11/14/2016
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
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Since most of the contracts have abusive interest rates, some consultants sell an impossible reduction in the amount of financing
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Cars: the consumer should be wary when the advice promises a reduction of 50% to 70% of the value of the parcels
The weight of two car financing motivated the São Paulo citizen Dionísio Romualdo to resort to legal advice that promised to reduce the parcels by up to 70%.
"When I saw a commercial for this consultancy, I was tempted to look for it because I knew I was paying a high interest rate," he says.
As expected, he was well attended when he went to the advisory, which reviewed the two financings in a matter of hours.
"I was charged R$ 1,100 each contract and said that within 90 days, I would already have news about the progress of the process. But I just got a call to ask for more money. After I paid, they never answered my phone calls again. "
Unfortunately, the case of Dionysus is only one of thousands in the country of this type of fraud. "The Judiciary is not a 'mathematical' agency. No judge will allow a reduction of 70% of the value of the benefit, because in many cases this deduction would be equivalent to paying less than the original price of the vehicle, "explains lawyer Ronaldo Gotlib, a specialist in consumer law.
Gotlib makes it clear that the buyer can and should seek their rights should they find any irregularities in their financing agreement.
However, the maximum reduction it can achieve in case of abusive interest is 25% of the value of the parcels. And the lawsuit can take up to three years.
"The judge is targeting the average interest rate disclosed by the Central Bank. If it is above this value, it tends to reduce the collection ", completes the lawyer.
"Most legal consultants also deceive their clients with the expectation of completing the process within a year."
This was the case of Aline Neves from São Paulo, who received from another consultant the information that she would have reviewed her contract within 12 months.
"Because I was paying expensive installments of a 60-month plan, I thought it was a good one. I paid R$ 1,500 of signal and after a while the advice disappeared from the map, "says Aline.
Keep paying
Gotlib makes it clear that no matter what the advice is, you should never stop paying the installments.
"I hear many cases where these companies direct the client to pay half of the amount in court. But only the judge can make that request. And often these values are being received by the consultancy itself, "he says.
Anyone who understands that you are paying an unfair amount, greater than that stipulated in the contract or in disagreement with the law, should make a careful analysis of the clauses together with a lawyer you trust to assess if you are worth the risk of bringing a lawsuit.
In the case of delayed installments, lawyers advise that the consumer try to make an amicable agreement with the financial.
If there is no agreement and owner has already paid more than 2/3 of the financing, entering a review process is already advised, as there are indications of the financial difficulty of the owner of the vehicle.
However, judges judging such cases are often conservative in intervening in contractual relations held by mutual agreement between the two parties.
And the intervention, when authorized, has been made in a very punctual way, being allowed only in situations where interest is charged on interest, irregular and abusive rates or interest in disagreement with the financial market.
"The best way for anyone looking for a contractual review is to look for a consumer protection body that can analyze the debt and offer an intermediation between the parties," says Maria Inês Dolci, coordinator of Proteste, a consumer protection organization. She emphasizes that filing a lawsuit should always be the last alternative.
Maria Inês says that the main tip to avoid this type of headache is when entering into a financing, always be wary of offers that give excessive advantages and never sign any contract before verifying if the rates practiced are well above the market average.
To do this, just go to the Central Bank's website and look for "Interest rates on credit operations" and then "Acquisition of vehicles".
In the survey we did in August, we found a list of 40 banks in which interest rates ranged from 13.93% to 72.66% per year.
The consumer should be wary when consulting ...
... Promises a reduction of 50% to 70% of the value of the plots
... He says he does the contract review review in one or two days
... Ensures completion of the entire process in less than one year
... Requests the payment in court of the missing services - or part of them
... It asks for the suspension of the payment of the financing installments
Source: Exam
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.