Complaint Review: Consumer Portfolio Services

I'm not arguing the repo, I accept that it's the way that they got more money than what I owed and still say that I owe them$$.
- When you accept the Repo, you also have to accept ALL of the consequences.

These consequences are also include paying all of the costs involved in the Repo.  This can include the tow fees(yes they probably towed it away from the dealer), the storage fees, any legal processing they must do because it was a repo, and the auction fees.  These fees can add up to several hundred dollars.  

Being "fair" really has nothing to do with it because you agreed to all of this when you signed the original agreement.  If you didn't think it was fair that all of this could happen, you shouldn't have gotten the car.

With that said, unless you can prove that they violated the law or are outright lying about the amount there is really nothing you can do about it.

CarMax in just a buy situation probably low-balled you with $5,500, but if they are even close in the value, getting $7,700 at auction seems very high.  Because most of the the time at auction you get only a small percentage of it's value.

According to you originally had a deficency balance of $1,260 with the other numbers, they got a total of $8547, and a payoff of $6985.  These other fees would have amounted to about $2,822 which does seem excessive on a voluntary repo.  Did you get anything from the bank as to how they applied the funds and exactly what the amounts are?  It seems that either there is a discrepancy in what you thought the Payoff Amount is or what you thought they sold the car for.  If they didn't send you something where are you getting your numbers from? 

Unfortunately, "fair" has nothing to do with it.  When you buy a vehicle (or anything involving a contract) you and the seller negotiate terms up front. That's what a contract is - it memorializes the terms for each of the parties including the terms of default. The time to get the best terms that are "fair" for you is at the time of purchase, not after you default. Make sure that the terms you agree to are in writing, because if it's not in writing it doesn't exist when it comes to contracts.  

So, if you get out your contract, you will see that there are a bunch of fees that can be added to the balance of your loan in the case of buyer/borrower default. You had a deal worked out to avoid those fees and then you changed your mind and let the lender repo the vehicle instead.

One more thing: you probably want to pay off this difference right away so you don't get a judgment against you. Naturally the lender has to bring you to court and actually win its case in order to get a judgment, but they are used to doing that. Protect yourself and don't let it get to the next stage. (This is just an observation, not a threat. I have nothing to do with CPS, I'm just trying to give you a heads up.)

Maybe I didn't explain this correctly, so let's see if I can explain it better. All that I owed on the vehicle was $6,985.07

CPS sold my car in an auction for $7,700

Then they took the remaining balance from my extended warrantee which was $800+

Which equals over $8,500.

And still say that I owe them $$.

I'm not arguing the repo, I accept that it's the way that they got more money than what I owed and still say that I owe them$$.

So can you please explain to me how this is fair?

your company was not willing to offer any reasonable suggestions.
- You stated that the Payoff was close to $7,000 but were going to have this paid off in a year?  Just based on that the extra $1000 doesn't even sound like much more than a single month's payment.

your company was not willing to offer any reasonable suggestions.
- What you actually should have said is.."They were not willing to do what I wanted them to do".  Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it is not reasonable.  Because they did give you a suggestion and it sounds reasonable that they were willing to settle for almost $1,000 less than you owed.

I am actually surprised that you didn't write a RipOff Report on CarMax for not giving you more money for your car.

And no, I do not work work for them or any other finance company.

When you asked the question in the original post I thought you wanted to know why they didn't honor the negotiated settlement price. I took your question seriously and answered it literally so that you knew the difference between a negotiated settlement and a repo.  However, from your response, I see that you meant the question facetiously and not literally.

Then you assume that I work for CPS. No, I don't. However, I am very familiar with negotiating techniques both professionally and personally as that is what I do for a living (I don't work for a lender though).  It is common on this site for the author to respond to other posters that we work for X company whenever the author disagrees with the posters comments. It's a shame, because then the author misses the opportunity to learn another problem solving technique that many of us have already learned either through training or experience.

As to your final comment about my not having had hardships: not true. I just chose a different method to handle the issue when I had a hardship in the past.

Some of us learn from others experience; some have to do everything the hard way. In the end, it's your choice.

I did not want to give up my car, I only had 1 year left to pay it off. Unfortunately I did not have $1,000, and no one was willing to work with me at first. It wasn't until I called and said that I needed an extension on my payment that I called to work something out and your representative was quick to threaten me with saying that they are sending out a repo team. that NEVER showed up. The customer service reps give information that isn't valid, most of the staff is rude and ghetto as can be. Unfortunately for me I had to fall in a serious hardship that I hope that you never have to experience. When you have to choose whether to pay for a roof over you and your families head or a car, I'm pretty sure that you would choose your car. I am well aware of the damage that has been done to my credit but I had no other choice, your company was not willing to offer any reasonable suggestions.

You asked why the lender is still persuing you for the difference on the loan: the short answer is, because you refused their settlement offer.  In your post above, you said you had an offer from CPS to pay off the loan for $6000 and they would consider the loan paid in full. You went to Carmax and all they would provide was $5000. In order to complete the settlement, you would have only had to pay $1000 in addition to the Carmax payout.  Then the loan would have been settled in full and you would have avoided the repo on your credit report. 

However, instead you chose to surrender the vehicle in a "voluntary" repo. A voluntary repo and a regular involuntary repo are handled the exact same way by creditors. The vehicle is sold and the proceeds are applied to your outstanding loan balance including late fees, penalities, repo fees, attorney fees and any other fee the lender can charge.

As you have discovered, it would have been a much better deal for you to accept their settlement rather than selecting the repo as the repo costs you more money, time and has a larger negative impact on your credit report.