Ford Motor Credit Withholding Car Title after last payment alledgedly for late payments and fees Dearborn Michigan
Ford Motor Credit company is withholding my car title on my Ford Taurus after I have made the last car payment due to what the company has deemed fees and late payment charges.
I do not have any correspondence as of this reporting, from Ford Motor Credit that explained or stated I would be charged anything extra above and beyond the actual car payment due each month at any time during the payment period.
The representative from the company that I contacted stated on the phone that the title has not been sent to me because I owe $209 in late charges and fees because I had been late 38 times in making payments. She did not qualify late nor the charges for being late.
She said that if I agreed to pay now that the company would settle for half. I told her that I did not have any correspondence from Ford Motor Credit about this late payment/fee situation as it relates to my car title. She said she would send it out that day (Saturday May 23, 2009).
This does not sound legal to me but I need third party confirmation about this. Can you help or point me to someone who can help resolve this?
Mike
Statesville, North Carolina
U.S.A.
6 Updates & Rebuttals
Anonymous
College Grove,Tennessee,
U.S.A.
It's called a CONTRACT or your MONTHLY STATEMENT!!!!!!
#7Consumer Comment
Sat, July 18, 2009
Give me a break. Let's think about this for a minute. You signed a contract at the dealership and you get a monthly statement. Go figure! Try reading something before you sign.
Ashley
Springfield,Missouri,
U.S.A.
Perfectly legal
#7Consumer Comment
Tue, May 26, 2009
Check your contract. I'm sure there is a clause about late payments.
Everytime you are late on a loan you accrue more interest on the loan. You can also get charged late fees for being late. If they say you owe it, you probably do. Are you disputing the fact you were late 38 times?
if you had paid on time this would be over with. The fact you are being charged $5.50 for every time you were late is getting off cheap. You can fight it if you want, but I guarantee there is a clause somewhere in the loan contract that makes this legal and agreed to.
Ashley
Springfield,Missouri,
U.S.A.
Perfectly legal
#7Consumer Comment
Tue, May 26, 2009
Check your contract. I'm sure there is a clause about late payments.
Everytime you are late on a loan you accrue more interest on the loan. You can also get charged late fees for being late. If they say you owe it, you probably do. Are you disputing the fact you were late 38 times?
if you had paid on time this would be over with. The fact you are being charged $5.50 for every time you were late is getting off cheap. You can fight it if you want, but I guarantee there is a clause somewhere in the loan contract that makes this legal and agreed to.
Ashley
Springfield,Missouri,
U.S.A.
Perfectly legal
#7Consumer Comment
Tue, May 26, 2009
Check your contract. I'm sure there is a clause about late payments.
Everytime you are late on a loan you accrue more interest on the loan. You can also get charged late fees for being late. If they say you owe it, you probably do. Are you disputing the fact you were late 38 times?
if you had paid on time this would be over with. The fact you are being charged $5.50 for every time you were late is getting off cheap. You can fight it if you want, but I guarantee there is a clause somewhere in the loan contract that makes this legal and agreed to.
Robert
Irvine,California,
U.S.A.
Suggestion...
#7Consumer Comment
Tue, May 26, 2009
Take the deal...Seriously. You are arguing over a $209($104.50 if they accept half) for the title to the car. Now, that does not mean you can't fight it and try and get the money back later. Just that at least this way you have the title and you don't have to worry about them adding any additional fees.
All of the terms are in your original contract you signed, where you are going to have to read over all of the terms. Especially the section(s) relating to Grace Periods and additional interest or fees. So you can wait for a copy from them, but you should have the same copy.
Your original loan was based on you paying the monthly payment on or before the due date each and every month, and probably did not have a grace period. This means that if your loan was due on the 1st of the month and you paid it on the 4th, you have 3 days of additional interest assessed. Depending on how late and what your interest rate was this could be a couple hundred dollars. Now, there was probably also a penalty date where they assess the late fee. This is generally when you get about 10 days late. But if they are saying you only owe an additional $209 where you were late 38 times, I doubt you ever hit the penalty date. Or if you did it was only once or twice.
If you fight it you are going to have to get a payment history from Ford and then compare it each and every month with your bank statement(s). So if this was a 60 month loan you are going to have to verify the entire 60 months. If at no time did you pay it past the due date you then have a case. If you did pay it past the due date you will then have to look up amoritzation tables to make sure it was calculated correctly.
Robert
Buffalo,New York,
U.S.A.
Seems reasonable to me.
#7Consumer Suggestion
Tue, May 26, 2009
""I contacted stated on the phone that the title has not been sent to me because I owe $209 in late charges and fees because I had been late 38 times in making payments. She did not qualify late nor the charges for being late.""
Every car loan I've had stated the interest and how it's calculated, including late fees and ADDITIONAL INTEREST added to the loan for making late payments.
$209 does not seem unreasonable to me considering you were late 38 times. Know this, when you're late with a payment at the beginning of the loan (vs the last year) this has a greater impact on your payoff at the end because the additional interest is calculated from the time your were late and added to the balance of the loan. Because the balance is now larger, the NORMAL accrued interest on the balance will be greater at the end of the loan. A late payment towards the end of the loan will have a lesser impact on the payoff amount.
Check your loan contract very carefully. If you're that concerned or untrusting of their figures, by all means request a WRITTEN accounting of your loan, but you should know that this will DELAY things a bit.
If it were me, I'd pay the $209 and get the title and consider this a lesson learned. In the future, READ and COMPREHEND the loan agreement before you SIGN it. If necessary, take the agreement to an attorney or other financial advisor for advice before you sign. Any lender who will NOT allow you to have the contract reviewed by an advisor of YOUR CHOOSING is not a lender you wish to conduct business with.
Good luck.