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On August 17th of 2009, in TX, Drivetime/Santander repossessed my Tahoe in a VERY violent and illegal manner. After being phyically injured (thrown across my vehicle while trying to remove a child safety seat), treated horribly, and leaving me with extremely emotionally to the point of PTSD, I've decided to move forward with legal action, in hopes of "outing" these corporate criminals.
We are currently in the process of pressing charges and suing Drivetime, after having my Tahoe repossessed in a very "unpeaceful" illegal manner, even physically injuring me, (yes I have plenty of photos), and becasue they knowingly mailed our "notice of intention to dipose" to our former address. They had been mailing all communication to our new/changed address for the past 6 months, repossessed the vehicle at our correct address, but OOPS!, they somehow sent that VERY important letter to our very old address. CROOKS! According to state law, they MUST provide the buyer with a letter advising them of the intent to sell the vehicle and the date, as well as info on how we could re-instate our contract should we choose to do so. They don't have to mail it certified, but they do have to mail it to your current address.
I'm want to point out that I am NOT one to happily sue & never have pursued a lawsuit. Believe me, I have had reason to in the past, a very justified, simple.."settle out of court for a nice settlement", medical malpractice lawsuit. My surgeon's inept knowledge, neligence, or whatever (?) caused me to just about lose my right leg after getting a horrible infection due to closing with improper sutures, on what should have ben a simple ligament repair. This Dr. made a mistake, he didn't knowingly do this, did whatever he could to remedy it, never charged me a dime, and my leg ended up being fine. Could I have still sued him? Sure, & easily won. However, I wouldn't gain any satisfaction by harming one or "paying someone back", by potentially causing his practice & or family to suffer financially. I told that story so others would know I don't delight in hurting others financially, but what Drivetime/Santander has done to my family alone (not to mention the countless others that fell prey to these criminals), has warranted a lawsuit. It's not as if I am the only consumer this has ever happened to & it's time someone stop these mafia like companies. My ultimate hope is to brings more media attention to these slimbags. If anyone is interested in class action due to harrassement, wrongful repossesion, &/or negiligence in providing you with legal documention prior to selling the vehecle, let's talk. My atty has told me to go individual prior to ever seeking out a group to sue through class action, but I'm still not completely against it. If you have had an experience such as mine, aren't interested in becoming involved or are seeking out your own individual case, but would be happy to give a statement as another reference for my atty to have, i'll gladly do the same for you. Please reply to me by clicking on my username & i'll get back to you ASAP!
T. Rose
I am attaching a photo (which isn't the best one, but only one I could comfortably put online), only to show some of the injuries & seriousness of Drivetime's actions. Like the old saying goes..."If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all!' :) thanks!
Thank you for your comment mediator2007. I genuinly feel pity for those who made such mean spirited comments, especially having not known the extreme details of this particular case. They obviosly have self hatred that they must project onto a complete stranger to feel better about themselves, have some self esteem. Anyone who took time to read the comments from those who left mean, filth, or putting my case in their steriotypical box, are 10 times out of 10, highly uneducated people who really only know how to do one thing. (ie-poor grammer, spelling...read above..sad) Oddly enough, I absolutely agree with them on 99% of repo's...people need to be responsible and pay their bills on time, and not purchase above their means. However, in these times with the high # of job losses across America, it is very rude and disgraceful to comment when you do NOT know particulars. We know these comments must be left by those in this respected business (how many years of school must you endure to be able to do such a blue/black collar position anyway...must be huge student loans!) and those who think being in this business makes them some glorified tow professional. There is some good money to be made in it, and I'm sure some rewards from knowing your helped someone out and made a difference. Ha! I believe there are some good honest people trying to just make a living, BUT...this WAS NOT THE CASE in my unfortunate situation. If you only knew the price I've paid physically, emotionally, and what i've gone through since...you might be a tad more compassionate, and go spend time expanding your vocabulary and learn something new~! Try love instead of hate, you'll be a much happier person inside. Sorry you chose to be so hateful, I do hope you find some peace.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
We purchased a brand new 2012 Dodge Journey, never had a problem was never late.in fact I was early by a few weeks. Well june of 2012 4 yrs of havng thcar, we did fall on some hard times. Well I called Santander and asked if I could do a defer payment and after 4 yrs of great payments, I couldn't defer 1 pymt. They came and picked my car up in a week after it was do!Then actioned it off and now they say I owe 13k. This crap is on my credit and have been trying to fight it off for years. Also my payment was 599.99, we were told $320 would be going towards the car and the rest $180 was interest. Ok so explain to me in the 4 yrs I had this car, I only paid 4k towards car and about 10k towards interest!
