Despite being a small suburb of Baltimore, Glen Burnie, Maryland, is home to multiple car dealerships, such as those that sell new and used vehicles including new Toyota, Ford, Chevrolet, and Honda models. If you live in Glen Burnie, you have likely been to one of these dealerships or to others in the surrounding areas, such as Towson, Gwynn Oak, Essex or Dundalk. Unfortunately, even at seemingly friendly small-town car dealerships, there is always a risk of auto fraud when buying a car, such as committing forgery or lying as a manner of overcharging on a sale.
If you believe you have been a victim of misrepresentation or fraud and are considering suing a car dealership, you should speak with an attorney who has experience handling consumer cases. At Whitney, LLP, we have the experience you need to help you pursue lying and deceptive car dealers.
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.
Different Types of Car Dealership Fraud in Glen Burnie, MD
One of our office’s primary areas of focus is auto fraud. Our attorneys are familiar with all sorts of tactics used by dealerships to scam customers. For instance, some sales managers and finance managers will engage in something called “payment packing.” This means that they will quote you a higher monthly payment than what you should actually owe based on the value of the car and your interest rate, then they pretend that you can add on additional products in finance for no additional cost or a very low cost. What you do not know is that the inflated monthly payment already included the actual value of the add-on product, and the dealership just defrauded you without even resorting to forged initials or signatures.
Other dishonest salesmen and finance managers will just add products onto your car purchase without even telling you, and you may not even realize until after you have taken the car home that paperwork was falsified and products were added. If anything in the paperwork for your purchase or lease seems “off,” or if you feel like someone at the dealership made a misrepresentation about something you were going to receive, or something you were supposed to receive, a lawyer who handles consumer fraud can help clear up any confusion and tell you whether the dealership made an actionable misrepresentation.
Forging signatures on sales contracts and warranty products is a common practice. The finance manager will submit a second set of forged documents to the finance company in order to make an illegal profit. If you monthly payment from the bank is higher than what you agreed to at the dealership, you are probably a victim of dealership forgery.
Keeping the down payment and other costs when financing falls through, but making the customer return the car, is another common illegal practice. So is stealing the GAP and extended warranty money by charging the customer, but never buying those contracts. This happens very often, and customers often only find out when there is a problem and they need to use the policy they though they purchased.
If A Salesperson Is Forging My Signature in Glen Burnie, MD
Car dealers in Glen Burnie, Towson, Gwynn Oak, Essex, and Dundalk may seem friendly, but do not let your guard down. You may think that if you tell a local dealership manager, “Your salesperson is forging my signature,” you will automatically get that person’s support. This is not always the case. At some dealerships, corruption can go all the way to the top, which means that some general managers can even go so far as destroying documents proving that their employees were committing forgery. If you suspect that someone at a dealership committed auto fraud, which could include anything from falsely representing a product or its price to forged initials, you should contact a consumer fraud attorney right away. Do not let crooked car dealers get away with overcharging you. Retain a lawyer to discuss suing the car dealership.
Lawyer to Sue a Car Dealership Near Me in Glen Burnie, MD
If you are wondering whether you have sufficient grounds to go about suing a car dealership in Glen Burnie or a surrounding town, an attorney with Whitney, LLP can point you in the right direction.
Once we represent you, we can conduct an investigation to determine what you are legally owed and aggressively pursue justice on your behalf. To set up a legal consultation with Whitney, LLP, call (410) 583-8000 or contact us online today.