When applying to get the truck (1998 Chevy Silverado 1500 extended cab), I made my first down payment to Quality One Auto Sales located in Reseda California, 91324 on March 18th, 2010. Two weeks later, April 2nd. 2010, it broke down on Parthenia Boulevard in Canoga Park, CA. I pulled it to the side of the road and called Quality One Auto Sales to inform them of the truck and its whereabouts and that it should be towed. They told me to surrender the keys to them and they would tow it before the end of the day. So I complied. Three days went by and my truck is still sitting there in the same place. I called to complain about it and they rejected and refused to answer my calls. So I left messages. Around the 4th day, my truck was gone supposedly to shop in which I did not see my truck for another week and half. Upon retrieving the truck, I asked for a receipt and they refused to give me one.
Two days later on April 18th, 2010, it broke down again with the same engine, AC, and radiator problem on Aldea Avenue, and they followed through in the same way of negligence to pick up the truck and fix it in a timely manner. Again, they refused to take calls. However, that second time, I reset the trip odometer to "00000" and upon retrieving the vehicle, over 250 miles had been put on the trip odometer and my tank was empty. I complained and they told me if I pay them $250.00 that they would fix it right. I refused and they said, "Stop complaining. You're getting it done for free!" I asked for a receipt again and they refused. I constantly asked them when I would receive my tags for the truck and they kept telling me it would take 60 to 90 calendar days, and they proceeded to give me paper plates to cover up the already expired tags on the truck. On April 28th, 2010, the same problem reoccurred, and I have to endure the same process again. I asked for my money back and they said no. I asked for a trade-in and they refused that as well and opted me the bribe to fix it "right" again and I declined it.
Later on May 9th, 2010, it happened again. I took it upon myself to find the auto mechanic shop to obtain receipts directly only to find out they don't speak English at all or just refused to cooperate. This problem continued. The duration of the time I have had this vehicle, May 17th, May 30th, and June 17th, 2010. On July 5th, I received a call from Premier Auto Credit (finance company) asking why I missed my payment date on July 2nd, 2010. I informed them of the problem and they put an investigation on them and the truck as I told them I refuse to keep paying for a busted vehicle. Meanwhile, I received a letter in the mail from Premier Auto Credit stating that my payment for July and August should be paid by August 11th, 2010.
However, on August 10th, without informing me, Premier Auto Credit withdrew their loan from Quality One Auto Sales as they found with their investigation that the truck was a piece of junk and should not have been sold to anyone due to the extensive repairs. I was not notified by Premier or Quality One Auto about this, and instead of proper procedure, Quality One Auto Sales used a hidden tracking device I was not informed was on the truck a day before I was supposed to make my payments. They found my truck on August 10th in between 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm in a small cul-de-sac in a secure gated parking lot in Sherman Oaks, CA.
They then proceeded to break in, destroying the security gate and confiscated the truck. As I was not informed at the time of the loan being pulled due to them closing the investigation on August 10th, supposedly one day before my payments were due, I did not know it was taken by them so I called police department and reported the truck stolen. I then immediately called Premier Auto Credit to see if there was a possible repossession by them and they said no. They pulled their loan from Quality One Auto Sales so I immediately began calling Quality One Auto Sales and got no answer. Upon the police finally coming at 11:30 pm that night and surrendering the plate information about the truck to the police, upon running the plates I was then informed by the officer that my truck wasn't even registered to me but to the owner Meesha of Quality One Auto Sales.
The officer then proceeded and told me that if I were to have gotten pulled over at any time, if he (Meesha) reported it stolen, I could've gone to jail. So the following morning on the 11th of August at approximately 9 am, I went down to Quality One Auto Sales, and upon seeing me enter the premises, they went indoors and locked up and refused to talk to me. I then proceeded to their second car lot only to find that they had been warned I was coming so they actually vacated the car lot literally. It was open but vacant and vacated. I then called the police and was informed by them that it was a civil suit and they were not coming.
Two hours go by and I'm noticing people driving by in cars with painted prices and warranty stickers in the windows. They would slow down, look at me and my friend then speed off on cell phones. Finally, one of them pulled into the car lot but acted like he didn't speak good English. I asked him where the owner was and he proceeded to say he didn't know so I continued to wait and call with no response. Finally, around 11:00, a woman who works there pulled up and I proceeded to tell her what was going on, and she called him directly and he refused to comply. Instead, they insisted I give them the keys to the truck. I said no. They're holding my property and at this point that is theft, and that's when they started threatening me that if I didn't surrender the keys right then to their employee that my things that were in the truck would go missing and it would then be my word against theirs and chances are I'll lose it all if I don't give up the key. I then proceeded to call the police again and I still got the same reply from them.
