In 1997 my wife and I leased a Subaru Forester. When the lease was up in September of 2000 we turned in the car. Well just today, 2.5 years later, we get a bill from Subaru saying we owe 2001 property tax to the tune of $260.00. They have already paid it. Now I can understand snail mail is slow but c’mon. Also being that they paid the previous years and it was a lease why should I pay them now? Also if there is someone out there who knows; is there a time limit they have to make us aware of any charges? Also the fact that we turned the car in 2000 and they want us to pay 2001 taxes? I don’t know, the whole thing annoys me to no end.
I thank you all for any advice or insight you can give.
Weeril
IANAL, but I’d write back to them pointing out that, since the lease ended in September of 2000, there is simply no way that you could be responsible for 2001 property taxes on the vehicle (unless these are actually 2000 property taxes that were billed in 2001, in which case the whole thing gets much murkier).
I am also confused by the charging of property tax in the first place. We don’t know where you live (hint, hint, hint), but I’ve never heard of paying property tax on a car. I’ve also never heard of paying property tax on things that you don’t own (like a leased vehicle). If the lessee failed to anticipate the need to to be reimbursed for property tax when you signed the contract, I’d say that’s their tough luck. And, of course, I concur with the opinion that 2001 property tax shouldn’t be your problem if your lease ended in 2000.
Nametag: At least one state I know of (North Carolina) taxes the possession of motor vehicles.
And for the record, I second “Early Out”'s reccomendation.
Sorry I should have included that I live in Kentucky. Yes strange as it sounds we have to pay property tax every year on vehicles. I hate it. Anyway I have already drafted a letter to them asking them to clarify why we are responsible, and why there was such a long delay in notifying us. I had occasion to interact with their CS team in the past and it was never pleasant (The only reason we do not currently own another Subaru). In the current communication they did not include a phone contact so will go the snail mail route till they want to talk person to person. Thanks again for additional info that you all can provide.
Do you still have a copy of the lease agreement? It should explicity state who is responsible for the property taxes, or at least not state that you are. If it doesn’t say you are responsible for them, or explicity states that the company is responsible for them, then I don’t see how the actual legal owner of the property isn’t responsible for them. IANAL, though, and the laws in Kentucky may be completely different (Oklahoma doesn’t assess a “property” tax on cars, but rather collects the money through the license, which is a state rather than local tax). Nonetheless, this sort of thing really should be in the lease, and if it isn’t that fact alone ought to be grounds for not owing them money, I would think.
Even if you do get a phone number DON’T USE IT. This is the kind of thing where you want documentation, and lots of it. A letter can be produced in court. It prevents a he said / she said.