Sincerely, I hope you have no situations, transactions, or issues that require my assistance but if the need should arise feel free to contact me for a free consultation.  And during some of your downtime over the next couple of weeks take a few moments to visit my Free Information Center which has a plethora of pamphlets and resources designed to give you the knowledge to navigate your day-to-day matters with a higher sense of confidence.

I plan to spend the next few days visiting with family and friends and retooling various aspects of my practice for the upcoming year. Many, many thanks again and I wish you and yours a happy and safe holiday season.  See you in 2013.

For Mia D’Roso, a recent car purchase turned into a big headache. With an excellent credit score, she went to a Santa Rosa dealership prepared with paperwork from her credit union offering a 3.24 percent interest rate. The dealership offered to match the interest rate, and D’Roso financed with the dealer instead.

But nearly three weeks after bringing the car home, she received a call from the finance officer.

[worldnow id=7387527 width=480 height=360 type=video]

“They wanted more interest,” D’Roso said.

The finance officer told her the loan fell through and she had to put money down or pay at a higher rate.

But that call came 21 days after she signed her contract, even though it clearly stated the “dealer’s right to cancel that contract must include written notification within 10 days.”

It’s called spot delivery, which can lead to a predatory practice called “Yo-Yo financing.”

Before buying a car, experts recommend you educate your self at websites such as www.autofinancing101.org and consider getting a loan from your credit union or bank instead of financing directly with the dealer.

The dealer featured in CBS 5’s story did not return our request for comment, but National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) provided these statements in regards to Yo-Yo financing.

“Dealer-assisted financing is a valuable service for car buyers. It is misleading and irresponsible to characterize dealer compensation for assisting in auto financing as anything other than a legitimate business practice. In dealer-assisted financing transactions, dealers typically retain a portion of the APR as compensation for performing essential retail functions to recoup their costs, just like banks and credit unions.”

“It’s important to distinguish between fraudulent yo-yo financing and legitimate conditional sales or spot deliveries. Yo-yo financing is fraudulent and illegal in all 50 states. There are millions of auto sales transactions each month, almost all of which are conditional sales pending loan approval. Tens of millions of conditional deliveries occur nationwide each year without any hint of problems for consumers.”

“Dealer-assisted financing is always optional. It’s in the dealer’s interest to have a satisfied customer, someone who will become a customer for life.”

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

You buy a car, drive off the lot and think it’s a done deal. If your financing falls through, California law allows the dealership to ask you to fork over the entire price of the car.

One first-time car buyer called Kurtis when the dealership called more than a month later, saying they couldn’t find him a loan.

“It’s pretty good on gas,” said Derek Nasca.

The 21-year-old is a proud first-time car buyer. Well, he’s actually a repeat first-time car buyer. A few months ago he got a 2010 Chevy Malibu.

“We thought he’d bought the car,” said Pat Nasca, Derek’s grandmother.

She helped him negotiate the deal. But more than a month after driving the car off the lot, the dealership had bad news.

“He called and said, ‘Oh, we’re having problems trying to find you someone to hold the loan,’” said Derek.

Derek was faced with three options: come up with a bigger down payment, find a co-signer or bring the car back.

“There was nothing said to us at all about this was a temporary or that this might not go through,” said Pat.

The practice is called spot delivery. You take the car home right away, even though the dealer hasn’t finalized your loan.

It can lead to a predatory practice called yo-yo financing, in which the dealership leads you to believe the deal is done. But they reel you back in later, saying financing fell through, asking you to sign a more expensive loan.

“It’s common enough in the United States that the Federal Trade Commission has discussed it at a recent conference,” said Carroll Lachnit, features editor for Edmunds.com.

Lachnit says yo-yo financing is often aimed at people with little or tarnished credit. A number of consumer groups are asking the FTC to ban the practice. Lachnit says there are ways to prevent it from happening to you.

“You can wait. Make your down payment, let the paperwork go through, call back on Monday, see if the loan went through. Don’t take possession of the car until you know the financing is in place,” said Lachnit.

Or you can get preapproved from your bank ahead of buying a car.

Derek refused to put more money down or get a co-signer. So he returned his Malibu and got a Chrysler 300 from another dealership.

“Happy ending and it’s funny ’cause the payments are less than what they were on the other car,” said Derek.

If you do fall into a yo-yo finance deal, ask the dealership for proof from the lender that your loan was denied. If the dealer turns that over, you have to return the car or sign a new deal.

If you have to give the car back, demand your down payment back, but the dealer can charge you for a restocking fee or for excessive wear.