Vultures Circling a Corpse I have come upon a new crusade, the “Sub-Prime lenders, Rent to Own and Payday Lenders”! These bottom feeders take advantage of individuals who can afford it least, yet often need these services to survive. I recently discovered a part of this predatory ilk while looking for a new car. I assumed after a divorce and some other issues my credit would be slightly less that good, and went to look for a car. Thinking I would make a “Smart Auto” purchase I went to a dealership. Thinking I had found a fairly decent vehicle at a fairly decent price, I pursued the purchase. The dealer set about “Trying” to get me approved never once telling me my credit score, but saying they were working hard trying to get me approved. I was told I would need to put a certain down payment upon the vehicle; I complied and thus began my journey into bottom feeder hell! Now when one puts a “down payment” on a vehicle, one assumes that it will be deducted from the advertised price of the car. At this point they will feverishly tell you how hard their finance guy is working to get you into this car. By the time they “Get you Approved” you feel like you’d let them babysit your kids. By the time you get to signing all the documents that they labored so long and hard for you, the hook is set. And as you go through the document you suddenly discover that the car you thought you were financing at one price is actually is a lot more than you ever expected.. This they flippantly wave off as a charge the bank puts in place. This is where they actually make most of their money and where psychology and human nature have been factored into the program. By this time you are way too emotionally expended to turn back, and this is exactly how they want you to be. Ultimately you get the car; a great deal higher than you wanted to pay along with payments higher than you asked for, yet feeling like the salesman did you a favor. In this instance the car is taken home but after a day or two you realize that this car that they said was a “dream” is more of a “nightmare”. You return the car explaining what a POS it is and this is where the salesman suddenly has a frontal lobotomy and no longer is the “go to guy”. The deal is quashed ant the “salesman” say he will have to have the “girls in the office” get you a check for your “down payment” Long of the short; they claim the “down payment” is actually a non-refundable deposit. Have you ever seen an ad that says “$1500 non-refundable deposit” on this car! It’s always a “down payment”. Let the litigation begin! Although in this case after some research you come to find out the owner has extensive experience as a defendant in civil court. Rent to Own, another subprime hell. We’ve all seen the ad for this. $25, 00 a week for that new bedroom set. What they don’t tell you is that bedroom set which sells for around $400 retail is going to end up costing you around $2000, 00. My other favorite is the advertisement for $10,000.00 unsecured loan from a native American credit union. If you pause the commercial and read the fine print.,that $10,000 is going to cost you in excess of $40,000.00. My question is where are our so called consumer advocates? I remember the days when my grandfather would do a business deal on just your word alone. There was no need for an Attorney to pour over every word, No fear that the other guy was a vulture out to screw anybody they could, where everyone tried to have personal responsibility. Don’t get me wrong I realize there are those out there that get what is coming to them. However, the unintended consequence is that those that can ill afford it are the ones whom ultimately pay the piper!
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 03:42:40 +0000
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