I got behind on my car payments w/National City(now PNC Bank) late last year. They never repo'd my car. I now have the funds to pay my loan off, but when I contacted them, they referred me to CCS Collection & gave me their # (I've never rec'd anything from them). When I contacted them, they said they had been given permission fr PNC to negotiate my balance in half. I agreed, and like an idiot, I gave him my bank acct info, after he promised he would send me an agreement by mail. Obviously, nothing ever arrived. I put a stop payment on the electronic check. When I called him, he said he could fax me the agreement, but that it would take 30 days after they withdraw the funds from my bank for the check to clear ~ huh?? No big shock that the letter was dated 4/1, with an agreement null & void date of 3/31! I don't trust this company, but I want to pay my loan off & get my title! How can I find out for sure who now holds my title, and how I can get it? Thanks
That sounds like it is going to be a tough one indeed. The collection agency don't have the title to your car and even if you pay them you may or may not ever get the title. One thing is certain and that is that the original lender is the one who has that title in their possession. I'd almost bet that they will pursue the normal repo channel and take the car at their earliest opportunity, maybe leaving you stranded somewhere far from home. At work for instance. Or leave you with no way to get to work one fine morning. Then come after you for a deficiency balance. What happened to get the process turned on it's ear is what I don't get. Unless they don't want the car. Maybe that's it. They just want the money and don't want to go to the hassle and expense of grabbing the car and then having to sell it maybe at a loss. I think that if I were in your situation I'd just go at it as I would any other debt related situation which had been turned over to a collection agency. I'd first of all demand validation and go from there taking them to federal court if at all possible. Get rid of the debt collector and if they turn it over to a lawyer go after the lawyer too. I would most definitely make absolutely certain that the vehicle is kept clean of anything you don't want to lose. Strip it down to the exact same condition as it was when you bought the car from the dealer. Don't ever leave anything in the car. No tools of any kind other than a jack and a lug nut wrench. No aftermarket accessories of any kind. Then if it gets repoed you won't lose anything. Don't even keep any more gas in it than is necessary to get where you are going and back home again. Don't fill it up because if you do and you are at work when they grab it you would be out a pretty fair amount of money for the gasoline. Gasoline is getting back up around $3 a gallon here in Oklahoma once again. It may be higher than that where you live. So even 10 gallons is at least $30. If you don't know what kind of mileage you are getting then start finding out. You can pin that down pretty quick and then figure out how far you normally drive to and from work and just keep that much gas in it and no more. Count on it getting grabbed sooner or later and then keep your money in your pocket until you can actually get your hands on the title and trade cash for title. And if you can't make that happen then at least you still have the funds to go out and buy another vehicle. But however it works out I sure would teach that collection agency that you know how to play hardball too.
