For credit challenged car buyers, often the only choice is to purchase from a buy-here, pay-here dealership. They are notorious for saddling buyers with high-interest loans and repossessing the car with little grace period when the buyer can't pay. A Florida woman had her car taken with her nine-month old baby inside.
Orlando news affiliate WESH.com has been covering and updating the story for several days. It all started when Antoinette Jordan got three days behind on her car payment for $199 that was due on February 7. When Jordan went inside her local day-care to pick up her other two children she came out to find her car and her infant baby gone.
"I thought somebody kidnapped her because my oldest daughter said, 'It was two white males [who] got in the car and they just left...I was just very, very scared...I would never think nobody would take my baby. I didn't care about the car. They could have got their possession, I just want my baby back."
Orlando police were able to track down the car about four miles away to the repossession company that was associated with the dealership. When contacted for a statement Xpress Finance Inc said, "The rules are the rules."
According to Florida law, the repossession company was within their legal rights to take the car even with a 9 month old inside, so no criminal charges will be filed. Antoinette Jordan says the law needs to be changed so that this doesn't happen again.
Repossessions with little warning are common practice among dealerships like these. Our Lemon Law attorney friend Steve Lehto wrote about how it can happen and what you can do about it. But the best thing to do is manage your finances and credit so you can avoid these establishments in the first place.
If you have a question, a tip, or something you would like to to share about car-buying, drop me a line at AutomatchConsulting@gmail.com and be sure to include your Kinja handle.