THE ELDERLAW FORUM

Professor Michael Myers

Auto Dealer Agrees to “Rescission” by 78-Year-Old

            We’ve all done it at one time or another.  We purchased a car, or a dog, or a boat, or a house, or a piece of furniture we did not need, and the next morning we looked in the mirror and asked: “How could I have been so stupid?” 

            It’s called “buyer’s remorse.”  Usually, it’s too late.  But, occasionally if misrepresentation, duress, or intimidation is involved, the buyer may be able to “rescind” the contract, and return to his or her pre-purchase position.

            “I haven’t been able to sleep for the past seven days, with that car sitting in our driveway,” said a senior helpline caller.  Her 78-year-old husband had returned home with a “gift” for her: a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu Classic, priced at $16,400 and saddled with $328 monthly payments for five years.

            “He told the salesman he could only afford payments of $200 a month. But when he returned home with the paper work, the payments were $328,” she informed me.

            The auto dealership had included an extended warranty in the sale. “We told them we didn’t want the extended warranty, but they said it was bank policy and it was a condition of the sale,” she said.

            Earlier, the caller and her husband had returned the car to the auto plaza and walked off the lot despite threats from a salesman that he was going to call the police.  The following day the same salesman drove the car to the caller’s residence, parking it on the street, with the keys in it, and the driver’s door unlocked.

            A few days later, the salesman returned to the caller’s residence and moved the car onto the caller’s driveway despite being told not to.  During that exchange the salesman falsely said he was being fired over the dispute.

            I filed an on-line complaint with the Iowa attorney general, faxed a opy of the complaint to the dealership, and told the caller to again return the car to the dealership.  I cautioned the dealership against threatening or intimidating the caller or her husband.

            The following day an amicable general manager telephoned.  “We accept the rescission and I will call the bank,” he said, adding that his mother was 78 years old and he understood how such a transaction could be confusing.

            “I slept like a baby last night,” the caller said the next day.

(Pro bono legal information and assistance is available to persons 55 and older at USD Senior Legal Helpline, 1-800-747-1895; mmyers@usd.edu)