Call KENS: Single mother's car repossessed due to a title issue

SAN ANTONIO — Patricia Cacioppo woke up one morning in August to find her Hyundai Sonata completely missing. She was about to take her daughter to a doctors appointment.

"I called the police to file a stolen car report because I thought my car was stolen," Cacioppo said.

But the car wasn't stolen. CarMax had repossessed the vehicle.

Cacioppo said she had been making her payments so she didn't understand what was happening. CarMax then told Cacioppo on the phone they had repossessed the vehicle because there was something wrong with her vehicle title. That title was supposed to include her loan company, Exeter, but the company was not listed.

Cacioppo said she had been paying on the vehicle for nearly a year and didn't understand how this happened.

"Any agreement between CarMax and Exeter and the accuracy of their paperwork is not my fault!" Cacioppo said.

Still, the car was now gone and CarMax said Cacioppo would need to talk to Exeter if she wanted a refund on her payments, which totaled almost $5,000. Cacioppo then called Exeter but claimed the company would not initially agree to a refund.

She was stuck with no vehicle and was out $5000. Her mother told her to Call KENS 5.

"I have no way to get to work. I have no way to get my child to school," Cacioppo said. "I can't get help."

KENS 5 first contacted CarMax and that company looked into the situation.

CarMax told KENS 5 the vehicle was subject to a lien held by Exeter Finance and that "CarMax later discovered that Ms. Cacioppo was issued a clear South Carolina title that did not note Exeter Finance's lien." CarMax claimed they had spoken to Cacioppo "on several occasions" and told her it was her obligation to fix the title.

Cacioppo told KENS 5 she had no written correspondence from the company about the issue and could not recall any phone calls. Regardless, CarMax had paid Exeter to close the loan account and repossess the car. They said Cacioppo would need to work with Exeter to get her payments back.

KENS 5 then contacted Exeter and the company initially said they had no comment. KENS 5 then emailed Exeter and pointed out Exeter had been paid by CarMax for the vehicle and still had Cacioppo's payments as well.

After the second email, Cacioppo received a call from Exeter. Cacioppo later told KENS 5 a vice president within Exeter contacted her and took the time to figure out exactly how much she had paid so she could get a refund after all. Cacioppo was shocked.

"A VP does not make calls to people like me, but he said my information was forwarded for him to look into and to resolve it," Cacioppo said. "I cried like a baby. I couldn't believe Exeter was going to give me my money back."

Still, Exeter sent Cacioppo a check within 48 hours after the call. Cacioppo said it was a relief.

"Exeter did make me right on their side with all the money they paid them." Cacioppo said. "I can breath for a moment."

Cacioppo said she was able to get another vehicle and the check will allow her to straighten her finances out after the previous vehicle had been repossessed.

Exeter later told KENS 5 via email, "We've contacted Ms. Cacioppo directly and resolved the situation."

Cacioppo said she is thankful that Exeter took the time to resolve her situation and she's glad she called KENS 5.

"I genuinely believe that you are the only reason Exeter reached out to me." Cacioppo said.

If you have a problem like this, we want to help you fix it! In our series, Call KENS, we do our best to solve problems for our viewers. The number to call is 210-470-KENS, or fill out the form on this page.