vendredi 12 janvier 2018

Sales Agreements: Can a Car Dealership Cancel a Purchase Contract After the Deadline

My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: California

Long story short, I bought a car on 12/30/17. Contract was signed by both parties; trade-in was given; down payment was paid; drove off the lot. On 1/11/18 I received a letter (dated and postmarked 1/10) stating that they're electing to rescind the deal as they have a right to in the contract. However, the contract seems to only allow them ten days, which had expired. Here's the language:

Quote:

Quoting Seller's Right to Cancel

a. Seller agrees to deliver the vehicle to you on the date this contract is signed by Seller and you. You understand that it may take a few days for Seller to verify your credit and assign the contract. You agree that if Seller is unable to assign the contract to any one of the financial institutions with whom Seller regularly does business under an assignment acceptable to Seller, Seller may cancel the contract.

b. Seller shall give you written notice (or in any other manner in which actual notice is given to you) within 10 days of the date this contract is signed if Seller elects to cancel. Upon receipt of such notice, you must immediately return the vehicle to Seller in the same condition as when sold, reasonable wear and tear excepted. Seller must give back to you all consideration received by Seller, including any trade-in vehicle.

c. If you do not immediately return the vehicle, you shall be liable for all expenses incurred by Seller in taking the vehicle from you, including reasonable attorney’s fees.

d. While the vehicle is in your possession, all terms of the contract, including those relating to use of the vehicle and insurance for the vehicle, shall be in full force and you shall assume all risk of loss or damage to the vehicle. You must pay all reasonable costs for repair of any damage to the vehicle until the vehicle is returned to Seller.


I've been researching "yo-yo scams" and bait-and-switch techniques used by dealerships and this seems to be fairly common, however, from what I can tell they have missed the deadline and I'm not obligated to do anything more but make the payments. Unless I'm missing something.

So my questions are:

1) Does the "ten days" above carry any caveats? For example, is it implied these are only 'business days' or 'non-holidays', etc., or does it mean exactly what it says?

2) What's the best way to respond to the notice from a legal perspective? Is it time to 'lawyer-up', or not quite yet?

I intend to keep everything in writing and so far have not acknowledged receipt of the letter. It was only sent standard mail, not certified, and I saved the envelope and scanned the docs.

When I do respond, I had planned on simply asking them what happened and confirming whether or not they are aware the deadline was one day earlier. I just want to be prepared with how to follow that up, as I expect them to respond aggressively and threaten to repossess the car, accuse me of theft, etc.

Thanks in advance.


Sales Agreements: Can a Car Dealership Cancel a Purchase Contract After the Deadline

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