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Unlawful Voluntary Repossession Before Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filed

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  • 04-08-2010, 12:30 PM
    lari23
    Unlawful Voluntary Repossession Before Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filed
    My question involves bankruptcy in the state of: Colorado.

    I purchased a vehicle at $23K, and made every payment on time for 1 and 1/2 years. Due to other extenuating circumstances, living beyond my means after a layoff, I decided to file bankruptcy. I was young and was getting married and we both decided it would be best to file and remove my debt beforehand.

    At the request of my attorney, I contacted all creditors to request up-to-date statements of balance due in order to proceed with my Chapter 7 filing. This included my auto finance company. Even though it was up in-the-air if I was to include my car or not to. My main dilemma was that the warranty was nearing expiration and I was approaching an up-side-down loan situation (if wasn't for my trade-in, I would have been).

    Within days of requesting a statement, my car was repossessed by the finance company. I had not yet filed for bankruptcy, and was current with my payments. This all happened a month before I even filed with the courts and was still in the preparation stage of compiling paperwork.

    When the repossessor came to my parents home, they stated they had the repossession order and it was voluntary... but I could not change it. I was told to take it up with the finance company. I made no attempt to hide my vehicle and was completely unaware of their proceedings to take it back. I was compliant and removed my personal items and released the keys, but was not asked to sign anything.

    This case is a bit different because according to their documentation, I wanted them to pick it up. This was not the case. That's why I made payments to remain current in order to keep my car until I filed... and even then, it was not concrete whether I was even going to put my car on the bankruptcy petition. I needed my vehicle, as I was a mere month away from my wedding... coordinating my husbands return from combat deployment... and we were to move across the country shortly after as my husband was still active-duty in the Marine Corps. I did not offer this information to the finance company, as I never intended to keep my vehicle and take it to California. I had planned to leave it after I had filed and contact them to pick it up. Instead, they stalked my parents house to locate it! Ultimately, I filed a day before my wedding, but had to deal with so many hassles without my vehicle for that whole month. Is there some kind of liability they must abide by? I understand they owned the car, I was still paying it off... but there must be some kind of stipulations they must adhere to in order to repossess a vehicle, right??

    Any feedback, thoughts, or advise would be much appreciated. Thank you!
  • 04-08-2010, 05:54 PM
    cyjeff
    Re: Unlawful Voluntary Repossession Before Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filed
    I depends what you told them when you called them.

    If you told them that you were going to turn it back into them at some future date, they may have determined it to be prudent to repo the car now before something happened to it...

    You would be surprised at what people do to a car that they know is about to be repo'ed.

    I am not saying you would do anything. I am saying that it was in the best interests of the car company to get it sooner rather than later.

    Did you tell them that it was a probability that you were going to turn in the car?
  • 04-08-2010, 05:59 PM
    jk
    Re: Unlawful Voluntary Repossession Before Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filed
    did you ever call them and ask them where they got the idea you were agreeing to a voluntary repo? The don't tend to simply repo cars for the fun of it, especially since it is illegal.
  • 04-08-2010, 08:43 PM
    lari23
    Re: Unlawful Voluntary Repossession Before Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filed
    The phone representative that I spoke with did inquire why I was requesting a statement as I had just made a payment, they said it would be more time effective to just deduct my recent payment from the loan balance at that time. I explained I was working on my debt and budget and said I might file for bankruptcy. I assured them that I did not intend to include the car on my bk, but my attorney merely wanted to see all sides of my case. They sent me the statement... but I got it in the mail after they had already repoed my car.

    I contacted the reposessor several times, as well as the finance company (very large corporation... probably one of the top 5 largest banks) and got nowhere. I was merely being honest about my financial situation, but I did not notify them of my intent to default on the loan... and again, I had a perfect payment history with them. And that's why I'm here.

    I would truly appreciate your further feedback! Thank you.
  • 04-08-2010, 08:56 PM
    jk
    Re: Unlawful Voluntary Repossession Before Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filed
    how long ago was this?
    From the events you have included, it seems to be a considerable amount of time. If a car is repo'd, you have a very limited time to do anything before it is auctioned off. If you failed to take some action then, depending on how long it has been, you may not have any action available to you now.
  • 04-09-2010, 07:12 AM
    acip4u
    Re: Unlawful Voluntary Repossession Before Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filed
    I think not sure, that if you file cpt 7 and get the stay included, they might have to return the car until the stay is lifted, if you did include it in your cpt 7 if not then i think they have the right to take the car!


    God Bless
  • 04-09-2010, 01:25 PM
    lari23
    Re: Unlawful Voluntary Repossession Before Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filed
    This was in 2009... my bk has been discharged since. I did end up placing my car on the bk, just at the time of the contact and repossession... I had not committed to including it. They had the right to the car as of my filing date, not a month beforehand if I was current on my payments. At least that's what I thought anyways. The car has been auctioned, and they even ended up making money on the deal.

    Don't they have some type of liability thought? Does anyone know the statute of limitations on this type of situation?
  • 04-09-2010, 01:33 PM
    jk
    Re: Unlawful Voluntary Repossession Before Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filed
    they might have been liable for some short period but you apparently failed to exercise your rights to reclaim the vehicle. That pretty much shoots any claims you might have had.
  • 04-10-2010, 08:14 AM
    lari23
    Re: Unlawful Voluntary Repossession Before Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filed
    Hmm.. I thought so. I appreciate your feedback! Thanks for your time!!
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