On June 18, NBC 10 reported that prosecutors are investigating a Burlington County, New Jersey car dealership.
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Autosmart on Route 73 in Palmyra was served a search warrant and investigators took license plates from the company’s garage and boxes and computers from the office.
Prosecutors could only confirm that the dealership is under investigation and did not speak to specific charges. They did, however, tell the news station that they'd received several complaints that customers were scammed at the dealership.
What’s interesting, though, is that NBC 10 was already looking into Autosmart after a viewer reached out with a problem she is facing. And the recent investigation could be related to it.
Susan Noble asked NBC 10 to investigate an issue related to a car she bought and financed last September through Autosmart.
“I bought a used car from Autosmart in Palmyra,” Noble told NBC 10. “They said they would work with me to get the monthly payment that I wanted at the price I wanted … they said, ‘You can buy the car and in a couple of months you can refinance with us.'”
Noble said she financed the purchase with American Credit Acceptance (ACA) and went back a few months later as planned to refinance.
“They said they sent the payoff check to the first company that I financed with,” said Noble. Payoff amount is the total needed to satisfy a debt, including interest and fees.
But then ACA started texting Noble saying her monthly payment was due or late. She also couldn't get the title to her car.
Noble said ACA told her they never received the payoff payment for her loan from Autosmart.
“They didn’t actually do it, but they continued to make monthly payments on my behalf,” she explained.
That left Noble with two car loans in her name totaling over $50,000.
This, she said, is hurting her ability to buy a home.
“They know how hard I work. They know that I'm a nurse, they know I'm a single mom … for them to do this to me is just unconscionable,” she told NBC 10, getting emotional.
NBC 10 reached out to Autosmart to find out why Noble's original loan wasn't paid off when she refinanced through them. A representative from SmartSource, who said they were a consultant for Autosmart, responded and blamed the financial institutions involved.
