Car got towed yesterday .. would appreciate some insights

[nefarious986]

KT1.

Thank you for the most insightful and inflammatory reply I have received in three forums.

Truly appreciated.

I would recommend 2 things:

1) Go get the car, don't have them tow it back to your house. Anything could happen. The sooner you have it...the better.

2) Your sister should keep the title in a safe deposit box...not at home, unless you have a good fire proof, bolted to the floor safe. A safe deposit box cost <$50/year.

How can you miss payments on a car you own clear without lien?

[nefarious986]

EE3, she does not own the car clean and clear. Some mix up with out of state dealers or what not had the car titled with ONLY her name as owner.

She still is supposed to be paying the loan.

Btw, you guys are great. Just advice, no judgement. Everyone lands on hard times and miss a payment sometimes. I had this same post up at the Ferrari and I got flamed hard. I guess Ferrari owner's **************** don't stink.

Originally Posted by nefarious986

EE3, she does not own the car clean and clear. Some mix up with out of state dealers or what not had the car titled with ONLY her name as owner.

She still is supposed to be paying the loan.

Btw, you guys are great. Just advice, no judgement. Everyone lands on hard times and miss a payment sometimes. I had this same post up at the Ferrari and I got flamed hard. I guess Ferrari owner's **************** don't stink.

Trust me, I'm not judging, I have been out of work a full six months, have two interviews this week, fingers crossed. If the clean title is an error then as much as it sucks they have the right to tow. Producing a document that is erroneous won't help. I don't think you have a legal angle if I'm understanding you correctly.

Perhaps they would have given a longer grace period in better times, with the failure of lending institutions on the news every night, I'm sure the tolerance for missed payments is as low as ever. As for a Ferrari BB, what can you expect? Most of the guys who buy those are remarkably solvent, no excuse for being bastards but no shock either, good luck dude.

[Brucelee]

Sounds to me like you only issue is with the towing company, ie its rude behavior. To be fair, these guys often get assualted so they are not going to wait for your sister to go get the title, as many times, this would be a gun or knife or bat.

In the end, you have to make the payments. The rest is just plain upsetting but will likely just end up upsetting you more.

Nefarious986, many of us here are x-Ferrari owners. We got fed up with all the BS and egos, and decided to just buy a better car.

We took the proceeds of our sale and put about $15K in the bank for future RMS and IMS issues, and with the rest bought Apple stock, oil futures and Euros.

Who's laughing now?

[Lil bastard]

Agree with Brucelee.

The Loan Co. was well within it's rights if the payments were in arrears. The lack of a title naming them as lienholders does not supercede a signed contract between them and your sister and this was surely cited when filling out the repo order.

Playing Devil's Advocate here for a moment, I wonder if there isn't more to it that we don't know. Did your sister contact them and try to work things out upfront? Has she been in arrears before this? Agreed that many people get behind, especially in times like these, but Finance Cos. are not Credit Counselors, or psychologists. Their role isn't to coddle people during tough times, though many will 'work' with people rather than go the drastic and expensive step of repossesion. For many Finance Cos., who's primary responsibility is to their investors, their hands are tied in such instances because of their fiduciary responsibility to their investors.

The Tow Co. is just a go-between. They are acting upon what they accept as a legal order. 'Rude' behavior is subjective and is often cited when a person does not get the response they want to hear. They were under no requirement to wait and see and validate any paperwork your sister may, or may not, have on hand. Yes, they could care less, but again that's not the business they are in. More often than not, as Brucelee explained, things turn sour if they try to accomodate the owner. I worked one summer (while in school) as a Process Server - the 'Bad News' Mailman ! It was incredible to me the reaction of some people - I was threatened at gunpoint, even shot at once, just for being the (by Law) disinterested 3rd Party simply disemminating the paperwork. At $12 per service, there wasn't a lot in terms of personal or property abuse I was willing to endure - I usually turned and left immediately after handing them the papers. I didn't want to hear any explanations (there ALWAYS was one) because I was not a party to the dispute at all, though people often failed to recognize this.

Likewise, the Police were proper and correct in not getting involved. You're asking them to act as Judges in what is essentially only a paperwork error. These are matters for the Court, not the Police. The car was NOT stolen... the Lienholder acted within their rights.

Unless the car is damaged after the Tow, you really don't have a claim against anyone for anything. And yes, expect the Loan Co. to tack on any expense they incurred in this incident. They are entitled to do this, and somewhere in the Loan paperwork (fine print), your sister was both notified, and agreed, to this.

Sorry to say that the Finance Co. was acting upon their clear interest in the vehicle, even though there was no title stating that right (the Loan Paperwork probably states that your Sister has the responsibility to have the Lienholder named on the Title...and the Insurance for that matter. Her failure to acquire this, that does not eliminate the Loan Co.'s interest).

It's not that I'm unfeeling for your frustration, but it's probably in your best interest to forget the whole thing and devote your energy and resources to aiding your sister in avoiding any future incident instead of trying to 'Prove' you're right... because you're not.

Hope both you, and your sister's, lot improves.

[CJ_Boxster]

Originally Posted by nefarious986

EE3, she does not own the car clean and clear. Some mix up with out of state dealers or what not had the car titled with ONLY her name as owner.

She still is supposed to be paying the loan.

Btw, you guys are great. Just advice, no judgement. Everyone lands on hard times and miss a payment sometimes. I had this same post up at the Ferrari and I got flamed hard. I guess Ferrari owner's **************** don't stink.

You didnt know... There farts smell like fresh baked bread, lol jk in most auto forums there are lurkers that arent there to help anyone but more less want to feel superior and get off subject to prove a meaningless point they are just dying to make. We use to have acouple here but they are gone now.

[LoveBunny]

Originally Posted by CJ_Boxster

You didnt know... There farts smell like fresh baked bread, lol jk in most auto forums there are lurkers that arent there to help anyone but more less want to feel superior and get off subject to prove a meaningless point they are just dying to make. We use to have acouple here but they are gone now.

I just joined a Ferrari forum. I wonder if it's the same one. I'm starting to feel like I'm living on welfare when I look at the pictures of everyone's cars there though.

to the OP, sorry I can't give you any advice. Sounds like it could be a fun thing to take on the Judge Mathes show though. Yeah, I'm always trying to get people to go on that show. I figure eventually somebody will and then I can say I knew someone on Judge Mathes.

[nefarious986]

The really sad thing about the Ferrari forum is that most of the people on there does NOT own Ferrari but like to talk and act as if they do.

The real Ferrari owner probably has much better thing to do than to spend his time (which is extremely valuable) flaming someone online. The most heat came from people out in Nowheresville, MI that drove Fords.

Yes, she was in a bad spot and wanted to exploit a technicality that might work to her advantage. I'm sure every have had a similar situation. I hate the fact that someone wants to inflate his ego or build a 'rep' in front of online buddies.

I was called a deadbeat and blamed for the downfall of the economy. A bit harsh I think. Especially considering the fact that we weren't even late on payment prior to this.

Anyways, we talked to one of the 'higher ups' at the loan company and they recognized the issue of the title and told the two company to release the car. They ended up paying for the tow, but that might eventually end up tacked onto our loan. I don't know yet.

Oh yeah, I tried getting on Judge Mathis before for an Ebay incident. Filled out the form, and waited, and waited, and waited, and nothing. =T

I am going to just get caught up on the loan and forget about this whole situation. Thanks for all your reply + advice.

EE3Racing, good luck on your interview bro. I have one of those next week too.