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Car Reposession and Sale - The Bills.com Blog
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Car Reposession and Sale
Tuesday, Dec 9, 2008
Question: Can they reposess my mothers car and sell it. They said it will be seized and auctioned off to satisfy a personal loan that she cannot pay by the terms. She lost her job, so she's been paying what she can, but the loan company wants to the entire balance by the end of Dec 2008. Can they do this?
Answer: Your mother needs to consult with an attorney licensed in your state to determine what action this creditor can take against her to enforce the debt she is unable to repay. In most states, a creditor can garnish a consumer’s wages, levy his or her bank accounts, or even take action to seize property, as it has threatened in your mother’s case. However, before a creditor can undertake any such effort, it must first file a lawsuit and obtain a court judgment against the debtor. Even if this creditor has a judgment against your mother, I would be very surprised if it would actually try to seize and auction her vehicle. Most states exempt a portion of the value of a vehicle from creditor execution; for example, California consumers can exempt up to $2550 of the equity in their vehicles from their creditors. Before this creditor can auction your mother’s vehicle, it must pay off her current secured auto loan and reimburse your mother for her state exemption. Since many Americans owe more on their vehicles than their property is worth, seizing a judgment debtor’s vehicle is often a losing proposition for creditors, especially considering they usually receive significantly less than the vehicle is worth at a judgment
sale. In addition, unsecured creditors, such as those that issue credit cards and personal loans, may not want to seize consumers’ property due to public relations issues; consumers may be hesitant to use credit cards or personal loans if they think that they could lose their home or car in case of default. To read more about your state laws relating to the enforcement of consumer judgments, I encourage you to visit http://www.bcsalliance.com/y_debt_statelaws_garnishments.html
You should know that collection agencies frequently make threats which they often cannot or do not intend to act upon in an effort to convince consumers to pay old debts. As I said, an unsecured creditor cannot seize any property until it has filed a lawsuit and obtained a judgment; despite this fact, few creditors actually choose to pursue legal action against consumers. This creditor is likely making these threats to frighten your mother and make her think that she must pay this debt immediately. Your mother probably has obligations which require much more immediate attention, such as her mortgage, car, and medical bills; unless this creditor has actually filed legal action against her to enforce this debt, your mother should probably use the
You should know that collection agencies frequently make threats which they often cannot or do not intend to act upon in an effort to convince consumers to pay old debts. As I said, an unsecured creditor cannot seize any property until it has filed a lawsuit and obtained a judgment; despite this fact, few creditors actually choose to pursue legal action against consumers. This creditor is likely making these threats to frighten your mother and make her think that she must pay this debt immediately. Your mother probably has obligations which require much more immediate attention, such as her mortgage, car, and medical bills; unless this creditor has actually filed legal action against her to enforce this debt, your mother should probably use the
limited funds she receives each month to pay her higher priority obligations. To make sure that you are making an informed decision regarding how your mother should proceed with this debt, I again encourage her to consult with an attorney in her state to discuss what action this creditor can take to enforce this debt.
Many options exist to assist your mother in resolving this outstanding unsecured personal loan. For example, she could explore a debt settlement program or a consumer credit counseling service. Both of these services provide an option outside of bankruptcy for consumers to resolve debts which they are struggling to repay as required by their original credit agreement. In a worst case scenario, your mother could file for bankruptcy protection; this may be especially helpful if the creditor does pursue legal action. To learn more about the various options available to your mother to help her resolve this debt, I encourage you to visit the Bills.com Debt Help page at http://www.bills.com/debt-help
I wish your mother the best of luck in resolving this debt, and hope that the information I have provided helps you Find. Learn. Save.
Best,
Bill
www.bills.com
Many options exist to assist your mother in resolving this outstanding unsecured personal loan. For example, she could explore a debt settlement program or a consumer credit counseling service. Both of these services provide an option outside of bankruptcy for consumers to resolve debts which they are struggling to repay as required by their original credit agreement. In a worst case scenario, your mother could file for bankruptcy protection; this may be especially helpful if the creditor does pursue legal action. To learn more about the various options available to your mother to help her resolve this debt, I encourage you to visit the Bills.com Debt Help page at http://www.bills.com/debt-help
I wish your mother the best of luck in resolving this debt, and hope that the information I have provided helps you Find. Learn. Save.
Best,
Bill
www.bills.com
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1. Posted by Gerald Noethen on Tuesday 9th December 2008 19:24
What is my tax liability for a bad car loan. My truck loan is in default and Capitol One Auto has been unsucessful in their attempts at repo. They sent me a letter that says they will turn this debt into the IRS this year and I will be responsible for the income. $18,000. Would I have to claim this amount. No legal action has been filed and no judgements issued. State of Texas
2. Posted by Bill on Wednesday 10th December 2008 08:22
They are referring to CODI (cancellation of debt income) which says that if your lender writes off the bad loan as a loss, that you may have to file a 1099 form for the amount that was written off as a gain. You should seek advice from a tax expert, but if you are insolvent (assets are less than liabilities) at the time of the write-off, then you can file form 982 and be exempt from the taxable income. But, seek advice from an attorney or tax expert.
3. Posted by m.elizabeth klein on Thursday 16th April 2009 13:36
i voluntarily had my car repossed due to loss of income and the sudden death of my 22 yr. old son. with funeral payments and loss of hours at work i could no longer afford the car. the bank sold the car and now they want 9000.00. i told them i couldn't pay more than 25.00 a month on it but when everything else is settled i would pay more. they said this was not suffecient. what else can i do?
4. Posted by Nithin on Thursday 16th April 2009 17:11
You have to be persistent and keep negotiating with them. Try to keep all your communication with them in writing, that way you have proof if you ever need it in the future.
5. Posted by Brenda on Friday 31st July 2009 20:07
We have fallen behind on our truck payments I believe we were almost 90 days. We were assigned a rep to help us get things back on track. We were instructed by this CS rep to send out payments to an address other than what was on our statement. We did so and it was returned to us in the mail. We let her know what happened. She insisted we send it Western Union immediately. We did so. She then gave us another address to continue sending payments too. We then sent 2 more payments as well as the returned payment. Again she gave us a wrong address and now she has threatened us with repossession. btw, the wrong address was verified by our Postmaster. We have since spoke with another CS rep who has given us the correct address to send payments to. But the woman who gave us the wrong addresses says there's nothing they can do about it. If we would've sent the missing payments to the address on the statement rather than the address she instructed us to send to, we would not be over 90 days late and be on our way to repairing and getting caught up on this loan. I don't know what to do as they are already threatening to send someone to pick up the truck, even tho' we have sent more payments to the correct address. Please help!
6. Posted by Bill on Monday 3rd August 2009 10:08
Let me make the assumption here that the first customer service rep spoke to you on the telephone, and never put the alternative address in writing. If that is so, then you need to think like a lawyer. Gather your evidence, including your notes, copies of the envelopes with the bad addresses, copies of cashed checks, receipts for Western Union wire transfers, and any other facts you can put in one place. Next, find the name of the manager of the customer service department. Then, write a clear letter that includes dates, names, telephone numbers, and all of your relevant facts. Take a day or two to write the letter. Include facts, such as dates, check numbers, and amounts paid. Tear your letter apart and rewrite it until your it is so clear that even a child can understand what happened. Tell them you not only want your vehicle left alone you want an apology for the company putting you through all of this bother. Then send that letter (including copies of your evidence) to the manager of the customer service department with a CC to the president of the company.