[Nor-Cal, BMW] when a good BMW lease deal turns into a disaster [actually sued by dealer]

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Talking about a legal case against you in a public forum is a bad idea. Whatever you write here can be found and admitted as evidence.

You need a lawyer, not people playing lawyer on the Internet.

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Take this for whatever you want, if you want to engage the dealership, talk to a lawyer about filling a fraud claim against the dealership. You probably don’t have a good case, but the dealership might re-consider their strategy.

Otherwise, go to small claims court and have fun with it. Make sure they give you your $100.

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With all due respect. You sound like the customer from hell. It’s very unproductive for a big dealership to sue a customer unless you drove them into insanity with your demands.

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:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

Not even thinking about rendering anything remotely related to a legal opinion here. It also seems like we’re missing some important facts.

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The dealer is 100% right on their claims if they can prove that they paid the second payment to BMWFS
On your behalf . Pay them outside the court .
don’t let this go to your credit as a judgement

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This is correct. They actually helped you remain in good standing with BMWFS. Don’t let this go to collections - it will hurt your credit for no reason.

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So being non white is important how? Man just pay the dealer and move on. How could the new deal cost you more at end? Did they screw up residual and you planned to buy it in the end?

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Attorneys are not allowed in CA small claims court… but OP will definitely need professional advice/guidance… pull up a seat… :popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:

Are you really talking about a $100 swing over 36 months here?

If you can throw money at it to make it go away, it is not a problem. At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, It is worth all the headaches and stress over a few hundred dollars? The advice here is to pay the dealer and make sure they dont put a negative remark on your credit. Like you said, you got a great deal on the car so you still came out ahead.

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Can’t you just verify if they made a payment on your behalf?

For example if there are 36 payments on a 36 month lease, if the dealer paid one for you then you’d have 35 payments remaining. It’s easy to double-check the dealer’s claim that he made a payment on your behalf.

I leased an M3 back in 2017, we had agreed that the first payment would be due at signing.
During the signing of paperwork/delivery, the dealer forgot to collect the first payment.
I got a call a 2-ish weeks later, the salesman was literally like “hey bro can you make the first payment via CC…otherwise they are going to force me to make it”

I just made the payment and moved on. They also wrote the incorrect mileage charge (.25c for overage instead of writing .30c). BMW kicked back the contract…I resigned it for them w/o making a fuss.

People make mistakes at the end of the day.

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I’m having difficulty swallong the insinuation this is some how bias related, rather than behavior related. One word- accountability. Many apparently need to learn this the hard way- including you.
Pay what you owe as if the paperwork was correct the day you signed the lease. Had the paperwork been correct, you’d have paid BMWFS. You knew you had a payment when you signed for the car.
Therefore, the delay in paperwork does not relieve you of the requirement to make your payments.

Based on your presentation of “the facts”, which we know were presented in a light most favorable to yourself, I see this not ending in a way you’d hope. Enjoy your education at the School of Hard Knocks.

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Mistake here was taking the dealer call. Once you sign the paperwork you are done. And make sure you read what you are signing. My benz dealer (and bank/mortgage) both asked me to sign documents that allow them to “Fix” any mistakes and require me to sign new documents. I refused. When you pay $85 (or more) as a doc fee the dealer has a legal obligation to get the paperwork perfect. It is not difficult to do so. And yes you can refuse to sign nonsense documents - I did and they caved (because they know its not a requirement)
Next time tell them it is not your problem if they made a mistake and that you will call your lawyer if they don’t submit the paperwork to BMW. Further that you will submit complaints to your state AG and FTC.
Would love to know the dealer name so I can avoid though I’m currently leaning against a BMW lease.

Sounds like they never got the deal funded in time.

So by the time your second payment was due, there was never enough time for BMW Financial to send you a bill, so the dealership fronted the payment.

Think of it like going out to a restaurant and forgetting your wallet at home so they covered the bill and you come back tomorrow to pay them!

Maybe things escalated to this point because you thought the dealership was trying to swindle you for an extra payment but this could have really been as simple as calling BMW Financial and figuring out how many payments remain on the lease.

They isn’t accurate bro. There are many threads on this here and you simply signing the docs doesn’t guarantee the car is yours. The deal has to get funded and if doesn’t then you don’t own any car.

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I have no idea if it’s bias related but the legal system is very skewed against people who don’t speak English as a first language and understand american legal system. In a previous life working as lawyer my firm definitely made decisions that considered someone’s english fluency and national origin when making decisions. Those folks are much less likely to 1. defend lawsuit and 2. defend it well. So the OP definitely needs to pay dealer or pay a lawyer.

Edit to make this less political. The Legal system also discriminates against poor white people. Anyone who can’t afford counsel to defend themselves/is less educated is at a big disadvantage. Just so happens in this case the OP has a different set of ascribed characteristics that often are perceived as a legal weakness.

How does this work for a business suing you in small claims court? Someone has to represent the business, are they bared from having the representative be a lawyer?

The business has a representative (see below). For consumers, you can consult attorneys and you have access to staff at the Legal Self Help Center (LSHC), who provide small claims advisor services to the public; they just cannot represent you in small claims court.

More details can be found at the specific county’s court website, or below:

  • If you are the only owner of a business, you must go to court unless the claim can be proven by evidence of a business account that a regular employee with knowledge of that account can explain. The employee most knowledgeable about the account can go to court for the business.
  • If your business is a partnership, only 1 of the partners must go.
  • If the business is a corporation, an officer or director must go to court, or if the claim can be proved by evidence of business records, the employee most knowledgeable about the records can go. That person cannot be hired just to represent the corporation. And, that person cannot be the lawyer for the corporation.
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Does this apply to financing only or financing and leasing?

IANAL, but this is usually when it’s the dealer that arrange the financing but if the dealer couldn’t get approval from the bank, they can ask for the car back or have the buyer sign a new agreement. IIRC, it’s called bailment agreement.

However, if I already got approved by BMWFS before stepping foot in the dealership (e.g. I apply for the loan directly with BMWFS, does the bailment agreement still apply?

The deal itself needs to be approved, not just the lessee. The actual deal cannot be pre-approved.