Buying or leasing a new car can be an exciting experience. But a couple in Schaumburg said months after leasing a new car, they started receiving calls from debt collectors and a repo man regarding their old car.
“My husband and I have perfect credit and we just started looking for a house and that had to go on hold for a year because of this,” said Melissa Olsen.
Olsen said when the lease on her 2013 Nissan Sentra was about to expire in late 2015, she and her husband, Mark, visited Napleton’s Schaumburg GMC and drove off the lot with a leased GMC Terrain.
“We thought it was a clean-cut deal. It was a verbal agreement: they pay the last month’s rent while we could leave off their lot with a new leased car from them. So it was a win-win,” said Mark Olsen.
The Olsens said they left the Nissan Sentra’s car keys with the dealership and said the final month’s payment details were supposed to be included in the paperwork with the new lease. However, no one told Nissan about the status of the Sentra and the vehicle was eventually repossessed.
Melissa said some time after the lease transaction she received a notification from Nissan saying she missed the final month’s payment. She said she brought it to the dealership’s attention and was told they’d take care of it. But several months later, Melissa said she received a collections notice.
“I’m devastated because now I have a repo’d car on my credit report and I’m also in debt and in a collection agency,” Olsen said.
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According to Napleton’s, there was no agreement in the transaction papers to pay off Olsen’s lease or return the car. The dealership also said it assumed that its customer would notify Nissan for pickup. The dealership added it made multiple attempts to resolve the issue and even agreed to sign a letter addressed to Nissan to help Olsen repair the negative credit report.
The Olsens said they repeatedly asked the dealership for help.
“It was a cat and mouse game just to get that letter,” Mark Olsen said.
The Olsens contacted NBC 5 Responds last December. After we reached out to Napleton’s, the dealership agreed to send the Olsens a check for $395 to handle the repossession fee.
Nissan also told NBC 5 Responds that it removed any negative and repo-related reporting from Olsen’s credit report. A spokesperson for Nissan said the car manufacturer could not comment specifically due to consumer privacy laws.
“In about six months we have another lease and we’ll know what to do next and be more aware of the contract and what’s in it,” Olsen said.
Melissa and Mark have since resumed their search for a new home.
“One with three bedrooms,” the Olsens added. “Open concept, with wood floors.”
