Questionable repossession
My fiance' signed a 10 year car note for an SUV with a bank out of Kentucky. Seven years into the car note while living in Delaware, he received a call from the bank saying that the bank manager that was handling his loan is no longer employed with the bank and that according to their records he was delinquent on his note. He faxed over about 6-9 months of money order receipts to the bank to verify he was current. Several days later he received a call from the bank that he had to refinance his loan to complete the note in 24 months. They faxed him a new agreement that said he had to immediately pay approximately $900 in late fee and interest that occurred over the course of the loan and then his new car note would increase from $400 per month to $600 per month. He informed them that he could not afford that immediate $900 payment nor the additional $200 per month because he had just secured a job after being unemployed for 10 months. He was told it was not negotiable. After a lot of back and forth and much frustration, he reluctantly but voluntarily turned over the vehicle - leaving the car in the parking lot and telling them where they could find the keys. It took a couple of weeks for them to finally pick up the vehicle. He has yet been able to afford another vehicle and has been since borrowing my car and paying for the upkeep. My question is were his rights violated during this repossesion since he was current on his note until he was told they were repossessing the vehicle. This repossession is now on his credit report as a charge off for almost $10,000 and it looks like if he doesn't pay it, his credit is ruined for good. Does he have any legal options.
Re: Questionable repossession
At least in my opinion, it is impossible to analyze the bank's conduct without knowing more about the reason for their demand for refinancing. But it is somewhat moot if he chose to surrender the car and default on the balance.