Hyundai Capital America Amounts Added to Lease Buyout Class Action

Vehicle lease agreements often include the price for buying the vehicle at the end of the lease. This class action brings suit against Hyundai Capital America, Inc. (HCA), which does business as Kia Finance America and Hyundai Motor Finance, alleging that the company increases the cost of buyouts and requires lessees to pay excessive fees if they exercise this option.

The plaintiff in this case, William R. Scherer, III, leased a 2019 Kia Soul. Section 9 of the lease agreement gave him the right to buy the vehicle for $13,236.

The complaint quotes the lease as saying that he could purchase the vehicle for this amount “plus a Purchase Option Fee of $ N/A. You are also responsible for any official fees, such as those for taxes, tags, licenses, and registration.” The complaint adds, “The lease did not authorize or disclose any other fees, costs, or expenses to be charged to the customer at the lease buyout.”

Scherer learned, the complaint alleges, that he would not be buying the vehicle from HCA directly but from an affiliated dealership HCA designated, Phil Smith Kia/Mitsubishi. Unfortunately, the dealership made him pay additional amounts, so that the buyout cost him $15,871.27.

The dealership had added a Predelivery Service Charge of nearly a thousand dollars, an Electronic Registration Filing Fee, and a Private Tag Agency Fee. The complaint alleges, “The last three charges listed above do not constitute ‘official fees or tax’ permitted under the Lease terms, nor were they otherwise disclosed in the Lease as amounts to be paid by the Customer in order to exercise the lease purchase option.”

Thus, the complaint claims that Scherer was forced to pay more than the amount specified under the purchase option terms of his lease.

Two classes have been defined for this action:

• The Nationwide Class is all consumer lessees nationwide who leased a motor vehicle under a lease agreement assigned to Hyundai Capital America, Inc. (or a predecessor in interest or affiliated company, including Hyundai Lease Titling Trust, Hyundai Motor Finance, Kia Finance America, or Kia Motors Finance), who later bought the vehicle (on a date within the applicable statute of limitations) under the purchase option of their lease, for a larger amount than was required in the lease.
• The Florida Statutory Class is all Florida consumer lessees nationwide who leased a motor vehicle under a lease agreement assigned to Hyundai Capital America, Inc. (or a predecessor in interest or affiliated company, including Hyundai Lease Titling Trust, Hyundai Motor Finance, Kia Finance America, or Kia Motors Finance), who later bought the vehicle in Florida (on a date within the applicable statute of limitations) under the purchase option of their lease, and because of HCA’s deceptive and misleading practices were forced to pay a larger amount than the price disclosed in the lease.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Contract
Tags: Breach of Contract, Leased Vehicles