Car buyers, sellers warned about ‘assume balance’ scam

A prospective car buyer has fallen victim to a scam in which he took on the seller's car loan for a vehicle that was later repossessed by the bank.

On Jun Veneracion's report for "Balitanghali" on Thursday, the Highway Patrol Group under the Philippine National Police (PNP-HPG) warned against buying second-hand cars that are still being paid off without first checking with the corresponding bank that approved the loan.

"Assume balance" dealings take place when a buyer shoulders the seller's remaining car loan balance, after paying a separate amount for the vehicle.

Edward Royce Arcadio, one of the victims of the scheme, said he paid P90,000 for a car that was later repossessed by the bank.

"Sobrang sakit sa akin syempre na nangyari 'yun. Dahil on the spot 'yung pera, parang nawala na lang. Parang bula na nawala," he said.

It all started when he posted on the Facebook page "Pasalo Cars Assume Balance Pinas" that he was looking for a vehicle.

A seller identified as Jing Estaris sent him a private message. The two came to an agreement following an exchange of text messages.

Arcadio paid the money and received the car on July 7. Two weeks later, however, the bank repossessed it.

It wasn't until later that Arcadio learned that Estaris had not been making her loan payments for a long time and was already on the verge of having her car repossessed when she sold it to him.

According to the PNP-HPG at least 30 people have so far filed similar complaints about the "assume balance" scam.

In the other cases, the persons who took out the car loans posted offers online to interested parties willing to take over their car loans. However, the persons who responded to the ads in turn unloaded the cars on other people instead of assuming the loans.

"Kahit pa po wala sa kanya 'yung sasakyan, knowing na through documents na sa kanya naka-pangalan, siya ang nag-loan sa bangko, siya talaga ang hahanapin ng bangko," PNP-HPG information officer Senior Inspector Jem Delantes Deputy explained on the report.

According to the report, the PNP-HPG are helping the complainants file carnapping and estafa charges against four identified suspects.

The patrol group also urged car owners to surrender their vehicles to the banks should they be unable to settle the remainder of their debts. — Margaret Claire Layug/BM/KVD, GMA News