Well um, Bank of America and Daimler North America do it again! (it's been fun!)

[Busted Knuckle]

Well after a year of making EVERY payment on the 2005 Setra S417's we "bought" on a lease purchase buy out of "Just For The Fun Of It Charters and Tours!" Bank of America has decided that they are going to take the buses back because the owner of J4F had no legal right to "re-assign the buses" even though he came up with a plan to help us and not turn the buses in and file bankruptcy. Which all of us viewed as a WIN-WIN situation for him, us, and Bank of America!

We have been trying to transfer the loan over into our names, but because we have had some bumps in some of our personal credit histories, (or none to begin with) and have always paid cash with the business rather than finance things the company has no credit history either. Plus the first 3 and a 1/2 yrs that dad, mom, and I drove and maintained the buses and ran the company on the go we did less than a good job of record keeping and tax preparations. So while my sister has been and is scrambling to get things in-order to make BOA happy. I looks like if we don't have everything done just the way they want it by Tuesday they are going to come get the buses!

Just last week they had a guy from Setra North America come out and do a "collateral inspection". And whole time he was here he was bragging to us how he could see that we had spent tons of $ and time fixing up and correcting many issues he saw when he did an inspection just prior to us taking over them! And that he was going to go back and tell them "it was in their best interest to keep the buses where they are and to work with us!"

Well I guess he was just B.S.ing us as 3 days after his visit the man we are buying them from got a certified letter telling him to contact them by 03/02/10 letting them know where to pick them up!

So looks like we're getting kicked back a few steps and while we may be down fer a spell we won't be OUT! It ain't the first time we've had set backs and won't be the last! But I can tell you we started with nothing and we still have most of it left!

We will be BACK!

I tried and tried to get a little bit more time to get things in order but was told "you have until the 2nd!"
They didn't care that we'd just made yet another payment (even after hearing their intentions of picking them up!), or that we just put $20,000 into a trans cooler and trans on one of them!

Well I am slightly depressed about it but we have other buses and we will survive this. But it really makes me see that the deal that happened to Arrow Trucking probably went down pretty close to the same way! ("yeah sure, we're working with ya, we'll help ya get things straight! AH, turn all your trucks in at the nearest Freightliner dealers NOW! PERIOD END OF STORY!"  )
   BK  

[gumpy]

Pull the engines and trannys by Tuesday! Let them tow them away in their current condition, and they can try to collect from the current leaseholders!

By the way, I'm looking for some aluminum wheels, 24.5. Maybe there are some like that one those buses?


BTW, who were you making payments to?  The lease company or the previous owner?  If the former, they probably don't have a leg to stand on. If the latter, they may not have
been making payments.

[Barn Owl]

Stall, get a lawyer, put up every road block you can. If all else fails "gas and match" at the last minute and make them wish they left a good thing alone. In all seriousness, what a crappy thing to do. Sorry to hear about it BK and you have one heck of a good attitude.

[Barn Owl]

I like Grumpy's idea. We expect to see a lot of Serta parts on Ebay soon.

[compedgemarine]

your not the only one going through this. the bank doesnt care. they will take them back, sell them for 20 cents on the dollar and them the 'you know whats' in washington will hand them more cash from the TARP fund to cover their "losses". the only reason they are doing this is they remove the deal from their books and end up with more cash thanks to the taxpayers money. I know a few that are dealing with the same problem now. some have had to file bankruptcy even thought all the payments were being made on time.
as was said, Stall and find a lawyer.
good luck
steve

[HighTechRedneck]

My heartfelt sympathies BK.  On the bright side, even as much money as you guys have lost putting it into those buses, the chances are good that when BofA auctions them (presuming they do that the same way banks do homes and other vehicles), they will lose much more than you.

