When Car Dealers Withhold Money

Consumers who do business with car dealers often have to trust the dealers to follow through on certain steps. For example, many people who trade in their old vehicles expect the dealers to pay off the outstanding balances on their purchases or lease contracts. If the dealer doesn’t follow through, the consumer remains liable.

Likewise, dealers collect license and registration fees from car buyers. If the dealer doesn’t forward that money to the DMV, the car buyer can’t register the vehicle. But what happens if the car dealer goes out of business before forwarding your money to the intended recipient? The Consumer Motor Vehicle Recovery Corporation (CMVRC) compensates consumers if dealers fail to pay off their trade-in balances, forward their license and registration fees to the DMV, or pay them the sales proceeds from consigned vehicles. To learn more, visit www.cmvrc.org or call (800) 961-6175.