Scam on 'consignment bike'.............

[PeteSC]

(The article had a picture of the bike, looked like a Ducati.....)

Possible Motorcycle Scam Leaves Woman in Debt

 
Hanunah Barton thought she was co-signing for a motorcycle for her son. But she was left without the bike and in debt.

 
 
(Columbia) - A Columbia woman says she's the victim in a case of two companies conducting bad business. Now she's left with over $11,000 in debt, and nothing to show for it.

Hanunah Barton thought she was co-signing for a motorcycle for her son. They found what they wanted at Vortex Cycles on Lady Street, a bike the shop was selling for someone else, on consignment. Vortex worked out financing, on the spot.

Barton says, "We left, with no down payment, left Vortex with the bike that same evening."

A few weeks later, Barton still hadn't received the title or registration. She went back to the store. "Got down there, low and behold, the building front is empty. The building is empty."

Vortex had gone out of business. The company that owns the building evicted vortex last year because they didn't pay the rent. The building has stood vacant since December.

But Vortex did cash Barton's loan check, for more than $11,000. But the company never paid the bike's real owner, and the real owner tracked down Barton's son. He got the bike back, because he still had the title. The finance company, HSBC Bank, only received a photocopy of the title from Vortex, but still approved the loan.

Barton says she's made several calls to the bank, getting the same response. "What's this pertaining to? So I go through the whole story, and I'm put on hold again, then they ask if they can call me back.”

News19 called HSBC, but a representative told us he would not talk about Barton's case.

Barton says the bank called last week, asking for her to pay up, in full. "I said, first of all, I don't have that kind of money in my account. Second, I don't think my son has that kind of money, and I said I'll have to call you back. Instead of calling back I called the detective."

Columbia police says for now, they’re treating the matter as a civil case, meaning that Barton would likely have to hire an attorney to and deal with it herself.

But officials with the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs say they will look into the matter, and will work with Barton to get a resolution.

[Bob Holland]

I would think that the bank is liable for releasing the check without having the real title in hand. Just my $.02 worth.

[jfudo]

Well, no, the dude that made off with the money is responsible.  The bank didn't break any laws.  This is actually pretty dumb if you think about it, why is the lady calling the bank?  The only thing the bank did was give her $11,000.  It is her own fault for giving the money to the wrong guy, now it is up to the police to go after him.  

Why would there even be a news article on this?  It is a simple crime, but somehow the article was written to make big bad corporate bank look bad.  Somehow the article even convinced bholland that the bank was responsible.  The lady that took the loan out doesn't own the collateral that the loan was taken against so of course the bank is going to want their money back.

This is why the media is more of a menace than a help sometimes.