need advice on auto repo

That is a secured transaction note.The loan is secured with vehicle. You may be able to talk to someone in the bank to give you some time to pay or add money to the backend of loan to get it out of default. Settling for a lower amount would be very hard in my opinion since they are holding all the cards(car & note). There is another moderator named debtcruncher that may know more since she works in the finance industry.

Now that the bank has repossessed your car because of your being behind in the payments, your best bet is to sit with them and work out a repayment plan. They are in a stronger position and can auction the car if they don't receive the money. Even if the car is sold, they will not recover the full loan amount and hence force you to pay the balance after the sale. Things will not turn in your favor until you convince them to work on your terms.

Review your budget thoroughly, cut back on whatever you can, make those payments religiously on time, and even get a second job if you have to pay this off.

Hey Cajun, who are you calling a she?

Depending what state you're in, the repo laws vary. In Illinois, if you have paid 30% or more of the note balance, a finance company has to give you the option to pay your past-due amount and reinstate the note.

I tried looking up VA laws on reposessions, and the site is very poor. @@http://www.scc.state.va.us/division/banking/@@ Maybe you can find it if you have time. Repo laws would probably fall under a heading of Sales Finance or Motor Vehicle Retail Installment Sales or Conditional Sales.

If your state doesn't have the sort of stipulation I mentioned above, or if you haven't paid that far into the loan ... I'm sorry to say that your lender may be able to demand a full payoff in order to redeem the vehicle.

In your favor, a lender never wants to have to sell the collateral because they will almost never get as much for the car as you owe. They really would rather get you to pay them and give you back the car.

But they aren't going to give you the car back for a song, either. In the least, you should expect to pay the full past-due amount plus repo fee (usually $300).

Call the collector tomorrow, and see if they will take the past-due amount instead full balance. I can tell you, the collector will use your history as a basis for his decision (ie did you ignore their phone calls before, or did you call back when they called you). They will not want to reinstate the loan if they think you will continue to be a problem.

Outside of that, is is very rare for a car finance company to settle for a lower balance when they have the car. It would be a different story if the car was smashed up or wrecked. But if they have posession and it is in decent shape, they usually won't budge on the loan balance.

:oops: :oops: I could have swore you were a she,Debtcruncher. Darn but it is rough to get old!

That might explain why you seemed a little flirty the other day. Just kidding, I forgive you.

Last Friday I asked the collections guy to put my case in for appeal. I called today to check on the status and he said that my appeal was accepted for up to 8 mos... meaning that if I had owed 8 mos. of payments that would be all I needed to give them, plus repo and storage fees. So I really just need to pay for the past 2 mos. plus this months payment and I can get the car back! :D

This whole experience has inspired me to be in much better communication with my creditors... if I hadn't continued the discussion with them I would not get my car back OR I would end up way behind on everything else (rent for one).

Thanks for reading.

I am glad that this site was helpful for you.

I'm glad this worked out for you.

What I have found in my years dealing with delinquent accounts, is that most people are afraid to confront the lender if they get behind. Not sure why, maybe people are afraid the lender will yell at them or look down upon them. But lack of communication will take a not-so-bad problem and turn it into a bad one.

I have customers that are always running 2-3-4 weeks behind on their payments. But I have always told them, "if you're going to be late, just call me so I can put a note in the computer." Many of my customers do call to say "I'm getting paid next Friday and I'll make the payment then." or "I'm having some problems this month, I'm going to make half a payment and pay the rest next month ." As long as people tell me what they're going to do, we are usually fine with it -- I put a note in the screen and our collectors don't bother them.

It is when our collectors call, and a person doesn't return phone calls - that's when we have problems. It makes it seem to the lender like you are ignoring the problem, and eventually it may seem like you are trying to get out of paying it.

Hi .. I wonder what the law is oin Nc abohut how long do iI have after a missed payment befor they can leagaly come take my car (repo it).. Is there a law that i have to be 2/3 mnnths behind or how does that work .. need help fast.. thanks

It is usually any time you are in default on the contract. In Illinois, that means I could take your car if you are 1 day late (that would not be practical, though). Usually once an account gets over 30 days past-due, they will really start hounding you for a payment. By the time the account gets to be 60 days late, then you are in the red zone and could risk a repo any day.

Some states do require the lender to send out a cure letter at least 15 days before they intend to take any action on the account. A cure letter just tells you how past-due the account is and that you have 15 days to pay $X.XX before they will take further action. I'm not sure if NC requires the cure letters, though.

I did find some NC law here:



Just says that "after default" they can reposess the car, but doesn't give a time frame.

Can a repo company charge a fee to get persoal belongings ouy of a car?

I don't believe so...I believe it's your right to get those belongings out of the car...you'll just have to make arrangements to meet at the storage lot & go through their procedure.

They shouldn't, unless your state laws allow that. They only have a lien on the car, not your personal property. If they are trying to charge you to get your other property back, you should file complaints with the state DFI or AG.