If you need a Car Haven complaints lawyer after buying a car from Car Haven in Millersville, Maryland, call the car dealer fraud lawyers of Whitney, LLP.  Our attorneys have successfully helped consumers who purchased cars from Car Haven and had problems afterwards.  Car Haven, Inc. appears to be the new name of Car Corporation of Maryland, Inc., with both located at 8310 Veterans Hwy, Millersville, MD 21108.  If you purchased a vehicle from Car Corporation of Maryland and have complaints, you still have legal rights even though their name has changed.

In this blog we will discuss a 2024 $30,000 settlement with Car Haven and its owner arising out of allegations of spot delivery violations, violation of Maryland’s Consumer Protection Act, violation of Maryland’s Consumer Debt Collection Act and Conversion (a legal term for taking someone’s property).  As part of the settlement, in addition to paying $30,000, Car Haven and its owner deny the allegations set forth in the lawsuit, which are also stated in-part below, and deny all liability.

Whitney, LLP has experience helping consumers resolve both Car Haven complaints and Car Corporation of Maryland complaints.  

If you need a Car Haven complaints lawyer or have Car Corporation of Maryland complaints, call Whitney, LLP for a Free Case Evaluation.

Call Whitney, LLP’s Consumer Rights attorneys at 410 583 8000, or use our Quick Contact Form, to discuss your potential case.

Here is our YouTube Channel  for our videos on a variety of claims involving the Maryland Consumer Protection Act.

Whitney, LLP helps consumers across Maryland return bad vehicles, recover down payments when financing is not approved, recover illegal price increases and illegal finance charges, have credit tradelines deleted by finance companies when loans are canceled and recover compensation for abusive debt collection practices.  Of course, all cases are different and past results do not guarantee future performance. 

Car Haven Complaints – Deal Gone Wrong

In September 2023, our clients, a mother and daughter, were looking for a reliable used vehicle.  They found a 2016 Dodge Charger SE, (hereinafter, the “Vehicle”) advertised by CarHaven.  On September 30, 2023, they traveled to the dealership to see the Vehicle, and ultimately decided to proceed with the purchase.

CarHaven represented that financing had been approved, and that the loan was being provided by Capital One Auto Finance (hereinafter, “Capital One”).  Our clients were charged a Total Cash Price of $19,784 for the Vehicle including taxes and fees, purchased a GAP Contract for $1,000 and a vehicle service contract for $3,000, and made a $2,200 down payment.  Our clients signed the documents that they were presented with, were provided with a few copies of documents they signed, including a finance contract, took delivery of the Vehicle and drove home.

Financing Not Approved After Vehicle Delivery

On or about October 11, 2023, our client received a letter from Capital One informing her that financing for her purchase of the Vehicle could not be provided.  She was confused, as CarHaven had informed her and her mother at the time of their purchase of the Vehicle that financing was approved.  She called CarHaven to inquire as to what was going on and discuss the letter she received from Capital One.

Thereafter, a CarHaven Finance Manager mailed our clients a second finance contract for the Vehicle and requested that they sign and return it as soon as possible. However, the second contract had different terms, including a different monthly payment.  Upon receipt, our clients contacted CarHaven and explained that they were hesitant to sign the second contract, as they was unsure about the new terms and the implication of financing per the first finance contract not being approved.

Once our clients informed CarHaven that they would not immediately sign and return the Second Contract, the owner began to personally call and text our clients in a manner they found very abusive and harassing. 

Abusive Text Messages from Car Haven’s Owner

Car Haven’s owner, Steve T., sent a string of abusive and aggressive text messages to our client with obscene and profane language, in an apparent attempt to threaten and coerce her into immediately signing the second finance contract. The texts included but not were not limited to the following:

