An Independence woman recently won a $1,198,512 court judgment, with jurors finding that a finance company had misled her into making car payments she wasn’t obligated legally to pay. The case, her lawyers said, pointed to an abusive lending practice that cuts particularly deep during tough economic times. Lawyer Bernard Brown, who represented the woman, said the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act protects consumers who are unable to obtain car titles when their dealers go out of business. The law views such sales as “fraudulent,” and purchasers are not required to keep making payments if they cannot obtain the titles, Brown said. “Consumers don’t know that they don’t have to pay, and in fact are entitled to all their payments back and their credit cleaned up,” Brown said. How many consumers get stuck with such cars after dealers go out of business is difficult to say, acknowledged Brown, whose law practice specializes in automotive issues. But Missouri Department of Revenue figures show a 9 percent decline in the number of car dealer licenses issued in Jackson County between 2006 and 2010. The problems for Brown’s client, Carrie Peel, began in August 2008 after she purchased a 2005 Ford Taurus for $12,450 the previous month, paying $3,500 down and financing the rest. Her 30-day temporary license tag was expiring and she went to the Department of Revenue to license the car. Her dealer paperwork didn’t include the title, which she needed for the license. But she got a shock when she returned to the dealer. “When I went back up there, they were closed for business,” Peel said recently. “I’m looking in the window, and they’ve closed.” The dealership had, however, sold her installment contract to Credit Acceptance Corp., a Michigan lender that is one of its industry’s leaders. In her suit, … Continue Reading