On September 17, 2020, I purchased a used 2016 ****** Altima from Kings Mountain Auto Sales located in Kings Mountain, NC. The terms of the contract included a down payment of $3100 with monthly payments of $370, which was due on the 13th of every month. I made consecutive payments throughout the years, dating back from August 2020 up until around February 2023 without missing any payments. I worked very hard at being responsible and paying my bills on time until an unfortunate situation occurred with my employer. The company that I worked for experienced a huge decrease in supply and demand in workload and were forced to reduce employee hours extensively, therefore, resulting in a reduction of employment hours. I went from receiving full time hours (40) per week, down to roughly receiving ***** per week, (which is not a livable wage). I began searching for new employment while receiving unemployment benefits as of January 2023 until March 2023. I reached out to the lien holder (Kings Mountain Auto Sales) and notified them of the change in my employment hours, and because of this, I would be a few days late making my payment. I spoke with an employee by the name of (*****), who was very kind and respectful. *** said that it was okay for me to make the payment on the anticipated later date, however, she also informed me that the finance company does not like payments to overlap and to make sure that payment is made before the next payment was due. I assured her that I would do everything in my power to honor that by working hard at trying to make payments before another one became due. Even though my job situation had not changed, because I was still receiving unemployment benefits, along with financial assistance from my family, fortunately I was still able to pay my car note every month to Kings Mountain Auto Sales. I had begun to make my payments late, but still managed to get the payment in before another became due. I was still searching for new employment at the time when my unemployment benefits had expired, therefore, resulting in me experiencing a temporary financial hardship. I reached out to Kings Mountain Auto Sales on a regular basis and usually spoke with the same employee (*****), about my financial situation & late payments. ***** reiterated the importance of not allowing payments to overlap and continued to work with me. Im not sure of the exact dates, but there were at least 2 or three occasions when my car note was late and the new payment became due, therefore, I had a late payment and a current payment due together. I continued to reach out to Kings Mountain Auto Sales and spoke with (*****) and notified her that I had found a new job and that my first day of work was on June 26, 2023. Back in May or early June 2023, my mother reached out to Kings Mountain Auto Sales, on my behalf, and spoke with (*****) and inquired about the account, as well as notify Kings Mountain Auto Sales that my father, would be making the payment. (*****) informed her of the arrears owed on the account. *** said that I still owed for the month of May *** informed ***** that she would be making that payment. *** paid nearly a full payment on the account, all but the exception of $70 from the month of May. After making the payment, she contacted (*****) to inform her that the payment had been made, however, the remaining amount that was still unpaid was ($70). *** informed (*****) that I would include the remaining balance of $70 when making her payment for ***** I also mentioned to (*****), that due to the fact that I start working on my new job on June 26, therefore, I will be getting back on track to making timely payments. (*****) agreed that it would be okay for me to pay that remaining $70 when I make the June payment. I contacted Kings Mountain Auto Sales again on Monday July 10 and spoke with (*****). I informed (*****) that I could make a payment on the account, however, my insurance had already expired and that I was aware that as part of the contract, I am required to have full coverage insurance. The down payment for full coverage auto insurance would be nearly $400, which is almost the amount of my car note and because the insurance is so expensive, I did not have enough money to pay both (auto *************** note). I was advised by ***** to go ahead and acquire the full coverage auto insurance because at this particular moment, it is more important to have full coverage insurance and that she can work with me on making the car payment. Therefore, thats exactly what I did; I paid the down payment for the auto insurance and emailed ***** a copy of the policy. To sum up the matter at hand, the 2016 ****** Altima was repossessed by Kings Mountain Auto Sales on Thursday July 13th. At the time of the repossession, I only owed ($70 + $$370 arrears = $440) & (Current payment $370, just became due on the same day, July 13). I immediately contacted the office to inquire about my vehicle and spoke with ***** once again and was informed that she was unable to provide any information at that time because the ****************** were reviewing the account and that she would contact me later that afternoon to provide me with an update. Later that day I contacted the office again and spoke with an employee there by the name of (******), who