• “Why are you playing games this time? I contract so you can get your car otherwise I can come and get it. Don’t play games with me.”
• “I need you to call me because my name is Steve [REDACTED]. I am the owner of CarHaven and I need to get the documents signed. Otherwise I’m coming to get your car. And I’m going to drive over myself personally and get the car right now if you don’t give me some sort of answer . . .”
• “All you had to do was sign the Alora [sic] dumb ass people car new agreement and it would’ve all been done.”
• “All I can tell you is if I don’t have a real answer by today professionalism is over.”
• “I have millions of dollars to burn and I will f*cking figure out how to burn it one dollar to [sic] time until I get my f*cking car from you or you can sign the paperwork and get my people what they want or you can figure out how to f*cking play games here, and I promise you my attorneys will figure out how to make it win.”
• “Let me know in the next 10 minutes or I’m going to send the next 20 f*cking people repossession [sic] and give them $1000 each to get my car.”
• “Your car is out for repo and it’s also reported stolen so hopefully they call me or you continue to be the piece of person you are you let me know which person you are . . .”
• “Trust me, I will get your car no matter what it takes because it this point, I will not sleep until I get your car or you can sign the f*cking documents and then you can keep your car. Otherwise I promise you there’s no f*cking way in the world that you gonna keep your car I will f*cking never sleep until I get that motherf*cker, do you understand”
• “Karmas a bitch. I hope you feel the full rath of stewing [sic] a car” 

No matter how much a car dealer disagrees with a consumer, they are not allowed to behave abusively or harass the consumer to try and get their way.  Maryland law protects consumers from abusive and harassing actions by car dealers and other businesses.

Whitney, LLP has experience filing suit and recovering compensation from abusive car dealers and other businesses that threaten and harass their customers with abusive texts and verbal threats.

Actual Abusive Car Haven Text Messages:

While it seems obvious that sending text messages like these is unprofessional and abusive, consumers need to understand that they have legal rights that protect against behavior like this.  When abusive text messages are sent by a business to try and force, threaten or coerce a consumer to do something, a consumer may be able to cancel a contract they were bullied into, and also recover compensation for emotional distress.

Car Haven Refused to Return $2,000 Down Payment After Repossessing Vehicle

After our clients refused to be intimated by the abusive text messages, Car Haven repossessed the Vehicle.  However, even after repossessing the vehicle, Car Haven refused to return our client’s $2,000 down payment.

Down Payment Must be Returned When Financing is Not Approved

Maryland’s Spot Delivery Law required dealers to send a written Notice within 4 days after delivery of the Vehicle when financing is not approved, and to return a customer’s trade-in and down payment.  A dealer may not keep a customer’s down payment when financing is not approved, and must return their trade-in as well. Read more here on Whitney, LLP’s blog about Maryland’s Spot Delivery Law. 

Dealers are not allowed to charge mileage or other supposed “expenses” to a customer for use of a vehicle what has to be returned due to financing not being approved.  Generally speaking, this does not stop numerous dealers in Maryland from keeping down payments and telling customers they have to pay a fee when vehicles are returned due to financing issues.

Whitney, LLP has significant experience recovering down payments and trade-ins in Spot Delivery violation cases after financing has not been approved.

Car Haven Complaints – Lawsuit Filed

With nowhere else to turn for help with recovering their down payment, trying to understand what was happening with the financing and Car Haven’s repossession of their vehicle, and dealing with abuse, our clients searched for a “lawyer for car dealer problems” and found Whitney, LLP’s ca dealer fraud lawyers.

After speaking with our clients and reviewing all of the information and documents they provided, it was evident that Car Haven had treated our clients badly and our clients had many legal rights arising out of their Car Haven complaints.

Causes of Action Against Car Haven

After analyzing the situation, Whitney, LLP’s Car Haven complaints lawyers filed a lawsuit arising out of our clients’ Car Haven complaints on multiple legal grounds:

Car Haven’s Alleged Violation of Maryland’s Spot Delivery Law

Maryland’s Spot Delivery law sets forth statutory requirements that dealers must follow when delivering a vehicle to a customer for whom third party financing has not yet been approved.  

The lawsuit alleged that CarHaven completely failed to comply with Maryland’s Spot Delivery law, including failing to provide our clients with the required written statutory Notice prior to the delivery of the Vehicle pursuant to the First Contract, failing to provide the required written statutory notice within 4 days after delivery of the Vehicle informing our clients that financing has not been approved, and failing and refusing to return the $2,200 down payment, withheld at the direction of the owner acting in both his individual capacity and as an owner and agent of CarHaven, after repossessing the Vehicle.  

