You need a local attorney because there are too many legal issues and variables in this fact pattern for anyone here (including myself, an attorney) to give solid advice. Sounds like you may have enough juice to force the dealer to make a business decision in your favor, though.
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I’m trying to not spend more money and so found this forum trying to research myself. I have an attorney from another matter the cost of his time is $350/hour. And it’s always several hours before anything gets done; I’ll never recover that cost.
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Paging @thinkcam. He is our legal eagle on this board…
I believe you need to unwind this deal. Study your options with advice from a lawyer (1 hour @ $350)
This is what I hope can fix this. Does anyone on here know about what might happen?
When I spoke with them on the phone, LF was surprised there was anything amiss. However they had already sent out a request for the title to the dealer on October 4th. Said if they don’t get it in about 2 weeks they will call dealer.
In my experience, signing a legal document backdated by anything more than a few days is a no-no, so that’s what really set off alarms initially. And this all would cost me more than the extra CCR and payment increase. The registration would be off at the end of 36 months lease and I’d end up paying for several extra months, depending on when/if they finally got a title. Colorado is a very expensive registration and isn’t possible for anything less than 1 year. State will apply extra paid IF one replaces the car, but no refunds. I probably would not replace it. I leased because I wanted a large SUV for a specific purpose that will go away and I have other cars/trucks.
The poster above you is correct considering how many of the responses simply assume its a legitimate mistake. The naïveté being displayed by those people is astonishing.
OP, google the attorney Steve (IIRC) Lehto’s podcast/YouTube episode on YoYo scams and determine how much of your scenario matches those. Report back here too.
What do you mean? I hope it’s that they would unwind this deal because I get a sense of dread just looking at this car…I should be enjoying it.
I never want to see the Lincoln dealership again!
You need to find an automotive attorney, unless your previous attorney specializes in automotive state laws, then you’ll be paying extra just for them to play catch up.
You can try to call your states attorney office. They absolutely have an office that deals just with automotive issues and ask them what they think you should do or if they have suggestions. You’d be surprised how many people run into legal automotive issues.
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I looked online and it appears in Colorado the dealer has 30 days to furnish title, but since I’m not the buyer (LF is) it may not help me. I’ll try to call them. There is a complaint form online that I expect would take weeks to get through the system.
You don’t mention your town but here is a Denver Consumer TV advocate. I’ve solved many disputes by just letting them know I would be asking the TV for assistance.
It seems if there is an issue of they screwed up the deal, then they should take the loss and move on. Have you tried the Owner of the dealership or General Manager? Maybe the lower guys are trying to cover up their mistake. https://kdvr.com/contact/contact-the-fox31-denver-problem-solvers/
Thanks, he’s very knowledgeable. I need a Steve that practices in Colorado. Anyone know of such a lawyer?
This isn’t really the place to find local lawyer recommendations
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I mean that you don’t always have to be right to win. You may be able to leverage the economics and intangibles (state involvement, local news, LF Financial, etc) to your advantage and still be wrong on the law. A good attorney for you (one who deals with auto stuff…don’t pay a different kind of attorney to learn) should be able to make that a reality for you through a demand letter or similar sabre rattle. The dealer doesn’t want any pyrrhic victories, especially over a few K. This analysis is what is called a business decision and I deal with these everyday at work (I’m a GC)
Dealership is in Denver. I have only communicated with dealership in emails, but the General Manager is the one that threatened to report voluntarily repossession. I also complained by email to the owner and got no response.
Good idea on the public shaming but it would only be a threat, I value my privacy and am already stressed. I can try that.
The other thing is that OP has not mentioned what state she’s in, and that could be wherein the tax issue lies. If this is a state that collects tax on the monthly payment, it likely is a tax issue with the incentives (if they’re not making up the story about the taxes). If it’s a state like NY, NJ, Texas, or VA, then we’re into a whole other bucket of issues here.
People are saying a few phone calls could solve this, and while this is true, legal representation is the best bet for OP at this point, because as you said, there is more than one issue at play and a lot of variables.
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Dealership is in Broomfield, Colorado, suburb of Denver. I out 50 miles on farm, so it’s a long trip and through the city traffic.
The law is always tricky and unevenly enforced in my experience.
They seem to believe they can have a valid lease contract but not furnish a title. I just don’t think that can be legitimate. I also don’t believe I can be forced to sign anything unless there’s a gun to my head. They appear to believe they have a gun because I cannot get plates. Jerks!
Also, about the hard pulls: I objected to these hard pulls on my credit when on phone with LF. LF said it wasn’t them, so must have been dealership. I didn’t apply to any other dealership nor have I had any other change in my financials other than paying off the BMW. And my score has dropped by over 50 points.
Since I’m new to this forum, I cannot post again until tomorrow…over the limit for newbies. I’ll update then. I appreciate the help everyone!
I get that you’re trying to resolve this with as little headache as possible without dumping more money into it, but an attorney specializing in auto law in your area is the best course of action. I highly highly doubt it’s going to take them several hours to figure out a course of action.
Call the state attorneys office first for advice and then seek a lawyer. I don’t think you’re going to discover some magic email format you can send the dealer to make this all go away.
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Does anyone actually understand what’s happening in this situation? Perhaps OP wants to post a both copies of the lease contract with her personal details removed so the experts could dissect it.
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I’d try reposting this to the Reddit “Legal Advice” forum. You’d probably have better luck there with guidance on who might practice in your area or what to do next in this type of situation.
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Let’s make sure of one thing first. They are not asking OP to put more CCR. It should be just how they write the contract that you see more CCR but it’s coming from Rebates, lease cash, etc.