Mother is Lein Holder in Texas

Baker · #1 07-11-2006, 08:38 AM

My mother has a lien on my car. The agreement we had was I would pay her back when I got the money. Well my money flow has gotten worse and I have not had the extra money. In fact I live from paycheck to paycheck. I am moving out of my mom's rent house because I am behind on the rent and I found something cheaper. I have been paying my mother weekly to get caught up on the back rent and she now says if I don't pay her the full amount that I owe her she is going to repo my car. Can she repo my car because of the back rent? We have never signed an agreement on when I was suppose to pay her back. In fact the lein was on my car before I moved into her rent house. Can she demand all the amount on lein at once even though that was not our agrement? What are the repo laws in Texas?

Baker

IAAL · #2 07-11-2006, 08:47 AM

Quoting Baker

My mother has a lien on my car. The agreement we had was I would pay her back when I got the money. Well my money flow has gotten worse and I have not had the extra money. In fact I live from paycheck to paycheck. I am moving out of my mom's rent house because I am behind on the rent and I found something cheaper. I have been paying my mother weekly to get caught up on the back rent and she now says if I don't pay her the full amount that I owe her she is going to repo my car. Can she repo my car because of the back rent? We have never signed an agreement on when I was suppose to pay her back. In fact the lein was on my car before I moved into her rent house. Can she demand all the amount on lein at once even though that was not our agrement? What are the repo laws in Texas?

Baker

My response:

Yes.

IAAL

Mr. Knowitall · #3 07-11-2006, 10:29 AM

I would disagree with that. The debt for the car and the debt for rent are separate. If the car payments are current, I would think she would need a judgment and court order for execution before she could attempt to repossess the car. (But I'm too lazy to research it right now, so....)

IAAL · #4 07-11-2006, 10:53 AM

Quoting Mr. Knowitall

I would disagree with that. The debt for the car and the debt for rent are separate. If the car payments are current, I would think she would need a judgment and court order for execution before she could attempt to repossess the car. (But I'm too lazy to research it right now, so....)

My response:

The writer had two issues: Vehicle payment agreement and rental housing payment.

On the issue of the vehicle, our writer stated:

Quote:

"My mother has a lien on my car. The agreement we had was I would pay her back when I got the money. Well my money flow has gotten worse and I have not had the extra money. In fact I live from paycheck to paycheck."

The presumption, then, is that, notwithstanding his rental, he's also "behind" on the vehicle payments. Otherwise, why bring up this issue?

IAAL

Baker · #5 07-13-2006, 06:49 AM

To clear things up...........
1. The argreement was that I would pay my mother when I had the extra cash. I have been living from paycheck to paycheck and my mother has been getting my entire paycheck for rent and back rent. I have no extra money to give her right now. We did not have a witness to this discussion and did not sign any agreement papers. Now she is saying if I don't come up with the money for the lein all at once, and soon, she is going to repo. Is that legal?
2. Even though I am behind on rent myu husband has been giving my mother half of his paycheck (weekly) to pay the back rent and get caught up as well. She is saying that if we are not caught up anytime soon, she is going to repo my car for the back rent. Can she do that?
Baker

Mr. Knowitall · #6 07-13-2006, 08:02 AM

She can do whatever she wants. Whether or not it is legal? That's the larger question. I tend to think not (based upon the limited facts available), IAAL tends to think so, and you can try to decide which of us to believe.

IAAL · #7 07-13-2006, 09:39 AM

Quoting Mr. Knowitall

She can do whatever she wants. Whether or not it is legal? That's the larger question. I tend to think not (based upon the limited facts available), IAAL tends to think so, and you can try to decide which of us to believe.

My response:

What is glaringly missing from our writer's posts, despite the fact that the information is necessary, is when the verbal agreement was formed, and how many payments on the vehicle have gone unpaid. Mom has a lien on the vehicle, meaning that Mom still owns the vehicle. As an owner, she has the right to "take back" that which is hers.

Now, if she wanted to take this matter to court, it's an easy matter to prove a verbal agreement based upon proof of past payments; i.e., why pay for a vehicle if there wasn't a contract?

But, the bigger question is, when payment hasn't been made, "what is a reasonable amount of time?" Sometimes, a court has to decide "rough justice" because the parties never placed their agreement in writing. So, part of that "rough justice" is determining how "late" a person can be on payments before it becomes "unreasonable." Usually, courts have a "rule" or "benchmark" concerning payments on verbal agreements; e.g., 30 to 60 days late.

If the payments are 60 or more days past due, I believe Mom has every right to repossess the vehicle. Our writer cannot keep property that hasn't been paid.

IAAL

Baker · #8 07-13-2006, 12:09 PM

This is the entire story. I sold my truck last year to get a car and to finish paying off my probation. (On probation for hot checks) My mother told me that she would pay half of my probation fines to help me out since I just had a baby. When that time came, my mother said she was not going to help me out and I have to pay for it on my own. I was in the process of buying my car. I had enough money for half of my probation and for my car. Well I asked my mother if I could borrow the money for the other half and she said no, but would take a lein on my car. She put a lein on my car for $1100.00 and all I got was $250.00. (Something wrong here?) This was 10 months ago. Well the past ten months we have been renting from my mother who is overcharging us for a one bedroom house. (Please see other forums) We are now in the process of moving out because my mother is working on my last nerve and I will have to be put in the mental instatution if I don't get away from her soon. Well, when I said we were moving out, that is when she starts yelling about the lein on the car. That is what I don't get. She has made statements to me like- I am charging you so much so I get the money from the car, and I don't want your money for the car, get the kids something, and I have let the car go. All of this was stated three months ago, but since we are moving out of her house and she knows she cannot rent the house out to anyone else for what we are paying, she is throwing the lein in my face. I have learned my leason, not to do bussnies with her again. But how can I protect myself right now?
Baker