QUESTION
can a business keep a returned vehicle and the deposit given
Asked on Nov 21st, 2013 on Consumer Fraud - Florida
More details to this question:
after purchasing a used vehicle, the vehicle was returned to the dealer 30 day after purchase after numerous attempts to correct defects, electrical, mechanical so fourth, down payment was done through bank card and bank advised me to return vehicle to merchant and refunded the deposit that the claims dept would investigate the claim, now the bank is requesting refunded deposit and merchant is in possession of vehicle and deposit and does not want to return the vehicle or deposit, merchant stated to bank that they had a no refund on deposit policy. no placard to indict the above or does our signed copy of contract stated that, is this legal can a merchant keep the vehicle no transfer of title has been sign back to the merchant.
1 ANSWER
Consumer Debt Collector Harassment & Abuse Attorney serving Tampa, FL
Partner at
Tischhauser Law Group
2 Awards
Depends on why the vehicle was returned. If it was a "voluntary repo" and the car was sold "as is" this could be a big problem. It may help, however, if the contract does not state that the deposit is non-refundable, to at least argue the point. Unfortunately, this will likely be a contract lawsuit that you may have to retain an attorney for at your expense to resolve. You should also be aware that simply "turning in" the vehicle does not relieve you of the contract/promissory note obligations, since the dealership may treat this as a reposession and seek to collect a deficiency balance, on top of having the car, and the deposit.
Answered on Nov 22nd, 2013 at 8:47 AM
All responses are NOT to be considered legal advice nor to be relied upon in any as such nor to establish any form of attorney/client relationship. Opinions expressed are solely informational and not a substitute for proper legal advice provided by a properly retained after thoroughly researching the issues presented.