Then the lady told me that they said "leave the key today and call tomorrow at 4 pm to schedule an appointment to get my things." I said no, and they proceeded to send 3 big men (Mexicans) to try to make me leave the premises. I left and called DMV and asked them why I never received the tags for the truck in over 5 months and I was informed that there were numerous tickets on my record and that I would have to pay them off and that my license is about to be suspended due to this. I then realized that while my truck was sitting up, inoperable, the dealer was allowing it to accumulate parking tickets instead of towing it right away. Then they would throw the tickets away and not inform me of them. I then put two and two together and realized that the registration wouldn't turn over with those tickets. And since I didn't have any idea there were tickets being accumulated on the truck in my name, I remained clueless to the fact that this whole time it was in his name and that's why I had not received my stickers and transfer.
On the 12th of August 2010, I went back down to the dealership only to be confronted by the owner himself who saw me arrived alongside my witness to try to retrieve my property. He aggressively got in my face calling me **. I turned to him and said, "Excuse me?" He then said, "What are you doing here? Most of that ** gone!" (Referring to my property.) "Go home and eat your bananas." I knew he was trying to provoke me to hit him. Of course I didn't. I knew what he was trying to do. He then demanded the keys. I laughed and said, "Let me see the truck cause if my things aren't all accounted for, I will give no keys to you." He then signaled a female employee who ran behind him and called 911. They falsified a report and told them to "Come quick! There is a black gang banger here waving a Gloc-9 at us trying to take the keys and the cars," (as an officer later told me).
I knew something was up so I called 911 again as well as my witness called 911 also. But before 5 minutes, LAPD helicopters were hovering and up to 6 or 7 squad cars pulled up, cutting off part of the street (Reseda Boulevard) in front of their 2nd dealership located at Reseda, CA and all of them hopped out and pulled their guns on me. They proceeded to publicly humiliate me by stripping me in open public in the middle of the street looking for gang tattoos (which I don't have), publicly humiliating me as they pulled my shirt over my head and pants to my knee caps baring my body. That was when I was told what they called in to the police and told them to get them there. I was cuffed tightly and slammed in the back of a hot police car. They ran my information and released me after about 45 minutes concluding that there was never a gun, but they did nothing to them even after the fact of knowing it was a false report. They made me vacate the premises and informed me of a restraining order that was going to be filed against me to stop me from coming back to claim any of my property.
On August 14th, 2010 at 10:00 am, I called the police again to come and meet me at the AutoZone on Reseda and Parthenia in Northridge, CA. I informed them that he was still refusing to give me my property and that it was explained to me he had no right to hold my property. The police sent a unit out to meet me. They further explained to me that what he was doing was against the law and being that he took possession of his property, keys or no keys, by law he had to surrender my property to me. They then proceeded to Quality One Auto Sales where they spoke with the owner directly over the phone that claimed he was out of town. The officers proceeded to tell him my rights and the law! He then told the officers that I should go back on Tuesday and get my property. I agreed. Then on August 17th, 2010 at 10 am, I went back to claim my property and he then said I had to pay a fee and I found out that he forged paperwork on what was in the car and is now using a ploy to rip me off yet again. Obviously, this is a scam they have gotten good at.
Due to this ongoing scenario, I lost my job with Landmark Realty as a contracted painter not even a month after dealing with Quality One Auto Sales and this truck. I have also been evicted from my apartment due to this problem, and with that went custody of my son. I am an independent contractor (painter) and depended on my truck for work. I went from making over $450.00 + a day 4 times a week to nothing. They refused to give me my belongings, paint supplies, and refused to give me my medication as well as my son's medication or property.
I had all my work equipment in the truck including some paper work on the truck. I'm looking to sue them for fraud and trying to get me arrested under racial and false pretenses, emotional and physical distress, damages to the property in which they stole the truck out of, and all my property including two money orders for $2300.00 with receipts attached; 2 PSPs (mine and my son's also $200.00 a piece); child's car seat, $90.00; Portable DVD player, $149.00; medication (Albuterol inhalers 2) $120; and other prescription medication valued at $80.00; two 5-gallon containers of Behr paint, $425.00; industrial paint sprayer, $350.00, brushes, painter's tape, rollers, etc. up to $300.00; not to mention my money back for what I have put down on the truck and paid for it this far, including insurance.
I'm also suing for payment of the tickets accumulated due to negligence and scamming due to them leaving my truck purposely on the side of busy streets instead of towing it in professional and timely manner, and theft as they did steal the truck in which I invested personal monies into. And if possible, I want the truck back so I can make the necessary corrections to it so that I may have transportation and means once again to help myself and my family.