Loan company goes after Victoria woman for vehicle she doesn’t own

CHEK

Loan company CTL Corp. demands Victoria woman pay for a minivan she returned to the dealership. Tess van Straaten reports.

To say Victoria’s Laura Shaughnessey is getting the run around would be an understatement.

“I have stress hives,” Shaughnessey told CHEK News.

“It’s overwhelming.”

Shaughnessey bought, and then returned, a mini van from Everyday Motor Centre a few days before the company went out of business.

The purchase contract was voided and the single mom said she was assured her vehicle loan with CTL Corp., now called IA Auto Finance, was also cancelled.

“I brought the car back on April 21 and he told me all contracts between CTL Corp., Everyday Motor and Ian Fraser (owner of Everyday Motor) were now no longer valid,” Shaughnessey said.

Shaughnessey even asked for it in writing and has a letter confirming “the deal between Everyday Motor Centre, Laura Shaughnessey and CTL has been voided and all monies have been refunded.”

But despite that, another loan payment was taken out of her account.

“I called them and they said it was still active,” Shaughnessey said. “At no point had Ian Fraser called them to void the contract.”

But Ian Fraser says that’s not true.

Fraser told CHEK News he surrendered the vehicle to CTL and was told the loan was cleared.

He says he’s “shocked” CTL is going after Shaughnessey when he owned the vehicle and willingly gave it to CTL to cancel the loan.

Yet last week, Shaughnessey received this letter from CTL saying she was in default of the loan and would owe the company about $22,000, which includes storage fees and interest charges for the vehicle, less what it sells for at auction next month.

“I only gave the car back after he said all paperwork is done and I no longer owe any money on the car so I’m not sure how I am responsible for this money,” Shaughnessey said.

Shaughnessey was told her only recourse was to contact the Vehicle Sales Authority (VSA), which regulates the industry.

But the VSA says it has no official authority to intervene in a situation like this.

“It’s an unfortunate situation and I wish we could swoop in and make it right,” Doug Longhurst of the VSA told CHEK.

“We do have a compensation fund that can help consumers obtain funds if they experienced a loss from a dealer that is licensed. The bad news is for that compensation to occur that loss has to be experienced.”

That means Shaughnessey would have to pay CTL first but she doesn’t have the money and there’s no guarantee she’ll get the money back since only about half of all claims receive any compensation.

CHEK made numerous attempts to talk to CTL but none of our calls was returned.

Tess van StraatenTess van Straaten

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