CommentUnfortunately for me, they did this during a time when I actually need to demonstrate good credit because I am applying for graduate school loans. In fact, I found out about this charge-off credit rating change only because my student loan application came back rejected due specifically to their adverse rating.
My wife and I leased a Saab through GMAC in March of 2006. In December 2008 I contacted GMAC to return the vehicle because our son had been diagnosed with pediatric cancer and our family insurance did not cover 100% of our son’s medical bills, so our family was faced with an onslaught of non-covered medical bills stemming from the cancer treatments. I contacted GMAC and explained to them we had a medical emergency, and they agreed to our voluntary repossession of the car. Given that we had never missed a payment, nor had ever been late on a payment, the GMAC finance lease representative was willing to work out a termination agreement with us. We agreed on a break lease fee of $6,251.67 broken down into manageable payments. The car was given back to the dealer on December 4th, 2008 and I made my first of $173.66 (which was 6251.67/36, a three year plan that my family could afford) on January 3, 2009, the 2nd payment on 2/4/09 and the 3rd payment on 3/2/09. After making those agreed payments, GMAC called me to inquire if I could increase my payment to an even $200 per month. I agreed and began those payments on 4/19/09. The term ‘charge off’ was never mentioned in any conversation with any GMAC representative and you can imagine my surprise when it appeared on my credit report.
Thus I do not understand why GMAC has reported this agreement and set of payments as an adverse credit rating of “charged-off as bad debt”. I am told that such a charge-off is a debt that is severely delinquent - usually late by 180 days or more. As I understand it, a charge off occurs when the creditor determines the debt is uncollectable. In other words, the creditor has given up collection efforts and charged off the debt as a loss. And yet, I never missed a payment, I was never late on a payment, and my payment profile does not meet the legal threshold for such a listing.
When I contacted GMAC to ask them to remove the charge off from my credit report they bluntly told me that we had broken the contract and refused to remove the charge off. Had I known, or been aware that this would have resulted in the destruction of my credit, I would have found another way to pay for my son’s medical bills…a way that would have allowed him to receive the necessary care and also allowed me to pursue my advanced degree without putting my financial credit at risk.
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| 1. Written by They lie., on 07-08-2009 05:44 They will tell you the best option for a person in your situation is a "voluntary recall" but what they don't tell you is that they will treat it as a broken contract and, in some cases, will hold you responsible for the difference of resale price at auction, even after you've paid lease breaking fees. In short, they openly lie to maximize how much they can make off of their crappy cars after people are done with them. As for the abuse and vindictive practices; it seems like GM and GMAC were/are trying everything they can to abruptly end the business of building cars. Scare away potential first-time customers with talk of bankruptcy and bailouts and drive away current customers by abusing the *** out them, this way they can have their cake (our tax money via bailouts) and eat it too (end the tacky business of building and selling cars through a second bankruptcy) |
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