Car Haven’s Alleged Violation of Maryland’s Consumer Protection Act

Section 13-303, et seq. of the Consumer Protection Act (“CPA”) prohibits unfair, abusive or deceptive trade practices in connection with sale of consumer goods, consumer services, the extension of consumer credit and the collection of consumer debts.  

The CPA is an extremely powerful Maryland law that Whitney, LLP’s consumer lawyers use often in a variety of ways in both car dealer cases and other consumer claims.

The lawsuit alleged the following violations of Maryland’s Consumer Protection Act:

• Prior to our clients agreeing to purchase the Vehicle and providing their down payment, Car Haven represented that financing had been approved by Capital One, which is a material fact, and also failed to provide notice pursuant to Maryland’s Spot Delivery that financing was not approved.  In reliance on the representation that financing has been approved, and due to Car Havens’ failure to disclose the material fact that financing was not approved, our clients agreed to purchase the Vehicle and made their down payment.   
• In an effort to coerce our clients to sign the Second Contract, Car Haven’s owner, in both his personal capacity and as owner and agent of Car Haven, threatened, abused and harassed our clients by phone, voicemail and text.
• In an effort to coerce our clients to return the Vehicle to Car Haven despite Car Haven having no legal right in the Vehicle, Car Haven’s owner threatened our clients and represented that the Vehicle had been reported as stolen, although, upon information and belief, it had not been reported as stolen.
• Car Haven, at the direction of Car Haven’s owner acting in both his individual capacity and as an owner and agent of CarHaven, kept our clients’ $2,200 down payment as payment for the repossession fee for CarHavens’ illegal repossession of the Vehicle, despite having no legal right to keep the down payment for that or any other purpose, and, upon information and belief, the cost of the repossession being far less than $2,200.

Car Haven’s Alleged Violation of Maryland’s Consumer Debt Collection Act

Maryland’s Consumer Debt Collection Act, Md. Code Ann., Com. Law §§ 14-201, et seq. protects consumers from abusive collection tactics by collectors.

Abusive collection tactics include, but are not limited to, collectors that:

• (2) Threaten criminal prosecution, unless the transaction involved the violation of a criminal statute; 
• (6) Communicate with the debtor or a person related to him with the frequency, at the unusual hours, or in any other manner as reasonably can be expected to abuse or harass the debtor;
• (7) Use obscene or grossly abusive language in communicating with the debtor or a person related to him; 
• (8) Claim, attempt, or threaten to enforce a right with knowledge that the right does not exist; [or]
• . . .
• (11) Engage in any conduct that violates §§ 804 through 812 of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Md. Code Ann., Com. Law, § 14-202.

The lawsuit alleged that Car Haven and its owner violated the Consumer Debt Collection Act by:

• representing that our clients committed a crime by stating that the Vehicle was “reported stolen,” despite knowing that the transaction for the Vehicle did not involve a violation of a criminal statute, that our clients had in fact not committed a crime, and that the Vehicle had not been reported as stolen;
• sending our clients multiple text messages and leaving multiple voicemails with the frequency that could reasonably be expected to abuse or harass our clients;
• engaging in the use of threats and obscene, profane, and grossly abusive language in communicating with our clients;
• threatening to repossess the Vehicle and in fact repossessing the Vehicle, despite knowing that Defendants had no legal right to repossess the Vehicle and thus could not legally repossess the Vehicle, thereby threatening to enforce and actually enforcing a right that Defendants knew did not exist; and
• keeping our clients’ down payment of $2,200 as payment for a debt that CarHaven alleged our clients incurred arising out of CarHaven’s illegal repossession of the Vehicle, despite our clients’ not owing that money.

$30,000 Settlement Paid After Lawsuit filed by Car Haven Complaints Lawyer

After the lawsuit was filed, several low ball settlement offers were made by Car Haven. 

However, $30,000 was eventually offered, and our clients accepted the offer.  The settlement covered their $2,000 down payment as well as compensation for the emotional distress arising out of the abusive text messages and harassment by Car Haven and its owner, and paid their attorney’s fees as well.

Of course, past performance and past results do not guarantee future results, and all cases are different.