After paying off my car, I expected my next note from Santander ( who purchased my loan from Citi 2 years earlier) to be something more like the title of the vehicle. Instead I get a loan modification form for 12k. When I called and asked what the 12k was for, I was told to sign the agreement and then they would send me more details. Uh... seriously? Are people that dumb? Harassing calls began and the phone runaround continued for weeks. Next thing I know, it's midnight and I am face to face with a repo man in my driveway. He asked me to move - I declined. He then backed into me wedging my right lower leg between my bumper and his hitch. Police came - did nothing. Driver claims it was an accident. Sorry but you don't accidentally get in your vehicle, back into the person you just talked to ( who hasn't moved and told you she wouldn't move) and then laugh when you hit her. You also don't accidentally accept a repo request when your license expired 2 months before... Anyway, I hired an attorney and the calls stopped but oddly - it's been over a year and Santander still can't explain why they feel I owe 12k on a loan that was paid off - nor have they sent a title. Legal limbo. This company gave me hell for 2 years after taking over my loan with Citi ( where I never experienced any issues) and almost 2 years AFTER making my last payment - I have no title, no explanation and a leg that still experiences pain after any prolonged standing/lifting or driving. Welcome to life as one of the many unlucky people who had a loan purchased by these criminals.
I had a 5 year finance plan for my car. I paid my bill for four and a half years before I got behind because I had health issues and got behind on my car payment. I had 6 payments left before it was paid off and I had been noticing my garage door was getting damaged because there was a hole that kept getting bigger and bigger by the week. I couldn't figure out why until one night about 1 am in the morning I heard some noises coming from my garage door so I went outside to check it out and sure enough I found a young punk sticking a flash light in the hole in my garage door. He was dressed in black with a hood on and he had a bag of tools, I thought the punk was trying to rob me. I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was looking for my car and I realized he had been the one poking the hole in my garage door and sticking a flashlight through the whole to read my license plate. I told him to get off my property and he was going to pay for my garage door. So I was walking back into my home and the punk followed me to my porch. He wanted me to let him in my house to get into the garage to look at my car so of course I said no! At this point I was in my house while he was on my porch as I kept telling him to get off my property and he didn't so I attempted to close my front door and he stuck his foot inbetween my door. At this point I felt threatened so I grabbed my registered firearm and kept it by my side . Then he replied "oh u have a gun" and I said yes I do and if he tries to enter my home again I will not hesitate to protect myself and my family and home. He said to me give me the car and I won't call the police and tell them I pointed it at his head and threatened him which I never did, I just kept it at my side and had it pointed at the ground the whole time. I said go ahead I know my rights to bear arms and protect my family and home from a invader. So he called the police and acted like he was crying and hesterical saying I had the gun touching his head and he feared for his life wich was a total lie. At the same time I called the police and told them that he was trying to break in my garage and enter my home. Next thing I know the Los Angeles sheriffs along with a helicopter showed up at my house and I thought they were there for him. My family was there to witness everything and the sheriffs arrested me and took me to jail for protecting my home with my legal fire arm. The sheriffs saw the big hole in my garage and talked to my witnesses and still arrested me. My car was never taken that night and my case was rejected by the D.A. These guys are ### that get paid for every car they reposses and the sheriffs couldn't figure that out. Now I have a lawsuit against both Santander and the Los Angeles sherrifs for my garage door and unlawful arrest and both are about to settle any week now. Haha I get the last laugh cause both parties where gun ho and incompetent.
I am a repo man from California and I want everyone to know that we all feel bad for the consumers but we still have a job to do. The important thing is to treat people with respect at the time of recovery. As an owner I demand that my people show respect to the debtors and to never judge them or make negative remarks. This is just a job and true professional recovery agents never treat debtors like they are portrayed in those stupid repo shows. In this economy everyone is suffering and it is imperative to keep things in perspective while out there repoing. On behalf of most repo company owners I apologize for the lack of professionalism and respect that some recovery agents show debtors. If you are disrespected at any time during a recovery than I would advise contacting the repo agency and filing a complaint with them.
Pay your bills on time and you won't have to worry about getting your feelings hurt by the repo man.
Female? Well, my apologies, I wouldn't knowingly speak like that to a woman. I really thought you were a guy. If you read my comments you can tell I thought you were a guy.
