What are my rights if I owe more on my trade-in vehicle that it is worth?

Sometimes when consumers purchase new vehicles they discover that they are “upside down” on loans for vehicles which they wish to trade in. In situations like this, dealerships are required to disclose how the negative equity is calculated on the face of the Retail Installment Sale Contract or Motor Vehicle Lease Agreement. Most of the time you can accomplish this disclosure if you properly complete the section of the contract, which is entitled “Itemization of the Amount Financed.” In this section you can find line items which refer to the agreed trade in value, “prior credit or lease balance” and “net trade-in.” In case you think that these items were completed incorrectly, you may have rights provided by the Automobile Sales Finance Act or the Vehicle Leasing Act.