An Ohio woman who had her car repossessed by the dealership last year even though she was approved for a loan found an unusual means of responding: since the dealer took her car, she decided to take their name. Now, according to a report by Court News Ohio, the case is headed to common pleas court.
According to court documents, Tiah McCreary went to Taylor Kia in February 2024, where she decided to purchase a 2022 Kia K5. The finance manager helped arrange financing through Global Lending Services (GLS), which preliminarily approved a loan for McCreary, so she was allowed to drive off in her K5. However, GLS later concluded there was not enough available information to finalize the loan, according to the documents — so, a month after buying the car, Taylor Kia repossessed the vehicle while McCreary was at work.
McCreary then began to explore her legal options. As it turned out, Taylor Cadillac and the Taylor Automotive Group operate several dealerships in northwest Ohio, and began to operate a portion of their business under the name Taylor Kia of Lima back in 2012. However, McCreary discovered that the registration of the name "Taylor Kia of Lima" had been canceled by the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office after Taylor Cadillac failed to submit a renewal application, according to court documents.
So, she registered Taylor Kia of Lima in her own name.
Once that was done, documents reveal she sent a cease-and-desist letter to Taylor Cadillac and informed them they could no longer use the Taylor Kia name because it was now registered to her. Then the legal battle started to heat up.
Court News Ohio states that “In June 2024, she filed a complaint against Taylor Cadillac and GLS in Allen County Common Pleas Court. She alleged the companies violated the Consumer Sales Practices Act, and she claimed fraud, conversion, and unjust enrichment by the dealership. She also sought an injunction prohibiting Taylor Cadillac from transacting any business under the name Taylor Kia of Lima without her consent.”
During the initial car purchase, McCreary signed a document that was an agreement to settle legal matters with Taylor Automotive Group through binding arbitration. Taylor Cadillac said because of this that the case should be handled through arbitration and not trial court. The court agreed and dismissed the case, but McCreary was not giving up; she then appealed to the Third District.
The Third District ruled that although McCreary signed the agreement to settle legal matters through arbitration, that was limited to the transaction of the car sale. The claim to use the name "Taylor Kia of Lima" was not subject to arbitration, as it had nothing to do with the Kia purchase, so the Third District reversed the previous decision of the common pleas court to dismiss the case. The case is now headed back to common pleas court for further proceedings.
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