I bluff a bank to get what I want

In November of 2001 I decided to buy my first new car. The dealership provided some loan options and I applied, but unfortunately, I did not have established credit yet, so I needed a co-signer to be approved. My grandfather agreed, but I ended up using my own credit union instead of the bank I had originally applied to. About a month later my grandfather passed away. Shortly after, the credit union called me as they had discovered that they were missing his signature on one of the pages. We switched out the co-signer to be my grandmother, redid the paperwork and everything was good, or so I thought.

About a year later one of the employees from the credit union called me and said they still hadn’t received the vehicle title. I told her that that was something the dealership should have taken care of, and I was not the person they should talk to. She said they had tried calling the dealership, but no one had helped and so now it was my problem. She said if they didn’t get the title soon, they would have to change the loan to an unsecured loan, and I would have to pay nearly double the current monthly payment.

So, I called the dealership and explained the situation. The manager was sympathetic but told me the employee who had handled paperwork during that time frame had been let go because thy weren’t filing paperwork properly. He assured me that they had the records of my purchase, they just didn’t know where they were. He said they would start going through the boxes of records from that year and let me know when they found it. I filled in the credit union and then waited.

A couple months later the manager called me and said the records showed they had mailed my title to First Virginia Bank (the bank I had first applied with and been denied.) He apologized for their screw up but said there was nothing more he could do. I called the credit union and filled them in and they said they would handle it.

A few months later a get another call from the credit union. They have been getting the runaround and want me to handle it now. I said I still didn’t see how this was a "me problem." If they, as a financial institution couldn’t get cooperation, I probably wouldn’t fare better. They insisted, so I looked up the bank and discover they had recently been purchased by BB&T, so I gave them a call.

“BB&T, can I have your account number?” I explain the situation and say I’m not a customer. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you without a customer account.” They hang up. I try versions of this several times over the next few weeks with no success. I finally get someone who is sympathetic and does a records search and confirms that they have my title but can’t talk to me about it since I don’t have an account with them.

I fill in the credit union and they inform me that they have a audit next month and if they don’t have the title by then I will have to start paying $940/month for my unsecured loan. So I called my base JAG office and explained the situation to one of the lawyers. She was sympathetic, but said it wasn’t something the Army could help with. She said I could try hiring a lawyer, but since everything that had happened was more the result of incompetence rather than criminal intent, I would probably not get anywhere soon.

As my last move, the next Monday I put on a nice suit and went into a local BB&T branch and explained the situation to the teller and asked who I should talk to. He froze like a deer in the headlights for a moment and then went to get the branch manager. I once again explained the situation to the manager. He said there was nothing he could do. I said, “You know that your bank has my title, but never issued me a loan, yet you still won’t help, correct?” He agreed.

And then in that moment of desperation a half-baked, horrible idea popped into my head. Standing up I said, “I’m sorry, but you have admitted that your bank has no claim to my title, yet you refuse to give it back. Under the new Fraud Against the Servicemembers Act, (which doesn’t exist but sounded like something that might have happened in the patriotic wave that followed 9/11) you are aware of a fraud against a member of the military and are doing nothing to stop it which makes you a co-conspirator to a felony.” Also, not a thing. “If I do not have my title by Friday, I will be back with a US Marshal who will arrest both you and your teller, since he is also aware of the fraud and is not stopping it.” I figured that most people don't know much about the Marshal's Service other then them hunting fugitives. they sound imposing though.

I gave him my phone number and then turned and walked out. Upon returning to the barracks, I told the story to one of my buddies who asked what I would do if he called my bluff. I told him there was nothing left to do. He then offered to dress up in a suit and go with me to the bank on Friday and say he was a US Marshal (an actual felony.) I declined.

Wednesday afternoon I received a phone call from the branch manager who sullenly informed me that he had the title in his office, and I could come pick it up at my convenience. I went to pick it up the next day, where it was brought to me by a teller while the manager stayed in his office. Sulking I suppose. I called the credit union and told them I had it and then took it to the DMV to have the state issue a new title showing my credit union as the lien holder. From the time the credit union called me, to them getting the title, was 13 months.