GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A young Cherokee County man’s car was repossessed, even though he says he kept up with the weekly high interest payments.
Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray said the dealer is refusing to give specifics about why they took it back.
The interest rate on this car sale is out of the ordinary, nearly 35 percent, as is the way it was collected. The only way to pay was weekly through automatic deduction from a bank account.
The 20-year-old says even though he did his part, his car is gone.
“He kept up his end,” said Kimberly Carson, his mother. “They just wanted that car back.”
Carson’s son woke up to his 2010 BMW being repossessed.
For eight months, $117 each week had been automatically deducted by U.S. Express Auto in Gwinnett County from his bank account.
“Three weeks ago, they started not taking out the $117 per week,” Carson said. “And he called and said, ‘What’s going on? Why aren’t you taking your money? And she said there’s no available funds, that’s not true.”
Carson showed screen shots of those three weeks, showing the account always had money to cover the payments.
“His account’s attached to mine, and he’s got plenty of money in there and has had plenty of money to cover his payments,” she said.
U.S. Express Auto touts itself in its ads and on its website as a place to turn to when you have bad credit. Carson’s son had no credit yet, and he ended up with a car loan with 34.9% interest.
The dealer has an F rating with the Better Business Bureau.
“They repossessed my daughter’s car when the payments and insurance was in place,” one comment said. “It was a false repossession.”
“We have serious concerns that U.S. Express Auto Sales may be engaging in predatory lending and repossession practices,” another comment said.
When Gray reached out to U.S. Express Auto, they refused a request for an interview.
“At this time, we are not able to comment on individual customer accounts,” they wrote in an email. “What I can say is that our company follows all contractual agreements and complies with applicable state regulations in all matters.”
“He was just trying to establish his credit, get a car and make a life for himself,” Carson said. “These people victimized him.”
U.S. Express Auto would not talk about the repossession but told the car’s owner in an email that he can only get it back if he pays them the full remaining cost of the car by Oct. 10.
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