While not officially incorporated as a city, Eldersburg, Maryland, is home to more than 30,000 residents. This community is known for being named after John Elder and for the presence of two sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Moses Brown House and Wesley Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church. The region, which includes nearby communities like Sykesville, Woodbine, Marriottsville and Winfield, is also home to a number of car dealerships that sell new and used Chevrolets, Fords, Nissans, and other makes.
Many of these sellers are entirely honest and trustworthy, but some of them will do whatever it takes to get your money including auto fraud. This all too often includes devious practices like misrepresentations in online price advertising, overcharging with bogus fees, hiding damage and accident history, disguising salvage titles, forgery in finance and lease agreements, failing to disclose rental history, odometer fraud, spot delivery violations, and running credit checks without permission.
People should not have to worry about more than a bit of haggling when they buy cars, but auto fraud sometimes makes suing a car dealership necessary to recover compensation, which can include a car being returned, down payment recovered, and compensation for emotional distress arising out of fraud and how badly a customer was treated. Whitney, LLP’s auto fraud lawyers have the experience to sue car dealerships who treat car buyers unfairly.
Here are reviews from what some of our past clients have said about us, and here are some of our past settlement results in claims and lawsuits against car dealerships. We offer Legal Consultations. Call us at (410) 583-8000 or use our online form to request your free initial consultation today.
Watch our YouTube Channel and read our Auto Fraud blog for more information on dealer fraud cases.
Forgery At Eldersburg, MD Car Dealerships
Car buyers are sometimes surprised when they review their sales or financing documents for the first time after the sale and they say, “I think the dealership was forging my signature.” Our attorneys have seen financing documents with forged initials, and we have handled cases where the seller misrepresented material facts about the vehicle or the terms of purchase on forged finance and lease documents.
Car dealerships often do not care about anything but getting the sales documents signed. Sometimes, dealers will even sign them for the buyer, which, if done without permission, is forgery and fraud. We have seen cases where the client is reviewing sales or financing documents and says, “I cannot believe the dealership was forging my signature!” Forgery is a crime in Maryland, and this includes faking financial or legal documents.
Signs of forged finance or lease contracts include an interest rate that is different than what was agreed to, bank statements with monthly payments that are different than what was agreed to, and can be either higher or lower if forgery occurred, and the total amount financed is more or less than agreed to. If your payment is off by even a few cents, let along several dollars or tens of dollars, it is likely your signature was forged, and you have serious legal rights and can recover compensation.
Whitney, LLP has experience representing car buyers in forgery claims against dealerships, and can help you sue the car dealership and recover compensation.
Car Dealership Fraud Lawyer in Eldersburg, MD
Other common ways that car dealerships in Eldersburg and the surrounding areas of Sykesville, Woodbine, Marriottsville and Winfield may be dishonest include misrepresentation, such as false online advertising. The dealer may show ads at one price or with certain features only to offer a different price or a car without those features in person when the customer arrives at the dealership.
Dealerships may keep down payments when financing is not approved and they tell you to return the car, instead of returning the down payment, which is what Maryland Spot Delivery law requires. The law also requires that dealers provide a written notice in 4 days if financing is not approved, and they may not charge mileage or depreciation fees when financing is not approved.
Dealers may engage in odometer fraud by tampering with and lowering the mileage displayed, or they might run a person’s credit without his or her permission, damaging their credit score.
Lying can also constitute fraud, depending on what the dealer was lying about. Hidden damage, a car’s rental history, and salvage title or water damage are all important information that customers should be informed of before a sale is made.
Keeping the GAP and extended warranty policy money is a common complaint. This happens when s customer pays for a policy, but the dealer simply steals the money and does not pay for the contract. The customer will not find out about the fraud until they have an accident and need the GAP policy, or their car needs repairs and they try to make a claim.
Overcharging for a vehicle or inflating the terms of a financing agreement might also constitute fraud. Dealers are subject to state and federal laws that prevent them from misrepresenting the vehicle or the terms of purchase.
These acts are often enough to give the purchaser the motivation to seek a lawyer to sue a car dealership and bring a claim for compensation. However, suing a car dealership is not easy to do on your own, and customer complaints are often ignored. Therefore, you should consider having Whitney, LLP’s auto fraud lawyers handle your auto fraud case and provide representation.
Car Dealership Fraud Lawyers Near Me in Eldersburg, MD
If you purchased a car and think you may have a claim for fraud against the dealership, the consumer law attorneys at Whitney, LLP, can help sue the dealership and recover compensation.
We have experience handling the kinds of cases that might be brought against bad-acting car dealers in Sykesville, Marriottsville or Winfield. If you need a lawyer to sue a car dealership, call us at (410) 583-8000 or contact us online today. We offer Legal Consultations.