Mitsubishi Motors Credit Of America, MMCA Ripoff Didn't process payments and then repossessed vehicle Cypress California

I leased a 2001 Galant through MMCA's Diamond (dis)Advantage Plan in September 2001. I made regular monthly payments on this vehicle, and had two incidents of being reported late to the credit bureaus. After disputing, the incorrect reports were subsequently removed.

In November 2005, I made two payments by phone with a representative named Brian. I explained I wanted to pay both the November and December payment at that time so that I could make sure Christmas spending did not leave us with no money for the December payment. He took my bank account information over the phone and gave me some random confirmation number.

In January 2006, I walked out of my garage to get into my other vehicle (the Galant had become my husband's car), and I noticed the Galant was not there. I woke my husband to ask if he had parked it somewhere down the street, realizing it was an improbability, but shocked the car wasn't there. There was no broken glass on the ground and the keys were inside on the table, so I knew it hadn't been stolen. I called 311 (non-emergency reporting number here in my area in Texas) to ask if it was towed for some reason. The Williamson County sheriff's office said they had been notified of a repossession by MMCA.

We were NOT informed of this intent to repossess the vehicle. We received NO documentation, NO letter of intent, NO forms to sign. I called MMCA and they claimed that the payments did not process because of a computer glitch. The representative I spoke with was named Hilda, and she said I should have known because no money came out of my account. That is true, but since I had never had any problems with payments before, I assumed all was status quo, and I had no reason to check that specific account which was set up for ONLY automatic bill payments. She said it was my reponsibility to process the payments correctly. I asked her to verify the account number used, and she said she could not divulge that informaton over the phone. The following day, I received a billing statement in the mail, showing the amount of one payment due.

They will not return the vehicle. I was able to collect the personal belongings from inside, one item of which was stolen by the employees of the holding facility in Austin, Texas (separate Rip-Off Report to follow). I recently (within the last week) received a letter from MMCA stating the vehicle has been sold at auction for $5000, and I now owe the remaining amount of $9231.27. I absolutely, vehemently, adamently REFUSE to pay this amount, regardless of the ramifications it will undoubtedly have on my credit report.

My husband now has another automobile, and the good news is that we are free of dealings with MMCA. They will have to hunt me down til my dying days for that $9K, and never in my lifetime will they see a single red cent of that money. I am shocked that they are allowed to operate in this country while they scheme and theive from hard-working individuals. My husband and I have worked very hard for good credit, and we are 28 and 25 respectively, and we were proud of all the measures we had taken to ensure we had good credit at a young age. However, because of the "unprocessed" payments from Mitsubishi, my credit is marred and will remain so probably forever.

My advice to anyone with a car note from MMCA would be to refinance if at all possible. Overpay your payments if at all possible. Pay off your loan if at all possible. Do ANYTHING to expedite getting away from that horrible, unethical company.

If you have read this, I thank you.

Julie
Taylor, Texas
U.S.A.