Hello everyone,
My mother in law’s elderly boyfriend recently swapped out his current car lease for a new one in September.
For starters, I really don’t think it was a good idea for a 91-year-old man to start a new lease, but that’s not really the focal point here.
Last week, he told my mother-in-law that he didn’t remember how to get to the corner grocery store. This is somewhere they’ve gone hundreds of times in their relationship and is literally a half mile away. He has admitted to himself he can no longer drive...a month after he started the lease.
A couple of things here of note: the guys at this dealership totally effed him over with the price of the car to begin with, so they wouldn’t give two hoots about hoodwinking an old man with cognitive issues into signing a very bad deal. Not to mention he thought it was up in September not realizing he had a full year left on his current lease. Again, he has a memory issues and cognitive decline going on.
Here is the crux of it all and thanks for reading so far.
I want to know if there are any legal grounds for terminating the lease due to a dementia or even an Alzheimer’s diagnosis if it can be proven he was suffering at the time he signed this contract. Otherwise, he is stuck with a lease that no one in their right mind would buy him out of.
Thanks, all.
I read the entire contract as I was looking for a reason to reverse their contract.
I did not find any reason.
In reality those salesmen generally don’t discriminate on who they rip off. If a 70 y/o man drives his own vehicle to the dealer to get a vehicle (my brother) the salesmen isn’t going to administer a competency exam. They are hoping to sell a car.
I gave the truck back to the bank. Not worth the fight in any court. My brother could determine good from bad, etc at the time he signed the contract. I just realistically looked at the entire issue and was it worth the fight & decided not to pursue anything from the dealer.
Matter of fact, after the sale the contract goes to the finance department for processing. The salesman is essentially out of the equation.
Now of course they are attempting to get the money from “his estate “ (had none) & me as his sister. I didn’t and won’t pay them squat.
Choose your battles- this one may not be worth it as it will take lots of time & money. I let it go (although it pained me immensely). Jmho
You, his sister, is not liable unless you also signed the contract.
Did the dealer know about or should the dealer have known about the "possible" dementia?
Has there been a physician's diagnosis? If not, how could a car dealer make one? That's not the responsibility of the dealer unless it was perfectly "obvious" that the person had diminished capacity and was unable to sign or make an agreement, in which case, except for the fact your guy has the car, there is no agreement.
Does your in-law's friend have much to leave in an estate? Can he afford the payments?
THIS is why dementia sufferers need a guardian or someone with a solid POA.
Call an elder-law attorney. If there is a way to return the car with notice of the reason, an attorney should know it:
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
https://www.naela.org/findlawyer
naela@naela.org
NAELA Council of Advanced Practitioners
1577 Spring Hill Rd., Suite 310
Vienna, VA 22182
703-942-5711
naela@naela.org
Recommended in Colorado:
M. Carl Glatstein
Glatstein & O'Brien LLP
2696 S. Colorado Boulevard, Suite 350
Denver, Colorado 80222
www.DenverProbateLaw.com
(303) 757-4342
Fax: (303) 757-4570
Ainsle Rittich, Legal Assistant
Ainsle@denverprobatelaw.com