money back, but technically they didn’t have to.

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How can they not honor the lease contract? Also, they told me (once knowing the car is totaled) I only owe $28,069.50 good through January 24, however, they deposited a $40,470 check before that time frame.

I’m yet to see where they aren’t honoring the lease contract.

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I don’t see a way you get it without suing.

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The contract is a lease-to-buy contract that the car had a vehicle finance agreement balance that BMWFS is not honoring

There was someone here who bought the car as soon as he saw the equity from what the insurance was gonna pay bmw returned his check

Can’t even do that :lying_face:

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Section 24 says they have the right to terminate the lease as soon as they find out it was totaled. As soon as lease is terminated, you no longer have right to buy it, the payoff quote becomes void. Pretty straight forward.

Section 25 could be a little clearer but technically, once they terminate under section 24, there is one of two options - insurance payoff covers car value or it doesn’t. If it does, they accept the payment and move on (remember when you list them as the leasing company on your insurance, it authorizes them to receive direct 1st party payment). If your insurance settlement isn’t sufficient, section 25 basically says they won’t come after you for that missing amount.

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I don’t believe that matters. It’s pretty black and white here…even if you had an agreement to buy the car after the lease, BMW still owns the car until that time.

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But you didn’t contact them to purchase the vehicle and exercise the buyout. You contacted them to inform that the vehicle was totaled. They terminated in accordance with section 24, per the contract, and per that, you were liable for any delta between the insurance payout and the actual cash value of the vehicle. Fortunately, your insurance company paid the actual cash value of the vehicle.

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No need to reply here. You can just read this thread. Very likely, anything anybody is going to say here has been said there.

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Man, with how many totaled BMW overage threads we get here, I’m starting to understand why BMW insurance is so high in the first place!

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I contacted BMWFS to buy out the car (which is why I received a buyout letter) and they knew the car was totaled yet they never terminate the contract until they cashed the check. If BMW terminates the contract it would be implemented under section 25 "Gap Amount” Waiver which BMWFS defined with the following graph

The reason would be that BMW is unethical.

This graph doesn’t show the current market situation where the market value is above your buyout.

Section 25 states that you are not liable for the gap between cash value of the vehicle and the adjusted lease balance if the total loss is paid by the insurance company. Your insurance company paid the total loss.

If they had not paid the total loss, and had instead paid BMW less than the cash value of the vehicle, you would have been obligated to pay any amount that insurance company deducted from the cash vehicle.

The graph shows it’s good till 2021, and they still are using this same pamphlet in their marketing materials. This situation has been going on for a while now and BMWFS still doesn’t update. BMWFS is super shady, I called and they even told me they would be returning the overage directly to me, but once they cashed the check they say “no comment”