basically informed me that after careful review of the account, they were unable to refinance the vehicle because of late payments & prior auto insurance issues. Mind you, that even though I had experienced a temporary financial hardship and made a few late payments, I was always able to get back on track by getting my car note paid to date. Because my car insurance was very expensive (full coverage), I was forced to change insurance companies periodically to save money by finding the least expensive policies to insure my vehicle. Ive always responded back with updated auto policy insurance information to Kings Mountain Auto Sales every single time that (*****) reached out to me to request updated policy information. (******) also added the fact that the entire balance of the account would have to be paid in full within (10) days and that I could try to find a loan company or somewhere else to refinance the loan. I was very surprised and upset and could not believe that Kings Mountain Auto Sales were cancelling the entire contract altogether and would not accept any payment from me so that she could recover her vehicle. Again, at this point the late payment was only $440 & current payment only $370 = $810. After relaying this information to my mother, she immediately contacted Kings Mountain Auto Sales to inquire about this matter and spoke with (******). (******) basically informed her about the cancellation of the contract after careful review of the account. *** advised her that I only owed $440 arrears and the current payment became due today (07-13-23). *** asked (******) again if Kings Mountain Auto Sales were going to give her a fair chance to recover her vehicle by paying the past due amount along with the current payment owed. (******) answered by apologizing and agreeing that I would have to seek financing elsewhere or pay the entire remaining balance that is owed on the account in full within 10 days. At this point my mother became very disappointed, furious, and flabbergasted. *** let (******) know that I worked very hard at paying my car notes and that I should not be treated this way because I paid consistently for most of the duration of the loan until I hit a rough patch by the change in my employment hours, resulting in me having to change jobs. (******) informed my mother that anytime a customer pays at least one day late, they have a legal right to repossess the vehicle. My mother informed (******) that she understood the aspect of the terms of the loan, however, Kings Mountain Auto Sales are not giving me a chance to recover my vehicle back; by not accepting past due amount to bring the account back current and that the contract is getting very close to being paid off because the loan originated in September of 2020. My mother asked (******) how much is the balance owed on the account? (******) informed her that the remaining balance owed on the account was over $10,000. After hearing this, my mother became very upset and could not believe that this company was taking advantage of me in this way! *** informed ******* the amount is not correct and there was no way that the balance owed was that high. There is definitely a discrepancy with the remaining balance owed on the account and Im sure that it is illegal to exaggerate the amount of the balance. If I had been given the correct pay-off amount, then that would have had a far more positive effect because it would have given me the chance to at least recover my vehicle back to my possession or at least off-set any deficiency balance that *** be remaining on the account. ********************** are preventing us the opportunity to recover the vehicle by exaggerating the remaining balance and this act along nullifies the original contract. The issue at hand is not the repo itself, however, the fact that I was not quoted the correct pay-off amount which is unfair and deceptive. I am aware that after the signing of any contract it cannot be changed, modified, or manipulated in any way without following proper protocol. During the conversation (******) was informed that well be escalating this matter by seeking legal action, but (******) stated that it would be a complete waste of time. Because of the fact that I have paid a lot of my hard-earned money into making payments on my car, (nearly $15,000), I should have at least been given a chance to pay the arrears to bring the account current. However, since Kings Mountain Auto Sales decided to terminate the contract, they should have at least given me the correct pay-off amount. Im unable to get the vehicle refinanced with another lender mainly because the remaining balance was quoted to me incorrectly. Kings Mountain Auto Sales exaggerated my pay-off amount to be over $10,000 and since the value of the vehicle has depreciated a great deal since the original purchase date, it is nearly impossible to get any lender to refinance the vehicle. I purchased the vehicle back in September, 2020, therefore, I have already paid most of the loan balance off at this point. Ill wrap this up by saying that businesses, as well as customers, both have legal and ethical responsibilities that should uphold at all times, and to treat others the way that we would like to be treated.
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