What Laws Do Repo Companies Have to Follow in Michigan

[ericalynn721]

Last night my boyfriend along with my 12 year old son dropped his 12 year old friend off from football practice. They pulled in the driveway at which point an unmarked cargo van pulled in behind them. No one identified themselves or brought out any paperwork, 3 men jumped out and came to all sides of the car yelling and cursing saying "this is our car now!". 1 of them men had a knife and proceeded to bang it on the drivers side window then ran around the car and popped all 4 tires, my son was screaming and crying and terrified, at this point my son's friend was out of the vehicle but kind of standing there in shock, my boyfriend yelled for him to go in the house, at this point the van rammed the car so hard that the back end of the it was off of the ground, my boyfriend called the police and the men continued to bang on the vehicle and yell. One of them came over and was trying to read the VIN, this is when my boyfriend finally realized what was happening. When they realized he was on the phone with the police dept the man with the knife actually took off running and was gone when the police arrived. They took pictures of the damage to both vehicles from the ramming and the tire marks where the car was propelled forward, they spoke to my boyfriend, my son, my son's friend who we found out when the van shot forward the corner actually bumped him (he was not injured just shaken up) and a neighbor across the street that witnessed everything. She corroberated everyone else's statements and the man with the knife and the man that was driving were taken to jail, the police told me he would be charged with a felony. When we got home my son was still crying and said he thought they were going to die, he actually vomited. I know the repossossion order was valid and we do not dispute that but I also know that they can't do what they did. What recourse do we have and against who? The police officer advised us to get a copy of the police report and pictures of the scene and to contact a lawyer.

[Mr. Knowitall]

A lender may not breach the peace when effecting a repossession. There is no way, however, that you're describing the actions of either a responsible lender or a professional repossession service. What's the background here? MCL 440.9609 prohibits repossession without judicial process where the creditor breaches the peace. Remedies are described in MCL 440.9625.

(1) If it is established that a secured party is not proceeding in accordance with this article, a court may order or restrain collection, enforcement, or disposition of collateral on appropriate terms and conditions.

(2) Subject to subsections (3), (4), and (6), a person is liable for damages in the amount of any loss caused by a failure to comply with this article. Loss caused by a failure to comply may include loss resulting from the debtor's inability to obtain, or increased costs of, alternative financing.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in section 9628, both of the following apply:

(a) A person that, at the time of the failure, was a debtor, was an obligor, or held a security interest in or other lien on the collateral may recover damages under subsection (2) for its loss.

(b) If the collateral is consumer goods, a person that was a debtor or a secondary obligor at the time a secured party failed to comply with this part may recover for that failure in any event an amount not less than the credit service charge plus 10% of the principal amount of the obligation or the time-price differential plus 10% of the cash price.

(4) A debtor whose deficiency is eliminated under section 9626 may recover damages for the loss of any surplus. However, a debtor or secondary obligor whose deficiency is eliminated or reduced under section 9626 may not otherwise recover under subsection (2) for noncompliance with the provisions of this part relating to collection, enforcement, disposition, or acceptance.

(5) In addition to any damages recoverable under subsection (2), the debtor, consumer obligor, or person named as a debtor in a filed record, as applicable, may recover $500.00 in each case from a person that does 1 or more of the following:

(a) Fails to comply with section 9208.

(b) Fails to comply with section 9209.

(c) Files a record that the person is not entitled to file under section 9509(1).

(d) Fails to cause the secured party of record to file or send a termination statement as required by section 9513(1) or (3).

(e) Fails to comply with section 9616(2)(a) and whose failure is part of a pattern, or consistent with a practice, of noncompliance.

(f) Fails to comply with section 9616(2)(b).

(6) A debtor or consumer obligor may recover damages under subsection (2) and, in addition, $500.00 in each case from a person that, without reasonable cause, fails to comply with a request under section 9210. A recipient of a request under section 9210 that never claimed an interest in the collateral or obligations that are the subject of a request under that section has a reasonable excuse for failure to comply with the request within the meaning of this subsection.

(7) If a secured party fails to comply with a request regarding a list of collateral or a statement of account under section 9210, the secured party may claim a security interest only as shown in the list or statement included in the request as against a person that is reasonably misled by the failure.

I'm wondering, though, if we're even talking about a secured creditor here. What's the background?

[ericalynn721]

Well the lender is where we purchased the car in the first place, RPM Auto Sales. It is a buy here pay here type situation, we had nothing but problems out of the gate and quickly realized how unprofessional they were in general but that's neither here nor there. We were very behind and in all honesty just waiting for this, yes we should've just taken the car back to them but were just trying to save up as much money as we could while we had a vehicle. Had the men just identified themselves he would've just given them the keys but he truly didn't know what was happening, he said it felt like a car jacking and it never dawned on him that it was a repo because there wasn't even a tow truck there while this was happening. It was just all very scary for my son and his friend and we were told by the police that at least one of the men (the one that didn't go to jail) was employed by RPM. We won't be able to get a copy of the police report until Monday so we're just trying to figure out what kind of lawyer we would even contact.

[Mr. Knowitall]

It's a bit of an offbeat case, so there's not really a standard category of lawyers. I would probably start by approaching firms that handle personal injury cases, ideally with a lawyer or firm that also handles business law issues. In addition to the statute above there may be other consumer protection law issues, or even conceivably a RICO case (potential treble damages plus attorney fees) if this type of criminal thuggery is a routine practice.

[ericalynn721]

Thanks for the help, hopefully they don't get away with this. I can't help but think this is by far the first time they've done something like this before, they were too cocky and brazen about being so violent.