Good day

I "sold" my car in order to pawn it with CMR Group. I received the R 10000 and was supposed to pay R3500 per month on 8th of each of the 2 months and at the end of the 3rd month I was to complete the loan by paying R13500.  

3 weeks into this agreement my son took my car without my permission. Because I knew that CMR had installed a tracking device I asked them to track and immobilise the vecicle.  In the meantime my son had returned with my car but i wasnt aware of it. The following morning the tracking people found my vehicle in my parking spot with my son sleeping in it.  They subsequently took the vehicle to CMR. 

Later that morning I received an email from CMR advising me that only after 5 days of this incident having taken place I informed them of this occurence and that the tracking people found my son conducting an illicit drug dealing business from my car yet they found him sleeping in my car at my flat. I was angry with him for taking my car without my permission and would not let him in.   

The email from CMR indicated that our previous agreement fell away immediately and in order for me to get back my car I would have to "buy back" the car for R20500 by 8 October.  

I tried to reason with their accounts department but to no avail. I then sent the lady I was dealing with an email advising her that I would like to escalate my dispute and would she give me the contact details of someone in a higher position.  She told me that I couldn't contact that person directly and that she would forward my dispute to them.  For 2 days I kept in communication with her but she kept on telling me she was still waiting for a reply. 

Finally, on the afternoon of Friday 7th I became very frantic as I wasn't sure if they were open for business on Saturday.  I started asking this lady questions about the payment, where my car was and should i make the payment, where, when and how I would get my car back. She replied to questions regarding the payment and other questions she omitted to reply. These questions were answered within minutes of receipt by her but then suddenly I was being ignored. 

I concluded that she was deliberately ignoring me so that I was forced to pay by the 7th or I would not get my car back at all. 

I believe that they knew that if I had R20000 ready at my disposal I would not have turned to them for R10000 loan and therefore I was slapped with a R7500 penalty and the term reduced to 5 days without us having fully debated the merits of their assertions and without any real basis or proof. I regard this as extortion. Needless to say that it was only after the debacle that I read the agreement and it does state and I quote "Since CMR GROUP owns the vehicle, no notice will be given prior to recovery of the vehicle for any reason"

Do I have a case to pursue in order to have them return the R7500?   Please advise.