A local dealership took advantage of a deaf man when he went to buy a truck, according to his younger sister.
Lisa Breighner, of Manassas, Virginia, is very protective of her brother and wanted to be his voice after his experience. He can’t speak, and his only means of communication are sign language and pen and paper.
“He has a hearing impairment,” Breighner said. “American Sign Language is his language.”
When her brother recently told her he bought a truck, she was shocked, and he was upset about what he’d done.
“I was a little bit alarmed that he signed the paperwork without me,” she said.
More alarming was what the dealership sold her brother: A $45,000 truck, a $6,300 vehicle protection plan and a $3,800 mechanical failure service contract. The deposit was his entire life savings of $10,000, and he got an 84-month loan at an interest rate of 6 percent.
The transaction was communicated on a piece of paper.
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“I couldn't sleep, it was so upsetting,” Breighner said.
She admits her brother went to the dealership on his own, but she believes the finance and sales manager took advantage of him because of his hearing impairment.
“There was a lot of paperwork being thrown at him to sign, and I think they should have let him go, let him think about it and tell him what his options were,” she said.
But the dealership wanted him to sign the paperwork that evening, Breighner said. And they wouldn’t let him out of the deal he couldn’t afford.
“I had gone in person to the dealership and asked to speak with someone, no one would speak with me,” Breighner said.
But after NBC4 Responds contacted the owner of the dealership by phone and email, she and her brother heard back.
The dealership returned her brother's $10,000 deposit and allowed him out of the contract, relieving him of more than $55,000.
According to the American with Disabilities Act, a business is responsible for providing a sign language or oral interpreter if the customer requests it. In this case, the customer did not.
Although what the dealership did may be interpreted as unethical, it didn't do anything illegal. The dealership said it never had a situation like this before and learned from it as well.
