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As you all know through our Facebook page, Scrut is a paid Internet service that helps recon car buyers to check or confirm that the overall condition of the recon car bought is consistent with what is represented and/or promoted by the car seller.
It should be clear that it is the responsibility of the promoting company to ensure that the car sold is in the good condition as presented by the car seller in order to convince the buyer that the car is the best car they can buy.
Maybe some people are confident relying only on the representation provided by the promoter. But there are also some that are taking the initiative to call up friends who have more expertise on recon cars to give their opinions before making a decision to buy.
However, the above would not be able to hold up in court when making a claim.
I classify the importance of a Scrut search similar to other official searches such as land search, bankruptcy search or company search, as it is a record of information received directly from a trusted data provider from Japan in order to confirm the accuracy of information provided by car sellers before any buying decision is made.
It is an obligation for anyone in Malaysia to make a land search before buying a property, bankruptcy or company searches before signing any deals, and JPJ search before buying a car in Malaysia. In legal terms, it is known as “Due Diligence” and the claimant would be considered as negligent if they fail to carry them out.
Similar defence would be utilised by the lawyers representing car sellers if there is a claim for compensation made by buyers who failed to make a Scrut search before buying if they discovered that the car bought has been damaged after purchase.
I would like to assert that if there was an instance of cheating during or after purchase, buyers have the right to take further action, whether to terminate the purchase agreement and demand re-payment (if payment was made) or continue the purchase but negotiating on some amount of compensation for the misrepresentation made by the promoter, after confirming that the car is overvalued.
Therefore, we are of the opinion that the alternatives for buyers to take action are as follows:
1. Meeting with the promoter or company manager to express their dissatisfaction regarding the misrepresentation made by the company.
Buyers are advised to make Scrut searches as soon as possible, and not after finding out issues with the recon car purchased because according to the legal maxim, “The law helps the vigilant, before those who sleep on their rights”.
2. If the company refuse to cooperate with the buyer, the buyer is advised to send a warning letter to the company before proceeding with legal action.
I recommend that buyer hire a lawyer to send a letter of claim to the company in order to pressure them and give the company a serious impact in demanding for compensation.
Lawyers’ advice is extremely crucial in deciding the appropriate amount in the claim, and the amount should be based on the market value of cars in similar condition and/or the real condition of the recon car.
The importance of a letter of claim and/or warning letter from the buyer of lawyers representing them is critical as supporting documents, appended with the relevant Scrut search that is considered as an afterthought for the buyer to raise this issue only after filing is submitted to Court.
Seller will only make a verbal denial if the buyer only meet with the seller without any supporting documents to support the buyer’s claim.
3. If the seller still refuses, the buyer is advised to file a police report on the seller’s fraudulent actions where it is clear that the seller refuses to cooperate to discuss matters and this is evidence of the malicious intent of the seller to defraud the buyer.
This is consistent with the legal maxim of “Suppressio Veri or Suggestio Falsi” which means hiding the truth or providing false statement.
The police draft report should be drafted with a lawyer’s advice, as most of the police reports submitted that are based on statements made by the complainant, the police would not be able to open an investigation file causing the investigating officer to file it under “Refer to Magistrate”. Consequently, it becomes a civil case and the investigation will be closed.
The second letter of claim can be sent with the police report to exert more pressure on the seller.
4. If the situation escalates, I advise the injured party to viral the case as we believe that a lot of people out there were also victims of the fraudulent seller.
Therefore, if this matter is known to the public, more people will file police reports and this will ultimately become a nightmare for fraudulent sellers out there.
5. All relevant parties are advised to cooperate with other victims to file police reports against the seller.
If there are more than ten (10) police reports filed against the same seller, then this will become a high profile scam case, where the police will have to take serious actions against the seller to the extent that their license is suspended, or even terminated by the authorities if found guilty.
6. At the same time, parties with complete documents such as:
(i) Scrut report;
(ii) Police report; and
(iii) Letter of claim from lawyer
To bring the case forward in front of the Tribunal for Consumer Claims Malaysia for:
a. Compensation claim for purchase of goods and services permitted under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal;
b. The total amount claimed must not be more than RM25,000.00; and
c. Accrued claim within three years from the claim made.
Or if it does not satisfy the criteria above, then to bring the case forward in front of Court.
Referring to the alternatives above, it is advised that the buyer seek advise from lawyers beforehand, because if the wrong actions are taken or negligence occur in the course of making an appropriate claim, it may cause the buyer to make the wrong and/or improper allegations.
Consequently, the buyer may be charged with a Defamation Lawsuit due to damages to the seller’s reputation by making false statements.
You don’t want to jump out of the pan into the fire. So make a wise decision!
Kudos to the developer of Scrut for bringing a solution to recon car scams and defending the rights of recon car buyers in Malaysia.
This article written by Mahmud Jumaat. A lawyer & solicitor. Please contact him for further discussion.
