Ripped off by Americredit Financial Services

I financed a car through Americredit in 2000 for a used 1998 Neon. I a single mother and was in graduate school and with minimal income, so I had no real choice but to accept the high interest rate. Until last July I was never late, and in fact paid in advance as my school funding came in.

I am now a second year law student in NYC. As a result of September 11 my hours at my job were cut in half. I fell behind on my payments for Oct., Nov. and Dec. and was struggling to get current. On December 27th I was contacted to either pay current or surrender the car. I explained my circumstances and that I would be able to catch up and in fact pay in advance again by February. I was told that if I wired via Western Union 1/2 of the $736 I was behind by noon on December 31st I could avoid a repossession and then get current in February as I promised. I said that I didn't get paid until January 2nd, they said if I waited until then I'd have to pay the entire amount.

I borrowed the cash ($368.04) from a friend and wired the money at 11:21 am EST on December 31st. I have a receipt as to the time etc. Today, January 6, 2002 (a Sunday) my car was repossessed. I called Western Union to confirm my payment had been received, they informed me that the payment was delivered at 11:21 am EST on the 31st of December but was rejected by Americredit. On the second delivery attempt at 8:21 pm EST on the same day the payment was accepted by Americredit. Even the woman at Western Union said it was deliberate, and it looked like the intent was to cause me to violate the agreement.

Since as it is Sunday and Americredit is closed, I have no way of addressing the matter or even finding out where my car is. The fact that Americredit seems to have acted in a fraudulent manner is enough of an outrage, but the manner in which my car was taken is something I am not sure how to address. My next door neighbor is a NYC police officer and was outside when three men in a Lincoln Continental pulled up across the street. They were acting suspicious according to my neighbor. When my neighbor went to the garage to pick up a rake, one man got into my car while the others stayed in the Lincoln. My neighbor tapped on the window of the Lincoln to ask who they were, the driver refused to answer and put the car in reverse with my neighbor hanging on to the door which he had opened. The driver in my car put the car in reverse, then forward, and attempted to run over my neighbor with my car. My neighbor called 911, the police arrived after my car and the Lincoln had left. The police department had no record that the repossession had been filed with them, the men showed up after the fact at the precinct.

Not only has Americredit been fraudulent in their agreement with me, but the men they hired to take my car committed assault. In this state threatening to hit someone with a car is assault with a deadly weapon, to compound it they did it to an off duty police officer. My neighbor was very distressed because his gun was only a few feet away and had he had it on him he most likely would have fired shots at the drivers, perhaps killing one of them, as he thought he was witnessing a car theft. All these men would have had to do was identify themselves and my neighbor would have not felt compelled to get involved. I am sitting here with the horror that my neighbor could have been involved in a shooting or worse. Not to mention the humiliation I endured in front of my neighbors. I complied with the agreement I made with Americredit to avoid losing my car. There is no equity in my car, in fact I owe $2,000 more than the car is worth. I can only assume that their declining my payment until after the deadline was so it would look like I did not perform per our agreement, and that the full amount would be due.

I have no idea what Americredit's position will be tomorrow, but
I would appreciate this being posted and if anyone out there has any suggestions as to what I should do I would appreciate any help. I am reluctant to approach my law school for help because I do not want them involved in my personal problems. Thank you for any assistance, I am stunned.

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