blondbraintrust

From St. Pete Times
Southpinellas: Late with a payment? No wonder car won't start
A new device reminds drivers when a car payment is due. And if they don't pay up, they're not going anywhere.

ST. PETERSBURG - One of life's cruel quirks got Amber Jumbelick into
trouble.
When the 23-year-old waitress had her first child, she began paying
expenses by credit card. Then she lost her job and her ability to pay bills. Her
credit tanked.
"I needed a car, but my credit was so bad nobody would give me
a loan," Jumbelick said. "I'm a waitress and a single mom with a baby boy. I
don't have extra money to put away."
Chuck Lutes hears that sort of story a
lot.
Lutes, owner of Affordable Auto Sales on 66th Street N in St.
Petersburg, thinks he has found a solution. It's a device he installs on every
car he sells that alerts drivers when they have a payment due. Day by delinquent
day, the alert gets increasingly insistent. On the fifth day, the car won't
start.
Lutes says the device, called On Time/Payment Protection Systems, has
dramatically increased customers' on-time payments. Jumbelick says the need to
pay up and pay on time has improved her credit score after less than a
year.
"With this system, I don't have to go out chasing my money," Lutes
said. "And I want the money, not the car."
Lutes has been using On Time since
October. According to his computer data files, only 65 percent of his customers
were making payments on time before October. Now, about 95 percent of his
accounts are current.

My first inclination, was that this was wrong. But if the buyer knew about this beforehand, and she was so irresponsible about paying her bills that she was unable to purchase a car any other way, then I think the seller should be able to do this.
I don't understand why people cannot manage to save $500 and buy an old junker outright. It seems a TV, DVD player, car with fancy rims and stereo are "necessities". The perpetually downtrodden seem to be willing to pay outrageous interest and rental fees for these "necessities". I know here in St. Peterburg, although it takes planning, you can get almost anywhere by bus.