One word of caution, be sure to keep any communications you have received from them stating that the previous owner did not have the right to transfer it.  If they haven't given it to you in writing, demand it before you let the buses go.  Otherwise, after they auction them for a fraction of the loan value, they could try to come after you guys for the balance.  But if you have it in writing from them stating that the transfer of the loan was not valid, then they they will be limited to going after the previous owner.

[Barn Owl]

What about that idea? Let them have them, then re-buy at auction for 20 cents on the dollar.

[Busted Knuckle]

Pull the engines and trannys by Tuesday! Let them tow them away in their current condition, and they can try to collect from the current owners!

By the way, I'm looking for some aluminum wheels, 24.5. Maybe there are some like that one those buses?

Don't tempt me! (I already mentioned it and dad said "let's wait", mom said OH NO, I don't want to hear anymore! )
sorry 22.5's

Stall, get a lawyer, put up every road block you can. If all else fails "gas and match" at the last minute and make them wish they left a good thing alone. In all seriousness, what a crappy thing to do. Sorry to hear about it BK and you have one heck of a good attitude.

[/color]

I thought of that too, but we just renewed the insurance and paid a HUGE down payment for the year and they'ed probably make our insurance pay for them!  

BUT I ain't done YET! (After all I am somewhat of an old school backwoods type a fella ya know! !)
 BK  

It ain't over til the FAT BK sings!  

[Brassman]

I would guess the fuel is yours, the engine oil, cool.nt too.

[Busted Knuckle]

Well unfortunately they have sent us a copy of "the clause" in their contract with Don. And their advice to us was "just turn them back over to him, and then we'll both go after him!"

Problem is Don hasn't tried to deliberately do us wrong! And he's already said he'd file bankruptcy! (we're the ones who saved him from doing it in the first place! So suing him will get us put on that list too!)

As for buying them back at auction that won't happen either! These are "secured lease/loan deals" where Setra agreed to take the buses back if the buyer defaulted since BOA is their "in house finance company"! So they will go back and sit on Setra's lot (like tons of them already there!) and wait to be sold! They may sit there forever before selling but they won't put them up for auction!

We still are trying to make them happy by Monday, but if all else fails I will let them know what back alley I left them sitting and running in with the door open, in what ever big city I happen to be near!
 BK  

[Busted Knuckle]

I would guess the fuel is yours, the engine oil, cool.nt too.

 

  BK 

[Barn Owl]

I would guess the fuel is yours, the engine oil, cool.nt too.

You forgot all of the dash indicator bulbs to!   

[gumpy]

Maybe you could try calling up your local congressman and see if they might intervene. After all, they're responsible for his mess in the first place!

The fact of the matter is, BofA will come out making tons of money on it. BofA is probably buying them for pennies on the dollar from Daimler as a bad debt. Then they sell them for whatever they can get, which will certainly be above what they paid. Then, and here's the fun part, they get reimbursed for something like 85% of the loss on the original Daimler loan from the government. Then they also go after the previous owner for anything above that. In the end, they make more money than the original loan was for, and it's all perfectly legal. Oh, and I think Daimler either gets reimbursed by Gov, or gets to write off the loss against profits so they don't have to pay any taxes.  

Pull the engines and trannys. Give them a blown core.

[HighTechRedneck]

While oil and coolant missing might be covered by "maintaining collateral in good condition", I can't imagine anything legally wrong with taking your fuel out their tanks.  And of course don't mention it to the repo drivers. If they aren't bright enough to notice it before they leave - roadside assitance.  And if they do notice it, offer to sell them some for $5/gallon.

[gumpy]

While oil and coolant missing might be covered by "maintaining collateral in good condition", I can't imagine anything legally wrong with taking your fuel out their tanks.  And of course don't mention it to the repo drivers. If they aren't bright enough to notice it before they leave - roadside assitance.  And if they do notice it, offer to sell them some for $5/gallon.

Actually, if he is not legally the owner, then that clause probably doesn't apply to him. Let them go after the "legal" owner for any damage or missing parts (engine, tranny, wheels, etc).