Attendees of New Jersey Nets basketball games at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.,will get an eyeful of the team’s new official auto insurer: Citizens United Reciprocal Exchange (CURE) Auto Insurance. The Princeton, N.J.-based insurer signed a deal with the NBA team that makes it the title sponsor of the CURE Courtside Club, an exclusive lounge for courtside ticket holders and the site of a post-game radio show, title sponsorship of the Izod Center’s press room, and various in-arena signage.
Eric Poe, chief operating officer for CURE, said with its roots in New Jersey, a partnership with the Nets “makes perfect sense.
“Aligning with the Nets gives us the opportunity to reach New Jersey drivers and makes them aware of an equitable alternative to the discriminatory practices that they face by most insurance companies in the state,” Poe said in a statement.
Chris Brahe, vice president of sponsorship sales and partnership marketing for the team, said it is “delighted” with the corporate alliance and team state “appreciate that CURE recognizes the powerful opportunities to drive its business forward as a Nets corporate partner.”
For the last 19 years, CURE has served as a direct writer of auto insurance in New Jersey, basing its rates on driver performance.
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Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
N.J. to issue temporary license plates to cars bought from Galaxy Motors
RAHWAY -- Used car buyers caught up in the sudden collapse of a Rahway dealership will again be able to drive their cars legally.
The state Motor Vehicle Commission has agreed to issue temporary plates to owners of cars purchased from Galaxy Motors. As many as 50 of the dealer’s customers may have been entangled in an automotive title disputes that left them unable to operate bring their cars out on New Jersey’s streets and highways.
“It’s not a permanent solution,” said Michael Horan, a spokesman for the commission, “but it will give everyone time to resolve the problem and let the buyers use their cars.”
"That will be a great help,” said Edward Alvarado of South Plainfield. “Finally, someone is doing something about this mess. All we want to do is drive the cars we’re paying for.”
The car buyers have been unable to drive the vehicles since the end of June because they cannot obtain license plates. They need to have proof of title before the commission will grant plates, but the owners haven’t been able to obtain title because the dealership shut down before transferring ownership papers.
Meanwhile, at least one finance company that had extended credit to the owner of Galaxy Motors -- the Indiana-based Automotive Finance Corporation (AFC) -- filed for repossession of the cars in Arkansas and that state granted the firm title to the cars.
The action in Arkansas, based on AFC’s claims of possession of the vehicles, has frozen state buyers out of holding title, even though the cars were never in Arkansas and were fully paid for by New Jersey residents. AFC obtained title after the cars were sold and after Galaxy Motors closed.
"We’re taking this extraordinary action because we recognize this is a serious matter that has to be resolved,” said Horan. "We also recognize the hardship it has caused innocent New Jersey residents.”
Car buyers are usually able to obtain temporary plates for up to 30 days, with one automatic extension. For the victimized Galaxy Motors customers, those temporary tags began to expire in June.
Although they could not drive their cars, the owners still had to pay back car loans -- many with PNC Financial Services -- that the owner of Galaxy Motors, Patrick Dunn, helped arrange. They also have had to pay for car insurance and, in some cases, warranties that Dunn sold them.
“We’re doing whatever we can to help our residents,” said Horan.
New Jersey’s motor vehicle officials were criticized for failing to act in the light of AFC’s actions in Arkansas. Horan says issuing New Jersey permanent certificates of ownership despite the claims in Arkansas "would only have created more problems."
“It would have raised more questions about which title is legitimate,” he said.
Without some intervention by the state, the burden of taking legal action to resolve title problems would fall solely on individual owners. Some have already hired lawyers to help them out of the mess. One owner, Linda Brennan of Rahway, says she has run up nearly $2,000 in legal bills for a car she has paid for but been unable to drive since July.
One lawyer, not involved in the case, suggested buyers join in a class action case against AFC and Arkansas -- and try to enlist PNC and other retail lenders on their side.
Other lawyers have suggested PNC be joined, not as a co-plaintiff, but as a co-defendant because it enabled Galaxy Motors to sell so many cars on credit.
No matter what the constellation of legal disputes, the car owners would still be stuck spending money on lawyers so they can use cars they already purchased.
AFC representatives declined comment on the dispute. A PNC spokesman would only say the bank is working to resolve the problem. The lawyer for Dunn has said his client will not comment.
Source
The state Motor Vehicle Commission has agreed to issue temporary plates to owners of cars purchased from Galaxy Motors. As many as 50 of the dealer’s customers may have been entangled in an automotive title disputes that left them unable to operate bring their cars out on New Jersey’s streets and highways.
“It’s not a permanent solution,” said Michael Horan, a spokesman for the commission, “but it will give everyone time to resolve the problem and let the buyers use their cars.”
"That will be a great help,” said Edward Alvarado of South Plainfield. “Finally, someone is doing something about this mess. All we want to do is drive the cars we’re paying for.”
The car buyers have been unable to drive the vehicles since the end of June because they cannot obtain license plates. They need to have proof of title before the commission will grant plates, but the owners haven’t been able to obtain title because the dealership shut down before transferring ownership papers.
Meanwhile, at least one finance company that had extended credit to the owner of Galaxy Motors -- the Indiana-based Automotive Finance Corporation (AFC) -- filed for repossession of the cars in Arkansas and that state granted the firm title to the cars.
The action in Arkansas, based on AFC’s claims of possession of the vehicles, has frozen state buyers out of holding title, even though the cars were never in Arkansas and were fully paid for by New Jersey residents. AFC obtained title after the cars were sold and after Galaxy Motors closed.
"We’re taking this extraordinary action because we recognize this is a serious matter that has to be resolved,” said Horan. "We also recognize the hardship it has caused innocent New Jersey residents.”
Car buyers are usually able to obtain temporary plates for up to 30 days, with one automatic extension. For the victimized Galaxy Motors customers, those temporary tags began to expire in June.
Although they could not drive their cars, the owners still had to pay back car loans -- many with PNC Financial Services -- that the owner of Galaxy Motors, Patrick Dunn, helped arrange. They also have had to pay for car insurance and, in some cases, warranties that Dunn sold them.
“We’re doing whatever we can to help our residents,” said Horan.
New Jersey’s motor vehicle officials were criticized for failing to act in the light of AFC’s actions in Arkansas. Horan says issuing New Jersey permanent certificates of ownership despite the claims in Arkansas "would only have created more problems."
“It would have raised more questions about which title is legitimate,” he said.
Without some intervention by the state, the burden of taking legal action to resolve title problems would fall solely on individual owners. Some have already hired lawyers to help them out of the mess. One owner, Linda Brennan of Rahway, says she has run up nearly $2,000 in legal bills for a car she has paid for but been unable to drive since July.
One lawyer, not involved in the case, suggested buyers join in a class action case against AFC and Arkansas -- and try to enlist PNC and other retail lenders on their side.
Other lawyers have suggested PNC be joined, not as a co-plaintiff, but as a co-defendant because it enabled Galaxy Motors to sell so many cars on credit.
No matter what the constellation of legal disputes, the car owners would still be stuck spending money on lawyers so they can use cars they already purchased.
AFC representatives declined comment on the dispute. A PNC spokesman would only say the bank is working to resolve the problem. The lawyer for Dunn has said his client will not comment.
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