LOVELAND - When 76-year-old Dorothy Geisert and her elderly husband drove to Heritage Ford Lincoln dealership in Loveland last year to pass the time and look at new cars, she says they found themselves "under siege" by sales staff that convinced them they'd sold their old car, forcing them to buy a 2010 Lincoln for $46,000 against their will, 9Wants to Know has learned.
The Geiserts say the dealership also falsified their loan application so that the bank would approve the deal, according to a complaint filed Monday with the Colorado Auto Industry Division.
"I'm crying over it and I said, 'I don't want this, get me my car back,'" Geisert said. "I did not think anybody was going to do such a thing to a person my age."
In October 2010, the dealership sold the Geiserts a 2010 Lincoln that cost nearly $700 a month for seven years. The deal was loaded with an extra $2,600 for gap insurance, an extended service warranty and an extended maintenance contract. The Gieserts say they live on a fixed income of about $20,000 a year.
Geisert says the salesmen told her that they'd already sold her car, which was a Ford Escape, so she didn't think she had a choice except to buy a new one. In the complaint, she says the dealership also told her husband that the dealership had already sold their car.
"I said 'I want my car, the Escape. I do not want this.' And he said, 'You've signed the paper lady. You've got it,'" Geisert said.
To finalize the deal, Geisert says the salesman drove her in the Lincoln to her home to get her 78-year-old husband's signature. Paul Geisert is legally blind, was in bed recovering from recent hip surgery, and on strong medication.
"I was in a fog and didn't know what was going on," Paul Geisert said. "If I had it my way, I'd use my cane on his head."
In an interview with 9Wants to Know late Monday afternoon, the dealership denied all of the allegations by the dealership. General Manager Brandon Fox says the salesmen did not tell the Geiserts their car had already been sold. Fox says the dealership filled in the loan application with the information it was given by the Geiserts.
The dealership says the couple has "buyer's remorse" and says it did not take advantage of the seniors.
"These people are very smart, nice older people but they know, they were very aware of what was going on," Fox said. "They told me it [the car] was perfect."
Heritage Ford Lincoln owner Dan Zwisler, who says he's sold more than 20,000 vehicles over 20 years in the business, says he trains his people to treat customers right.
"When these folks left with that Lincoln, they were very, very happy. And I don't know what happened between that Friday when they took delivery of the car and the Wednesday when she came back and said she was unhappy. I'm sorry about that," Zwisler said.
9Wants to Know has learned the dealership has been accused of falsifying loan documents and selling people's cars before purchases before. Nineteen customers have complained to the CO Auto Industry Division about the dealership in the last five years.
The Geiserts didn't know how the University of Wyoming Credit Union could have approved their loan since they survive on retirement and have debt.
9Wants to Know asked them to obtain a copy of their loan application from the credit union that was submitted by the dealership. On the loan application, the Geiserts income, job titles, length of residence, property information and rent payment are incorrect.
The application shows Paul Geisert was working for the sheriff's department for the last 12 years, earning $3,100 a month. He says he retired from the sheriff's department more than 20 years ago. It also says Paul Geisert was, at the same time, working at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a job which he retired from 40 years ago.
The loan application also says the Geiserts bought their home and that their mortgage is $400 a month. In truth, the Geiserts are renting their home for $995 a month. They had only been living there for six months, not for two years and six months, as the application states.
The University of Wyoming Credit Union stopped doing business with Heritage Ford Lincoln dealership on April 13 because of the changed Geisert loan application. The credit union also found the dealership involved in another questionable deal where it sold a car to an elderly, unwitting grandfather for his grandson.
"We could not depend on the information we were getting," University of Wyoming Federal Credit Union President Larry Knopp said.
Knopp says dealers can easily figure out what the standards for loan approvals are after they send in enough applications.
"Understanding this, the car salesman is motivated to inflate the income and deflate the expenses in order to get approval for the loan, sell the car and earn his commission," Knopp said.
To prevent future problems, the credit union has instituted a call-back program on every loan to check the facts before funding the loan, Knopp said. He says dealers will not get the money for the car until all the facts are checked.
In a 2007 Loveland Police report, another couple alleges the dealership submitted CitiFinancial a fake pay stub that showed the wife had a job when she did not. The couple also accused the dealership of selling their truck before their financing was completed for a new car.
During the investigation of that police report, an anonymous employee told the officer the dealership had a "standard practice" of "cutting and pasting" loan documents to get them approved by banks. The practice was also referred to as "arts and crafts."
In a complaint about the deal made to the state, the Colorado Auto Industry Division could not prove the allegation about the falsified pay stub. However, the division issued the dealership an official warning that it engaged in "deceptive trade practices" by selling a customer's truck before they had purchased a new one.
An attorney who has taken the case pro-bono for the Geiserts is threatening to sue the dealership.
"Clearly, they are elderly, they are confused, they were taken advantage of," attorney Troy Krenning said. "There were so many things wrong with this deal that somebody should have the conscience and should have stopped it before it got to this point."
While consumers need to read contracts carefully and understand them before signing, Krenning says there are laws that protect elderly at-risk adults. He also says dealerships have a responsibility to know if someone has the mental capacity to sign a deal.
"If you're going to enter into a contract, you have an obligation to make sure that it's going to be an enforceable and valid contract later on. And I don't believe this one will be considered that," Krenning said.
The dealership would not refund the Geiserts for their car purchase, but it did refund the couple for the Gap Insurance and two warranties.
9Wants to Know has learned of a claim the dealership also has a questionable way of treating its employees. In a complaint made to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment in June 2010, a worker describes a "disgusting prank" where a senior salesman put his naked backside directly into the face of a new salesman.
The state took no action about the complaint and the dealership did not comment on that complaint to 9Wants to Know about the pranks.
Complaints filed with the Auto Industry Division have declined over the last two years, although the reported consumer financial harm has tripled. In 2009, 2,525 people complained about car deals which cost them $3.6 million. In 2010, 1,539 customers filed complaints which cost them $11.4 million.
The department has 15 staff members who conduct investigations, according to Couch.
If you have any tips about this or any other story ideas, please email Investigative Reporter Deborah Sherman at Deborah.Sherman@9NEWS.com.
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