Dealer Repo

[beegee]

A dealer repossed my brother-in-law's truck that it has the loan on. The truck is not worth what is owed on the note. The dealer tells my brother-in-law that he cannot have access to the truck to claim his property (i.e. - work tools, clothing, paperwork, other personal items), and that the dealer will sell the tools in order to off-set the deficiency.

Is this allowable? -- if not, what recourse does my bother-in-law have?

This is Arkansas.

[aaron]

Your brother should be permitted to recover his personal property. The dealer does not have a lien on the personal items that were in the truck.