help-getting NASTY!!

[hannahemma]

I recently bought a trailer from local dealer here in Ca. I went in, signed the contract, got payment and interest amounts, and the finance companies name(from the contract). Took the trailer home and did a bunch of stuff to it. Five days after I get a phone call from the main office of the Dealership saying they made a mistake on our contract and I needed to come in and sign a new contract. Come to find out they say they put in the wrong figures for my contract. My payment was going from 183 to 290 and the interest from 9.99 to 17.99!! I told them that I wanted to know why they waited so long and he said he knows they "screwed up" but I needed to re-sign. After looking at my contract, I was told that the only way they can do this is if I signed he rescission right portion of the contract. I did not! When the guy called me back 3 days later he said he was still waiting for me to come in. I started to talk to him about the contract and about the rescission rights. As soon as he realized I knew what I was talking about, he got real nasty and said I had two choices: bring back HIS trailer or sign the papers! He them told me that the contract means"nothing to him" and if I want he will give the contract to his "company" and they will break the contract and come and get the trailer wether we say so or not(and our down payment is bye-bye). I asked him if he was threatening me and he said "no threat, just a promise" What kind of recourse do I have. They stated when we signed there is no cooling off period in CA. But what about them?? I dont know if this is a scam, getting people tocome in and sign at a low rate, them calling them weeks later and threatening them to sign at the high rate or else!!Why dont I have any rights?! I signed a contract in good faith, I didnt mislead anyone?!
HELP!! There getting nasty!
Steve

 

[NYClex]

Oha. Well, you do have rights.

First of all, one would have to see if you do have a valid contract. Let us assume you do. They claim they made a mistake. Unless they can show that you in fact had agreed on different terms and they only made a mistake putting the numbers into the contract, they cannot simply "reform" the contract, in other words, just have the new terms written into it.

A party to a contract can try to void the contract, that means to cancel the contract, have one party give back the goods that were delivered and pay back to the other party all that already was paid, based on unilateral mistake. But they only are allowed to do this if they can show that they made a mistake relating to a basic assumption of the contract, that the mistake has a material effect on the contract, and that this party does not bear the risk of the mistake. They also have to show that the other party had reason to know about the mistake or caused the mistake or that it would be unfair to go through with the contract.

Example: I want to buy a house. The kind of house I want usually sells for $ 200,000 - 280,000, the mortgages usually are for 5%. Suddenly I find a seller who tells me he wants to sell for $ 30,000 with 1% mortgage. Five days after we signed the contract he calls me and says: sorry sorry, my computer messed up, of course I did not mean $ 30,000, I meant 300,000. And 5% not 1%. Here he would have a chance to void the contract, because it was just too good to be true. I should have know, if all the other comparable houses sold for $ 200,000 and up that $ 30,000 could not be right.

But if the case would be that we made the contract for $ 200,000 and a week later he wants $ 210,000, there was no reason I should have noted that mistake. That is in the usual range of prices. He would have a tough time to get out of the contract.


So one would have to look closely at the contract and the numbers and find out what is going on here.


Next: Let's consider the case above, I give in and go to the seller of the house and sign a new contract (or correctly, a modification to the existing contract, or a "substituted contract) agreeing to pay $ 300,000 and 5% interest, because he threatened me. Apart from other problems in that scenario, this contract or modification would be void because of "duress:. I would not have to fulfill it. (Of course if he sued me, I would need to be able to prove the duress).


So, since this guy is a dealer, you might want to contact your department of consumer affairs or however the city or county agency is called that licenses these people and and notify them about these threats. You might also want to consult with an attorney to look at your contract before you sign anything else.

Oh yeah, if anyone takes property which rightfully is in my possession, I can sue them for damages.

 

[hannahemma]

Thank You for your input on this problem. I have anither question? The guy from the RV dealership has told me today that the contract is a "30 day cash contract" and that is what all the contracts are. When I asked him to again explain where on the contract does it state all the things he is saying? No where on this contract does it say 30 day cash contract!? Then he said "for your trouble, I'll take a couple hundred dollars off" Then he said I better call him back by noon today to tell him what I was going to do so he could let "his guy" know if he need to pick up the trailer today. Then he called back about 30 min. later and said he talked to the owner and the owner said he would pay our first payment(they say its 290 but have never showed me anything) if I signed. When I said that is unacceptable, he said "then I guess we'll be out today to get the ttrailer", then hung up. I am getting so confused and angry. Everytime I ask him to tell me where he is getting his information and where on the contract it says it, his answer is always either "I dont have to tell you anything, that's jus the way it is" or "Go talk to the finance guy at your dealership(I am a service writer at a Chevy dealership), he knows what I'm talking about". But the funny thing is, my finance guy says he is wrong. When I told him that, He said my finance guy was an "idiot".
What can I do??

 

[NYClex]

I cannot tell you what to do since I don't know the contract, but to me it looks fishy that they obviously urgently want you to sign something. And that is exactly what I would not do.

I would consult an attorney and have him look at the contract and tell you exactly what your rights and responsibilities under the existing contract are. And then may be get him to write a letter to them telling them to back off. It might be money well spent.