capitolgator

I leased my RX-8 from a Mazda dealership in MD but I live in VA where it is titled; well, in VA there is an annual personal property tax for car owners; several weeks after signing my lease agreement, I received a call from the Finance Manager telling me that he had made a mistake and was supposed to tack on the VA State Pers Prop tax to my monthly payments ($28/month) and he now wants me to sign a new agreement reflecting the increase, and that way Mazda will pay my annual taxes for me. If I don't sign it- supposedly it will be up to me to pay the taxes to the state even though I am not the owner.

Two questions come to mind: (1) since Mazda is the owner of this leased car, aren't they responsible for paying the taxes? and (2) if so, and I keep my agreement the way it is, shouldn't they just take the $ from my original agreement?

P.S. There is talk around here that the Pers Prop Car tax may get repealed- if so, and I sign the new agreement, then what?

rotten42

I'm noot up on the laws in your area, but I wouldn't sign it...too bad for them if they forgot.

oryas

It's a scam. Stick with your current lease and ignore them.

scottmhr1

yea, you can ignore them, then when you get your new tags next year the state will make you pay int in a lump sum

tdoane78

Yea the VA car tax sucks (over $350 for me). Btw, did you go to the University of Florida? If so which year did you graduate?

-Tim

SpinninAgain!

scottmhr1 is correct, more or less.

RTFL! :D

Unless the Mazda attorneys who drafted it are incompetent, the lease will state that tax obligations are assumed by the lessee during the term of the lease. They may offer to collect taxes as part of the monthly lease payments and pay them when due, as a service, but you assumed the ultimate responsibility when you signed as lessee.

RTFL again!

Presumably there's a space on the form where tax liabilities are calculated and incorporated into the monthly payments. If those lines were left blank, it only means that Mazda is not collecting the taxes from you as part of the monthly payment. This does not absolve you of the ultimate obligation to pay the taxes.

The clause I mentioned in #1 is still enforceable even if they forgot to fill in the amounts discussed in #2, per the "severable enforceability" clause that I expect also appears in the lease. If you refuse to pay you'll be in default. They could legally take the car and refund you nothing. I'm not saying they would, but they could. More likely they'd sue you for the taxes and legal costs, with taking the car as their backup if you don't pay the judgement.

Sorry, but death and taxes are still inevitable, and corporate attorneys are very good at making sure they don't have to pay them once you've agreed to.

Fortunately we have zoom-zoom to lessen the pain!

capitolgator

thanks for the responses- and yes, I did graduate from UF- class of 1990.

I hear what you are saying Spinnin- and I agree with you to a point- my point was that, why don't they keep the agreement the way it is, pay the $28 and take it out of what our original agreement was for?