'No, you can't repo my car'

THE last time the "699" saga came before a judge, it didn't end well.

In August a Port Elizabeth firm of attorneys sought to have all the "699-ers" – an estimated 27000 of them – certified as a class, the aim being to bring a class action to have all the ill-fated car finance deals declared invalid.

The hopes of thousands of 699-ers, caught up in this country's biggest motoring scandal, were collectively raised, but that action failed dismally, the judge saying the cases weren't sufficiently alike to be considered a class, among other things.

But now a Cape Town municipal worker, John Lockett of Bothasig, faced with having his "699" car repossessed by Absa, is doing what few people in his situation do – fighting back.

His little Tata Indica is among the 6511 Satinsky "Drive a New Car from R699 per month" deals which Absa financed. The other "699ers" were financed by Nedbank's MFC and Standard.

Only when Lockett's car was delivered to him in January this year did he realise that Absa was the financing bank, he says, and that his monthly instalment was R2500.

By signing the documents presented to him by the person who delivered his car, Lockett, like all the other 699-ers, became fully indebted to pay the full instalment to his financing bank over six years.

The sweetener was that the cost would be offset by the fee they'd get for having their cars disfigured by massive stickers advertising the deal.

But when Satinsky began to short-pay those fees in March, and then stopped completely when the deal imploded in July, many of those 699-ers battled to keep up their car repayments.

Some have since restructured their deals to pay less per month over a longer term, but many of these cars have been repossessed.

Lockett, who was only paid one fee – R570 – by Satinsky, stopped paying the full R2500 and is now paying Absa R699 per month.

When the bank issued summons against him for the short-payment, he opted to defend the action. Word got out, and he got free legal representation.

The lawyers filed an answering affidavit, setting out Lockett's defence, and the matter came before the Cape Town High Court last Tuesday.

Absa consented to have the summary judgment removed from the court roll, and judge Dennis Davis granted the removal, which gives Lockett the right to defend the action.

A court date has yet to be set, but meanwhile Lockett has the car – Absa may not repossess the car while the case is pending.

To summarise the defence Lockett outlines in his answering affidavit, he says the information he gave Satinsky about what he earned was misrepresented in the bank papers, and that his living expenses and debts were understated, creating the impression that he could afford that R2500 a month for the car, when in reality he couldn't. This, he says, makes the contract fraudulent.

He says Absa could easily have checked on his actual financial situation as he has other accounts with the bank, but they didn't.

The bank has declined to comment.

Lockett's aim is to have all payments he's made on the car refunded to him, without any deduction for his use of the car, and to hand the car over to the bank.

And while this is an individual case, clearly many other 699-ers had a very similar experience.

KZN debt counsellor Philippa Davis, who is part of the team helping Lockett with his case, says "it has opened the door for very similar action to be brought by any 699-er who feels that the finance was granted far too easily, and that they are now floundering financially as a result".