In December my relative leased a 2004 Jeep Liberty. With her trade-in, the price was $18,000 and the buyout after 4 years was to be $12,000.
In September she immigrated to Canada. At that time, she faxed the information necessary to get permission to bring the vehicle with her as she didn't want to end the lease early. This information included my address as her new address, and so forth. She continued insurance on the vehicle. She attempted to get clarification on her status in early 2007 as the plates were to expire and the registration would not allow new plating here in Canada. She was told at that point that she was not allowed to have the vehicle in Canada, and would not be able to get plates here. At that point, she parked the car behind my car (to keep it safe) and attempted to keep up payments while she had no income (waiting for paperwork to be done to allow her to work here).
In late as the lease was about to expire, she contacted Chrysler to find SOME way to return the car to a dealership in the US. They would not give permission for a 10 day permit to drive it insured to the nearest dealer. They offered no other suggestions on returning the vehicle.in early we investigated having the vehicle shipped back to the dealer, and how that could be accomplished.
At this point, only the last payment for December was outstanding. We were attempting to find the money to get the car shipped back.
In the meantime, Chrysler and its representatives were harassing her sister in Michigan, calling more than once a day to find my relative. They went so far as to send a nasty collector to her sister's mother-in-law's house to try to find information that they already had in their file that the car was in Canada. The elderly mother-in-law knew NOTHING about the situation at all and was traumatized. The sister has cut my relative out of her life as a result of all the unceasing harassment.
In late February, we had enough money to hire a car shipping agency to take the car to the closest US dealer. She called Chrysler to arrange any paperwork required to make this happen. At that time, she was told to call Lucy in the Collections area. She was informed that Chrysler Financial was definitely wanting the vehicle back NOW, and she would be called back in the afternoon regarding pickup and how that was to be handled. At that time, Lucy told her that the only money owing would be the last lease payment, but not to pay it now, although we were willing to do so.
The afternoon came and went, with no phone call. We expected them to call the next day to arrange pickup and give us a half hour to take anything that belonged to my relative out of the car.
At 5 am the next morning, I had the worst experience of my life. I went downstairs because the dog was barking madly. I noticed a man on the front steps, holding a flashlight and looking like a police officer. I opened the door (not wearing my glasses). He had an 18 or so maglite shining in my eyes. He had a badge that said BAILIFF on it but no other ID. I was very upset, and told him the arrangements made earlier with Chrysler and TOLD HIM CLEARLY I was not the person he wanted to talk to anyhow, that I had absolutely nothing to do with the vehicle or the lease involved. He terrified me. He appeared to want to hit me with the maglite that he was holding and waving threateningly and shining in my eyes. I called up for somebody to come downstairs and help. He appeared to think that I (a 44 yr old woman) was going to be violent, when all the while I was shaking and crying because I was terrified and having a panic attack. He told me we can do this the easy way or the hard way and told me he could arrest me because he was a member of a local police force. He said I had 15 minutes to get that vehicle cleared.
I should note here that I have a long history of suffering from PTSD after a violent relationship with an authoritarian man.
My car (with a flat battery) was parked in front of the Jeep. He told me to find the keys or he would have it towed into the road and leave it there. I found the key and went around to the yard to get my relative's gear out of the Jeep. As I walked down the sidewalk, the bailiff, who had parked in front of my driveway on the side street, started backing up with one set of wheels on the sidewalk. He didn't look and I had to move quickly out of the way to avoid being hit. I limped into the yard in shoes (with no socks, no time), walked through the 18 deep snow to get to the Jeep and started clearing things out. It was not easy hauling the belongings out in the deep snow as I was still suffering from an accident where a car left me with 2 broken legs and 2 destroyed knee ligaments in one knee and I had no time to put on my brace or pick up my cane.
By this point, my relative and 16 year old son had come out to help, and the packing went more quickly from there. We noted there was another man with him. My relative talked to him more than I did, and apparently he was an employee of Chrysler. His computer told him that my relative was an extreme flight risk and they thought she was going to take the car and hide in the US. (An unplated car? Over a border? That we had been trying to return for months?) He told me to slow down, but I was too afraid of the bailiff. He was also quite impressed at how good the Jeep looked.
They had hired a towing company to move the vehicles. They towed my car out of the way into the middle of the road, and then the tow truck operator nearly hit me a few times getting the Jeep out. I moved out of HIS way and then the bailiff nearly hit me with his pickup. Eventually they got the Jeep all hooked up, and actually did put my car back in the driveway (steered by bailiff). They left my car unlocked and with the key stuck in the ignition.
My relative asked if there was any paperwork or anything to sign and was told no. As far as we know, they might have been car thieves. She received a letter from the bailiff's company a few days later saying that they had receipt of the vehicle.
Since then, she has received NOTHING in writing from Chrysler. She called Lucy a few weeks later who said she was no longer dealing with this and sent her over to Lisa in legal. Lisa told her that she owed $6700 for the difference between what the buyout was and what the vehicle brought at auction. (I don't understand who bought that Jeep for $5000 at an auction fantastic condition and less than 40,000 miles). She was told to pay TODAY or legal action was pending. We would like some documentation who sends $6700 to somebody because they say so?
There have been some longer term issues as well with the way this went down. Chrysler hired an agent who terrified me. Some threat 2 middle aged women. I shouldn't have been involved in this mess at all! Nor should MY car have been threatened like that, or my person, by a careless power hungry macho guy.
Since that point, I have had a very hard time sleeping, and my panic attacks/PTSD have increased to a point where I have had to seek medical assistance and medication again. My son, who witnessed most of this, was already under care for depression, anxiety and agoraphobia. He was admitted to hospital 2 days later as being suicidal and has been hospitalized 3 times since, though he is finally doing a lot better now.
I find myself reliving the whole situation as I write it down.
Is there nothing we can do about this? I feel Chrysler owes ME because of their choice of agent, collection method and so on. They knew where the car was the entire time it was in their file. I have lost a lot of sleep over this. I have had to spend money on prescriptions for myself and my son, plus a lot of bus fare to visit him in hospital. I have had a number of very serious panic attacks, and they are not going away and I was doing FINE until Chrysler's agent came to my door. I haven't been able to work as much at my business. My concentration is shot. And I had NOTHING to do with this whole situation. I can't even drive a car anymore.
Jo
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
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