Car Haven’s Negative Google Reviews

As of October 13, 2024, Car Haven has 402 Google reviews with a 4.7 rating, including multiple negative 1-Star reviews related to consumer Car Haven complaints.  Of course, Google reviews are not verified or always real.  However, several of the troubling negative reviews refer to business practices that, if true, appear to violate numerous Maryland laws.  Last names have been shortened to an initial for privacy purposes:

• Rick M.
• 4 reviews·2 photos
• 4 months ago
• I came hear to buy my sons first car. Everything was nice and it was a nice experience. I didnt get around to rating them and I am glad that I didn’t. My sons car broke down the other day on his way home from work. We had it towed back to the house so we could go through the extended warranty to get it fixed. I got in contact with Fidelity services who I have the extended warranty that I purchased through Car Haven. Then then preceded to tell me that Car Haven canceled my extended warranty 2 days after purchasing it. I then got curious what else was I paying for that they cancelled and kept the money. I contacted the gap insurance that I purchased through them. That had been canceled also. So I called the dealership and they told me there was no one working at the time and someone would call me back. So after waiting a couple of hours me and my wife drove there. They said there is nobody that could help me with this at that time and someone will be with me first thing tomorrow. Well it’s tomorrow, nobody has tried to contact me.
  So you can read all of the great reviews they have online. This wasn’t a mistake it is down right felony fraud. So I now I have a car sitting in my driveway that doesn’t run that I now owe an extra $5,000 dollars on because of warranties and insurance that they kept the money for and canceled it. So in less you want to get a lawyer, there is no deal there worth it!

• Nicholas C.
• 6 reviews·1 photo
• 5 months ago
• Don’t let the 4.8 star rating fool you. Car Haven is top to bottom the worst business I have ever had to deal with. It has been 4 months since I have purchased my vehicle and the bank still has not received the title. They have blamed it on external circumstance but they are the ones who took months to submit the paperwork to the DMV. I even spoke to the owner, Steve who claimed his employees are “on top of things”. Yet I am met with rudeness, false promises, and no action being taken. I have had to call the dealership multiple times to push them to do work that should have been completed, and they are unapologetic about it. They won’t even return calls from my bank.
• If you want a massive headache and no title, buy your car here. Although I don’t recommend it. By far the worst customer experience I have ever had, and yes I’ve dealt with Comcast.

• H M.
• Local Guide·79 reviews·285 photos
• 5 months ago
• This place sold us a car in horrible condition and did not disclosed it had water damage. We get the run around when seeking repairs and continue to wait for support. Scam dealership. Do not recommend.

• Gary P.
• 3 reviews
• 6 months ago
• AWFUL experience. I bought a ford focus originally advertised at ~9 k for 11k due to buying in cash… which is insane! If anything it should be cheaper for paying in cash. They clearly make their money on partnerships with lenders moreso than the vehicle sales. The manager was so rude (slammed door open after hearing I wasn’t going the finance route) and the “finance” guy (truly just a senior salesman) made up lie after lie about pricing until I told him my only and final offer. And, to top it all off, THE CARS ENGINE OVERHEATED DRIVING IT OFF THE LOT!! It’s a good thing I got a warranty because it needed to be fixed immediately. I know it’s tricky getting a used car these days for a good price, but I highly recommend you look elsewhere.

• Michael J.
• Local Guide·5 reviews·37 photos
• 3 months ago
• They have one price but if you don’t go thru them to finance they add $2000 to the price of the truck and won’t deal

• Brian Birner
• 93 reviews·1 photo
• a year ago
• BAIT AND SWITCH. People working here are very nice but they have a ton of hidden fees. $500 dealer processing fee plus $2500 fee if you don’t finance through them (with I’m sure high interest rates) PLUS a 1700 fee for the included 90 day warranty. Crazy. A $24,000 truck turned into about $30,000

Car Haven Complaints Lawyer

If you purchased a used vehicle from Car Haven and have any problems, call Whitney, LLP’s Car Haven complaints lawyers.  We help consumers with Maryland car dealer problems including but not limited to abusive text messages, abusive debt collection practices, illegal price increases, illegal finance charges, failure to return down payments, unauthorized cancellation of GAP and service contracts, and other dealer practices that hurt consumer. 

We offer Free Case Evaluations for consumers with Car Haven Complaints.