I had a lease/purchase plan on a vehicle from B.M. Smith Jeep in Plant City, Fl., which was returned to original dealer in excellent shape in December of 2001 & I had an excellent record of timely payments (never late). When I began the finance plan, I was set up to receive a monthly statement w/ a coupon for payment remittance via mail. Later in term of the lease, I allowed Chrysler to quit sending me a "hard copy" statement, and had them send me the statement via E-mail. When I returned the vehicle in 12/01, I assumed our obligations had been met. I never received any kind of notice, neither a mailing or e-mail, that any kind of balance existed on the account, until receiving a phone call in January of 2003 (more than a year after the lease ended). At that point, I asked the person on phone to send me something in writing validating the balance. I received that notice 1/22/2003, and sooner than I could dig up all the original paperwork from the lease to research the acct, the account was placed with a collection agency. When I got a letter from the CA, I began making numerous attempts(and I'm still attempting)to speak with the person at Chrysler who handles accts that have been sent to CA's. Had I been promptly notified that I still had a balance on my acct after returning the vehicle, I would have payed the balance immediately; why would I want to ruin a perfectly clean payment history??? Do I have any recourse against Chrysler? How can I prove I was never notified of the debt? How do they prove the did try to notify me? Is there laws protecting consumers regarding similar matters? Thanks for your help in this matter! Sincerely, Bruce
Ruuudy 1*Why pay him $292 to have your credit trashed when you all ready have that for nothing? 2*What hope? 3*Send the Validation letter found in the sample letters section now. Do not sign it! Mail it CRRR: 4* This is why I said send the validation letter now. 5*You don't dispute anything, just send the Validation letter to take care of it. 6*For hevens sakes don't state or say anything like this for if you do you will be shooting yourself in the foot. Ruuudy ============================== 1*The CA (SRA) wants me to "wire" him the $292 right away and he can't garauntee me that the TL's will be removed. I want some kind of written agreement that the lines will be changed. 2*Should I just go ahead & pay the CA and just hope the lines are changed or removed, 3*should I send in a written dispute request to the CA? 4*The Notice Letter from CA, dated 2/20/2003, states I have 30 days to notify the office if I dispute the debt. 5*I know I do not dispute that I DO owe the $292, 6*I just dispute that I was properly notified & given a considerable amount of time to research & verify that I did, in fact, owe the debt. Thanks! Bruce The END ************************* LB 59
