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Car lease contract has incorrect data, does that make the contract void?

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Phil2Day

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Originally I signed a contract for 10,000mi/yr with a residual value of X dollars. After a week the dealer called me back and said they got a better interest rate for me, and I went in and signed a new contract. On the 2nd contract the dealer mistakenly put 12,000mi/yr with a residual value of X dollars (same as the original contract). I believe the bank denied the contract due to the discrepancy between mi/yr and residual value. After a month of driving the car, the dealer called asking me to come in to sign a new contract with 10,000mi/yr, this was disadvantage for me and I refused and told them I want to return the car. (We left on bad terms)

The dealer was able to convince the bank to take the lease, but two months has already passed and the dealer had to make the first payment (without my knowledge/authorization). I have a few questions.

1. I only wanted 10,000mi/yr and the dealer made the mistake of putting in 12,000mi/yr. Is the contract void because of this?
2. The residual value is a fixed value given by the bank. For 12,000mi/yr my residual value should be lower. Can they legally give me a bad residual value when it's suppose to be a fixed rate?
3. The dealer is now demanding I pay them for the 1st payment they made on the lease. The payment was part of a deal they made with the bank without my knowledge or authorization. Am I legally obligated to pay them?


Thanks
 
Last edited:


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Originally I signed a contract for 10,000mi/yr with a residual value of X dollars. After a week the dealer called me back and said they got a better interest rate for me, and I went in and signed a new contract. On the 2nd contract the dealer mistakenly put 12,000mi/yr with a residual value of X dollars (same as the original contract). I believe the bank denied the contract due to the discrepancy between mi/yr and residual value. After a month of driving the car, the dealer called asking me to come in to sign a new contract with 10,000mi/yr, this was disadvantage for me and I refused and told them I want to return the car. (We left on bad terms)

The dealer was able to convince the bank to take the lease, but two months has already passed and the dealer had to make the first payment (without my knowledge/authorization). I have a few questions.

1. I only wanted 10,000mi/yr and the dealer made the mistake of putting in 12,000mi/yr. Is the contract void because of this?
2. The residual value is a fixed value given by the bank. For 12,000mi/yr my residual value should be lower. Can they legally give me a bad residual value when it's suppose to be a fixed rate?
3. The dealer is now demanding I pay them for the 1st payment they made on the lease. The payment was part of a deal they made with the bank without my knowledge or authorization. Am I legally obligated to pay them?


Thanks
1: You willingly signed a lease at 12K mi/yr.
2: You willingly signed a lease at 12K mi/yr. with a specific residual value.
3: Yet, you willingly signed a lease stating you would pay $x. The dealer paid that on your behalf so, yes, you need to pay them.
 

Phil2Day

Junior Member
1: You willingly signed a lease at 12K mi/yr.
2: You willingly signed a lease at 12K mi/yr. with a specific residual value.
3: Yet, you willingly signed a lease stating you would pay $x. The dealer paid that on your behalf so, yes, you need to pay them.
This can allow dealerships to take advantage of customers. Where you negotiate one thing, but then they change it on the contract. They may be good at hiding these changes and the customer signs without realizing. There should be laws to protect customers against this.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
This can allow dealerships to take advantage of customers. Where you negotiate one thing, but then they change it on the contract. They may be good at hiding these changes and the customer signs without realizing. There should be laws to protect customers against this.
It seems to me that you renegotiated the contract.
 

Phil2Day

Junior Member
It seems to me that you renegotiated the contract.
The only thing that was supposed to change on the 2nd contract was the interest rate, everything else was to stay the same.
They also told me they will add an anti-theft system in for free. After looking at the contract in detail they actually charged me for it, they pulled a fast one on me.

The contract is already finalized, I am not going to fight them on this, but I don't want to pay them for the 1st payment they made on my behalf. I don't see why I need to pay them back. I have no agreement for them to make the payment in the first place. Can they report this to a collection agency? I would take them to court if I have a case.
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
The only thing that was supposed to change on the 2nd contract was the interest rate, everything else was to stay the same.
They also told me they will add an anti-theft system in for free. After looking at the contract in detail they actually charged me for it, they pulled a fast one on me.

The contract is already finalized, I am not going to fight them on this, but I don't want to pay them for the 1st payment they made on my behalf. I don't see why I need to pay them back. I have no agreement with them to make the payment in the first place. Can they report this to a collection agency? I would take them to court if I have a case.
You don't have a case. YOU read the contract, correct? Because you signed it and if you didn't read it then that is your stupidity. You should have read it in detail PRIOR to signing it. You can't do anything but pay according to the terms you agreed to. Which means making the payment to them. They did you a favor because you apparently didn't make the first payment and this protected your credit.
 

Phil2Day

Junior Member
You don't have a case. YOU read the contract, correct? Because you signed it and if you didn't read it then that is your stupidity. You should have read it in detail PRIOR to signing it. You can't do anything but pay according to the terms you agreed to. Which means making the payment to them. They did you a favor because you apparently didn't make the first payment and this protected your credit.
Even the car dealership missed the mistake. The contract was finalized 2 months after I signed it. They made the first payment because they had to for the bank to take it.
 

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