Ads for auto loans for people with bad credit modification scams are all over the internet. Automobile loans modification companies promise to negotiate with lenders to get customers lower car payments — for a fairly large upfront fee. But consumer advocates and government regulators say most automobile loan modifiers promising lower car payments will take your money and provide little or nothing in return. Increasing throughout the nation are consumer complaints about automotive loans modification companies. Florida’s attorney general shut down Auto Relief Group, a south Florida business that has an F rating with Better Business Bureau.
Source for this article: Don’t fall for auto loans bad credit modification scams asking upfront fees by Personal Money Store
Auto loan modification seems a cautionary tale
Pitches by auto loans bad credit modification companies offering car loan modification services claim they have lender connections and expertise to negotiate dramatically lower interest rates or extended payments. WKYC in Cleveland reports that an unemployed student was looking for help with her $ 420.00 per month car payment when a television ad led her to Auto Relief Group. The auto loans with bad credit modifier promised that they would lower her 13 percent interest rate to 8 percent and extend the loan, which would result in a lower monthly car payment of $ 290.00. They also claimed they often worked with Honda Financial Services, her lender.
Lower car payments never happened
The unemployed student provided her account with your bank details to Auto Relief Group and agreed to a one-time advance fee of $ 298 from her checking account. It was reported by WKYC that when she didn’t notice any reduction in her monthly car payment after a couple months, she contacted Honda directly and learned that Auto Relief Group had never contacted her auto lender. When she confronted Auto Relief Group, she was told the $ 298 fee was for an “options report” the company provided and that if she wanted them to contact her lender, it would cost an extra $ 100.
Scammers charge for what you are able to do yourself
Other consumer complaints about Auto Relief Group indicate the information within the options report is nothing more than what anybody can get from free by calling their auto lender, such as the amount of the loan, the current value of the automobile, current rate of interest, balance, etc. The student in Cleveland also revealed that Auto Relief Group had made two additional $ 298 withdrawals from her account without her authorization.
Scammers who did mortgage loans are not moving to auto loans
Many financial experts have said that auto loan modification scams are attracting some of the very same scammers who modified mortgage loans until regulations shut them down. SunSentinel.com reports that claims on auto-loan modifier websites and ads — “We can help you keep your car, truck, boat or RV!” “Stop repossession and make your payments affordable!” — are almost identical to the promises mortgage loan modification scams once made to property owners facing foreclosure. Many those promises weren’t kept and homeowners lost their homes and millions in upfront modification fees.
Companies for auto loan modification are unregulated
New laws made certain that most mortgage loan modification scams were driven away. The new laws require that all of the mortgage modifiers to get mortgage broker licenses and they can no longer charge upfront payments. Auto loan modifiers don’t have to be as much as trained. The Federal Trade Commission is putting into consideration a new rule that would prohibit upfront fees for debt settlement services. However, the proposed FTC action would not contain auto loan modifications.
You are on your own for this one. Consider yourself warned.
Discover more info:
WKYC
wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=138784&catid=3
Sun Sentinel
sun-sentinel.com/fl-auto-loan-modification-20100707,0,6069557.story
FTC
ftc.gov/opa/2010/04/debttestimony.shtm
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