Lawsuits against dealer claim $1M in losses

By: CHRIS BAGLEY - Staff Writer
Aloha Motors closes, owners disappear | Tuesday, January 8, 2008 8:42 AM PST ∞

VISTA ---- A couple who closed down their used-car dealership in early October now face legal claims of more than $1 million, according to a barrage of lawsuits filed by car buyers, finance companies, a wholesaler, and their own former attorneys.

The closure of Aloha Motors initially caused a stir among sellers, who called Vista's city government to complain that the dealership hadn't properly transferred titles of ownership for cars they traded in, a situation they said left them making two car payments instead of one. The largest of the lawsuits, filed by Wachovia Dealership Services in late October, alleges that Aloha failed to provide it with title certificates for cars on which it had loaned a total of $455,000. Lenders need those documents to prove their right to repossess cars after buyers default on car loans.

A San Diego-based auto wholesaler alleges that Aloha owners Sylvia and Kent "Dewey" Curl made off with cars worth $228,000, which it was selling on consignment. The Dec. 4 lawsuit by Quality Auto Warehouse also seeks to block the Curls from transferring titles on any of the cars. A similar lawsuit by SAIF Inc., an Encinitas-based lender, alleges that Aloha improperly sold off 13 vehicles without repaying inventory loans totaling $177,000 on those vehicles.

SAIF attorney Richard VanDyke said his client and other finance companies have sent employees to Aloha's lot to seize cars ---- the security, or "collateral," for the loans ---- but found that most were gone.

"Where did all those cars go, and how were they able to sell all those cars?" VanDyke said. "We're a secured creditor. We depend on the ability to go recover those vehicles, and take them to an auction house."

Separately, a La Jolla law firm alleges that the Curls owe $194,000 in unpaid legal bills dating to 2005.

Sylvia Curl filed for divorce in March. An attorney representing her in the matter did not return calls seeking comment.

Curl has also retained Steigerwalt & Associates, a prominent criminal-defense firm in San Diego. Kelly Steigerwalt wasn't immediately able to provide the name of Sylvia Curl's attorney Monday.

Attorneys for plaintiffs said they have been unable to locate either Kent or Sylvia Curl to serve copies of the lawsuits. An Oceanside man who sued Aloha Motors won a $5,000 default judgment after the dealers missed an Oct. 30 hearing in small-claims court.

Sales managers at other nearby dealerships expressed dismay at the allegations, saying the Curls had maintained clean reputations for years. Aloha had frequently ranked among Vista's 25 top-grossing retail businesses, but others in the industry said they suspected the Curls' dealership, like dozens of other new- and used-car dealers in San Diego County, had experienced disappointing sales over the last couple of years.

The Curls closed their original Aloha Motors on Palm Avenue in south San Diego in late 2006 or early 2007, a dozen years after going into business there, according to a sales manager at Quality Auto Sales & Service, which opened for business in February after purchasing it from the Curls.

The Curls bought the Vista lot for $1.4 million in 2002, and had since borrowed $4.2 million against that and the San Diego lot while the new dealership was under construction, according to a database of property tax, mortgage and sales records.

San Diego dealer Mehdi Chitgari bought the property from foreclosure and moved Classic Chariots, his own used-car dealership, from Balboa Avenue to the former Aloha lot in December, according to a long-time sales manager at Classic Chariots.

"They were hard-working and straight laced," the manager said of the Curls. "But they went down hard."

Contact staff writer Chris Bagley at 760-740-5444 or cbagley@nctimes.com.