Neither a woman, nor a man.
Just scornfully swat that malevolent green fly.
That often invites”[censor]ers” to “sniff the poop saved in its crack”
Nauseating.
Are you a male or female? I am not sure I want to know.
Uhh, yeah, thought we established that already. I wouldn't exactly call responding to a topic of similar nature to my own situation "crying the blues". After all, comments were invented to encourage group discussion on the post topic. I doubt the inventor wanted to create a soap box for Sub-50 IQ people. But go ahead, run your mouth again, I know you will because, unfortunately, society hasn't found a way to fix stupid yet.
Oh so patriotic of you, where do you live, on Ruby Ridge? I been paying my taxes my whole life, and they take a chunk out of my pay every 2 weeks, so I have no guilt using Unemployment Services after being laid off. I'm not as perfect as you, real life problems actually happen to me once in a while.
Wow, you get angry and defensive when I assume where you live is a dump, huh? Pretty low of me judging you without knowing your situation? I guess taking it is a lot different than dishing it out.
As for your comment earlier:
"Two, you should have paid your damn car payment on time."
Wow, I am sure he didn't know that to begin with. It is a good thing you told him, and me actually, I had no clue that I had to make payments. I thought the car was a gift! Man, am I glad you straightened me out, thank you, you are the epitome of a gentleman. However, I seriously doubt you would have the nerve to run your fat mouth to anyone's face, another telephone tough guy.
Let me clarify, I don't think repossession itself is wrong as a principle. If I can't pay for the car then sure, I will have to deal with it and drive something else until I can get in a better position. It is not the repo itself that I feel is wrong, I think the way it is done is wrong. At least the bank could've said that they were putting it out for repo, I would've cleaned my stuff out and left the keys in the wheel well. They could've explained voluntary repo to me, or any other alternative, especially since my credit and pmt history were good. In the end, both the bank and I lose out, it would have been in their best interest to work with me, but that makes sense so of course I wouldn't expect that to happen.
@Stealth Pilot, I don't know what [censor] hole you live in, but that is the average price for a 2 BR apt here. Believe it or not, not everyone's house has wheels like yours. Downsize? What an idiot.
Hey you know what? I am sick and tired of hearing uneducated [censor]s putting other people down when they know none of the details. I just had my car repossessed. I was laid off from my corporate job 6 months ago, and had to go on unemployment, and I have a 4 year degree. Unemployment is $1600 a month, and my rent is $1300 a month. Needless to say, I burnt through savings after a couple of months, and naturally I fell behind. There was absolutely no relief, not to mention health problems I didn't cause either.
So don't bother with the "you should pay your bills and you won't have these problems." I tried and tried to work something out with Honda, and every time I called the people got nastier and nastier, like I was hiding a shoebox full of money and just didn't feel like I should pay for my only transportation all of a sudden after making on-time monthly payments for 2 years.
I go out to my car and it is gone, they didn't tell me it was out for repo, never gave me a chance to get my stuff out, nothing. It was very humiliating. They come in under the fog at 4am and remove my car without a word said like a rat. Sure, I know they cant wake me up because they know there is usually a confrontation. That should give them a hint that the repo laws are fundamentally wrong. There should be a court proceeding, anything would be better than doing it the way it is done.
I see them on TV, on NatGeo, and these repo idiots brag about "don't make your payments, I'm coming to get it, and there is nothing you can do to stop me!" Wow, that is really great, we need more people like this. Sure, some of the people who let their car go out for repo seem to deserve it, but I don't think some grease-ball with a bandanna on should be making the distinction. That is why we have courts.
Please, don't respond with the whole speech about how I agreed to it in the contract in the size 1 font, or how it makes business sense to repo it, or the property isn't yours, or whatever other argument. The way it is done is wrong. Stealing the car from your driveway, your only source of transportation, the only method of travel to find a new job and get back on your feet, is just plain wrong. Life is tough enough, especially now, yet we treat each other worse and worse.
Repodagain and Stealth Pilot what trailor did you crawl out from under. Go gather your goats. You should not judge, you do not know the circumstances.
Where can I sign up for class action suit agaisnt SANTANDER as well as a CRIMINAL Complaint against the person here with the vagain breath ?
T.Rose,
I am also suing them In Georgia. Their recovery agent kept 10, 000.00 worth of tools from a van.
They also sent the “notice” to an old address. We should get in contact. You can reach me at grb432hotmail.com
Greg