Auto loan gone bad

What is the name of your state? Illinois

My boyfriend was 20 days late on his first payment for his car. The finance company repossessed the vehicle and are refusing to accept payment to get current and release the vehicle. Is this legal? As a consumer, what are the rights as far as repossession. Can they refuse to accept payment at this time? The finance companies position is that they want him to re-finance and have someone buy out their loan. He has less than perfect credit and thus that will be difficult to do.

That sounds terrible,you must love your boyfriend very much to be so concerned,he is a Lucky guy,as to your question I don't think they have legal grounds for that either,good luck. lol.

[Ladynred]

The finance company is within their rights, and if your bf can't find someone to co-sign or get it refinanced, he's going to be walkin' for a while. Pretty bad to be that late on your FIRST payment.

[HomeGuru]

And the late payment and repo will show up on his credit report further adding to his less than perfect credit.

I hate to be the bearer of more bad news after what others have already posted in this thread, but:

they will keep tacking on interest to the note balance while the car sits, until they sell it again. If the car sells for less than this new balance, they then will go after him for the "deficiency". If the car was somewhat overpriced and it was repossessed in a depressed market, the amount could be substantial.

The up side - it will scroll off of the credit reports 7 years after the __last activity__. That clock starts either when he makes the last attempt to pay down the deficiency.

If he is unable to pay, they sue (or threaten to - in practice there is a cost/likelihood of collection equation) then eventually they do a "chargeoff". This, and settlement offers, can have tax implications.

Best advice for him - find an older, "transportation grade" car, something he can save up and pay cash for. Then who cares what kind of credit rating he has.

They can't repo what is owned free and clear. It just means making do and doing without for a few months, and not being afraid of using a wrench and other tools to work on it. I've been driving around that way since I was a teenager, more than a couple of decades ago.