[iceman34572]

My vehicle was repoed April 2007. 2 days before the car was repoed, I picked it up from the dealership (it had a brand new motor put in under warrranty). I never received anything from the bank through the mail, other than a letter stating that my vehicle was reposessed. This letter DID NOT tell me the date and location of where the sale of the vehicle was to occur. I spoke with the bank several times between the time of repossession and now, and I notified them each and every time that I had paperwork from the dealership regarding the new engine that was put in the car, and that this would help the resale value. The bank never gave me a fax number in which to send them the paperwork, and didn't even seem to care that I had information that would have helped the car to command a higher sales price. At the time of the repossession I owed $13000 on my loan. Today, (9/13/2007) I received a letter in the mail, that states that they are giving me a one time offer to settle my debt, and that they would accept $4,142.58 (half of my debt of $8285.17) no later than Sept 16th 2007. It further states that if by Sept 16th 2007 they do not receive a payment, that my debt may be sold to a third party.

I would like to know I can do regarding the situation. I'm not very affluent in the laws regarding repossession and outstanding debt in Illinois, but I do not feel that the car was sold for what it could have been sold for (again, brand new motor in the car at time of repo), and I was not notified of when and where the sale was going to take place. Does Illinois law require the creditor to notify me of the sale?

What can I expect to happen next?

[aaron]

Here's a rather comprehensive guide to vehicle repossession in Illinois:

If the creditor decides to resell the car, then the creditor must send the debtor a proper written notice about the intended resale, which can be either public or private.

Minimal Information Required: For a public sale, such as an auction, the notice must include the time, date and place of the sale. For a private sale, the creditor must state the date after which the sale will be held.

The Purpose of the Notice is to give the debtor a chance to redeem the vehicle before resale, to give the debtor a chance to find potential buyers for the vehicle, and to give the debtor a chance to observe every aspect of the sale to make sure the vehicle is sold for a fair price.

Other Requirements of the Notice:

• It must tell the debtor about his/her redemption rights.
• It must give enough time to redeem or to find other buyers before the resale.
• It must be given not only to the primary debtor but also to cosigners and guarantors.
• It must be correctly addressed.
• If it states the wrong information on the notice, such as wrong date or sale location, the notice is no good.
• It must be clearly written.
• If the creditor learns that the debtor did not receive the notice and takes no steps to correct it, the notice is no good.
• A debtor must be sent a new notice if the sale gets rescheduled.

The Defense. If you can show either that the creditor failed to give a proper resale notice or failed to resell in a commercially reasonable manner, the debtor has a defense to a suit or claim for deficiency. In this case, the law presumes that the value of the car is equal to the outstanding debt. Under this presumption, no deficiency would be owed. But, if the creditor can show in court that the value of the car when repossessed was less than the remaining debt and can show the resale was commercially reasonable, then the debtor still owes the deficiency. See Section 9-626 of the UCC.

The Counterclaim. Again, if there is either an improper resale notice or a resale that is not commercially reasonable, then Section 9-625 of the Uniform Commercial Code permits the debtor to sue for actual damages or for statutory damages against the creditor. Statutory damages are equal to the finance charge plus 10% of the cash price of the secured property. The counterclaim is available for an improper notice even if the resale was otherwise commercially reasonable. If there are multiple debtors, such as a husband and wife, each may be able to get damages assessed against the creditor.

[iceman34572]

Here's a rather comprehensive guide to vehicle repossession in Illinois:

Thank you for your help Aaron. Would you recommend that I send them a letter via certified mail, letting them know that since they did not inform me of the sale, that I am not going to pay the remaining balance? I can't afford an attorney to pursue them, otherwise I would. Do you have any other possible suggestions to give me? Should I be proactive and contact them, or reactive, and wait until they try taking me to court to personally defend myself?

If I inform them that they sold the car illegally and without my knowledge of the sale location and date, is it possible that they will stop pursuing me for the difference?

Thanks again for all of your help.

[Mr. Knowitall]

If the letter was from a collection agency (not the bank or its internal collection department), dispute the debt. Otherwise, you can do pretty much the same thing, but the FDCPA doesn't apply (so it ends up being more like the letter you proposed).