I’m failing to see how BMW stole anything from you. You leased or ‘rented’ a car from BMWFS, their property was totaled and they are collecting the settlement on their property.
In a normal market, you wouldn’t have this equity in the lease and most likely be upside down. It’s been well-documented here on the forums that this how BMWFS operates across numerous other cases.
It’s one of the risks or upsides of leasing depending how you look at, the totaled car isn’t your property and isn’t your problem
You willingly entered a contract with BMWFS. BMWFS stole nothing from you. As a matter of fact, it sounds to me like you are trying to steal from BMWFS, but that’s a separate evaluation.
It’s surprisingly funny how everyone sings about how leasing is great downside protection in the event the vehicle is worth less than residual at end of contract. “Oh, I don’t have to worry about deprecation…that’s the lenders problem not mine”.
Now all of a sudden, people (like you) have an ‘a-ha’ moment and think that you’re entitled to this equity because the tables have turned and the residuals are too low.
Ask yourself this - would you be cutting BMWFS a check for the difference if your residual value was greater than market value at end of contract?
