One gray 2019 Tesla. One Dallas car lot. Six repossessions in about twelve months, according to police, and they don’t think that was bad luck.
The lot is 101 Financial, LLC, on Harry Hines Boulevard near Joe Field Road. Its owner is Rafat Abu Alfilat. Police obtained a felony theft warrant for him in April 2025. Excerpts from that arrest warrant allege a pattern of unlawful repossessions involving multiple buyers. Police put the combined value of the vehicles at $206,941.75. A second warrant accuses him of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. It alleges that a customer who came to ask about his repossessed car was punched and had a hammer swung at him.
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Abu Alfilat’s position is that these are contract disputes, not crimes. He stayed in the driver’s seat of his own car during a recorded interview on September 30. He declined a formal sit-down but said he’d do one later with his attorney, Scott Palmer.
The Tesla That Kept Coming Home
Billy and Jaszmyne Lyons bought the gray 2019 Tesla in March 2025. The price was $18,200, and they put $5,000 down. 101 Financial only does in-house financing, so the dealer is the seller, the lender, and the lienholder all at once.
According to the warrant, the car was repossessed because the buyers supposedly had no insurance. Police say the couple was insured and handed over proof. When Jaszmyne tried to get the car back, the warrant says she was threatened with a criminal trespass charge. A detective later found the car “had been called in as repossessed six different times” within one year. The Lyonses lost their down payment and had to scrape together money for another car.
The Dealer’s Defense, and the Math Behind It
Regional manager Kendral Pickett says police show up because angry customers call them. In his account, buyers simply don’t follow the lot’s strict terms. He pitched the lot’s model as the reason it draws heat: no ID, no credit check, zero interest. He also noted the business has operated for seven years without being shut down.
“Zero interest” deserves a harder look. A lot that charges no interest isn’t making money on the loan. On a buy-here-pay-here lot, profit comes from the markup and the down payment. A car repossessed early has already produced its down payment, and little principal has been paid down. That car can go straight back on the lot for the next buyer and the next down payment. None of that proves wrongdoing. But it’s exactly the incentive investigators have to rule out when the same VIN keeps coming back.
Where Texas Draws the Line
Texas lets a lender repossess without a court order after a default, as long as it doesn’t breach the peace. That rule is Business & Commerce Code Section 9.609. Separately, Finance Code Section 348.411 bars installment contracts from authorizing a breach of the peace.
The key words are “after default.” If the buyer wasn’t actually in default, the repossession right never existed. That gap is how a disputed repo can become a theft case. Chapter 9 also generally requires notice before a repossessed car is resold, and it gives buyers a right to redeem the car first.
Where the Case Stands
Eighteen months after the warrants, the criminal courts have seen no movement. Dallas police say charges are still pending because so many people were affected and the investigation is ongoing. The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office says the case is under review.
The dealer’s license remains active. The police affidavit counted more than 27 repossession complaints. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed it has active cases involving the licensee and can impose civil penalties if violations are substantiated.
Before You Sign at a Buy-Here-Pay-Here Lot
Lock down the insurance paper trail. “No insurance” is the easiest default to allege and the hardest to disprove after the fact. Have your insurer list the dealer as loss payee and send proof straight to the dealer. Keep a copy of the declarations page and the date it was sent.
Never pay in untraceable cash. Every payment should leave a receipt, a bank record, or both.
Read the default clause before signing. Know exactly what triggers a repossession and how much notice, if any, the contract promises.
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Use your car’s own data. Connected cars log location and app activity. That record can show when and where a vehicle was taken.
If a repo looks bogus, act fast. File a police report and send a written demand for the car and anything left inside it. Then file a complaint through the TxDMV complaint portal. The agency can pursue penalties but can’t recover your money, so a private lawyer may be your only route to that.
A car lot can have the strictest contract in Texas and still be fine. A lot whose Tesla gets “repossessed” six times in a year needs a better explanation than “read the contract.”
Ever bought from a buy-here-pay-here lot? Did anyone spell out what counts as a default before you signed, or did you find out when the car disappeared?
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