The American Repossessor

Last Monday, Richie Ritter of Cullowhee was told by his bank that his 2004 Honda Accord was going to be repossessed.

Ritter hasn’t missed a payment or been late on one. But he bought the Honda from Cars America, the owner of which now faces 12 felony charges in connection with car sales.

The used-car dealer, Thomas Lilly, who was charged in July for selling cars without clear titles, had not paid off another loan on the vehicle before selling it to Ritter, a DMV inspector said. Lilly is charged with 10 counts of obtaining property by false pretense and two counts of writing bad checks at a Statesville auto auction. He is scheduled to appear in Superior Court on Feb. 22.

The company that had the original lien repossessed the Honda last week, leaving Ritter with no car for the $4,000 he had already paid. He still owes his bank $10,000 on the car loan.

No clear title

Ritter, 31, bought the Honda from Cars America on Spartanburg Highway in December 2008, financing the purchase with a $14,000 loan from the State Employees’ Credit Union.

The Honda’s previous owner traded the car in at Cars America. Lilly never paid what was owed on the trade-in. That loan was held by American General Finance Services in Hendersonville, a part of AIG, the insurance giant that received a taxpayer-funded bailout in 2008.

Lilly sold the car to Ritter, even though the title had not been cleared. Ritter assumed SECU had the Honda’s title, but the bank never obtained it.

Lilly “profited well because he never paid (the car) off,” said Tracy Davis, N.C. DMV inspector. “It was the responsibility of Cars America to pay it off.”