Charles and DeLilah DeBolt walked out of the Classic Kia auto dealership in south Arlington on Oct. 31, happy owners of a 2009 Kia Spectra financed by a loan from Compass Bank.
At least, they thought they were owners of a new car.
Five months later, the DeBolts don’t have a permanent license, tags or title to the car. They’re making loan payments to Compass Bank, which doesn’t have a clear lien to secure its loan, and the DeBolts are being hounded by another lender to make payments on the car they traded in.
Charles, a 76-year-old retiree who prefers to be called by his middle name, Bob, said the "experience has been very unsettling to us."
The DeBolts’ situation isn’t unique. When Classic Kia folded in mid-November, it left a tangled mess. Buyers and lenders don’t have titles because the dealership did not file the correct paperwork. Extended warranties may not be good, because the dealership apparently didn’t fork over customers’ money to the provider.
The dealership, which has not filed for bankruptcy, owes a big pot of unpaid taxes and fees to the state and county. "It’s not a pretty situation," said Betsy Price, Tarrant County tax assessor/collector, whose staff has been trying to collect money the dealership owes and help car buyers get their vehicles legally licensed.
Neither the dealership’s principal owner, Bradford Potts of Arlington, nor the Grapevine lawyer who represented him and the dealership, Gary Hach, returned telephone calls from the Star-Telegram seeking comment.
When the dealership closed, it left at least 223 car buyers and their lenders with title problems, Price said. She estimates that the dealership owed $250,000 to $300,000 in sales taxes and licensing fees to the state and county.
Price said her office, working with the state and with some cooperation from Manheim Automotive Financial Services, has been able to issue clear titles to about 100 people who bought cars from Classic Kia.
But titles to the others are in limbo while Price’s office tries to obtain the sale and title documents the dealership should have submitted.
The Tarrant County district attorney’s office is investigating Classic Kia and Potts to see whether any laws were broken.
"We’ve got a bunch of complaints," said Joe Shannon, chief of the economic crimes unit. "Whether it will turn into a criminal matter or not I can’t say at this point." read more
