Being sued for defaulting on a car loan

[Jazzy90]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

Hello, I am being sued by a creditor for defaulting on my car loan. I was served papers properly as far as I am able to research, I am just looking for the next step in the process. I have not filed an answer for the complaint yet, but hopefully someone would be able to help me make sure I am going in the right direction.

Thank you!

 

[FlyingRon]

Did you default on the loan?
What happened to the car?
What answer do you think you have?

 

[adjusterjack]

More questions:

How much are you being sued for?
Small claims court or regular civil court?
What county?
Exact date you defaulted?
Exact date the lawsuit was filed (not the date you got it)?

Answer all the questions from both of us.

 

[Jazzy90]

Did you default on the loan?
What happened to the car?
What answer do you think you have?

Yes I did default on the loan.
The credit union took possession of the car.
As I did research, I understood that in order to take the case to court and not default on the case, I had to answer their complaints in the form of affirmation or denial of their claims.

More questions:

How much are you being sued for?
Small claims court or regular civil court?
What county?
Exact date you defaulted?
Exact date the lawsuit was filed (not the date you got it)?

Answer all the questions from both of us.

The amount I am being sued for is $10,777.99
It is a civil case.
Hillsborough County
I'm not sure of the exact date of default, but it was last year around July to August.
The date the lawsuit was filed was January 3, 2017.

Hopefully I was able to answer your questions sufficiently.

 

[latigo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

Hello, I am being sued by a creditor for defaulting on my car loan. I was served papers properly as far as I am able to research, I am just looking for the next step in the process. I have not filed an answer for the complaint yet, but hopefully someone would be able to help me make sure I am going in the right direction.

Thank you!

Obviously the creditor is seeking a deficiency judgment against you. Meaning that it has repossessed the vehicle, sold it for a given price, credited you with the selling price and is now suing you for the remaining balance of the loan, plus expenses incurred in the selling, its court costs and its attorney fees.

As far as helping you "go in the right direction" I presume that you understand that your written answer to creditor's complaint is to put forth any legal defenses to its claim. Further that you understand that pleading spurious and frivolous defenses, i. e. , having no foundation or support in law and/or fact, could end up costing you heavily.

If you admit to being in default on the loan, and don't dispute its balance, THEN your legitimate defenses, if any, would be limited to the questions of whether or not the creditor properly exercised its security rights in the vehicle as defined by the laws of the state. Including, acting in good faith; giving you advance notice of the sale and that it disposed of the vehicle in a commercially reasonable manner. Which incidentally does not mean that the car could have been sold for a higher price and is subject various interpretations among the several states. Plus much leeway is afforded such creditors in applying the commercially reasonable principle.

So unless the creditor practically gave the car away and/or you were never given notice of the sale (and your state requires it) then if you intend to file a written response to the complaint I suggest that you make it a general denial and but the burden on the creditor to show all of the above.

But bear in mind that should you come out on the short end (historically more than likely than not) the more time the creditor's attorney spends on the lawsuit the more it will end up costing you. And were talking hundred$ of dollar$ per hour!

 

[adjusterjack]

Your answers tell me the following:

1 - The lawsuit is well within the 5 year statute of limitations for breach of a written contract.

2 - You're not in small claims court. You're in regular civil court which is a lot more complicated so you are going to want to study the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure:

https://floridabar.org/TFB/TFBResources.nsf/Attachments/10C69DF6FF15185085256B29004BF823/$FILE/Civil.pdf?OpenElement

3 - You apparently have no defense to being in default and owing money. After you file your response you'll have the opportunity to engage in discovery where you can determine how they arrived at that amount.

4 - Understand that your loan contract probably had a bi-lateral attorney fee provision essentially saying that loser pays winner's attorney fees. The longer this drags out in court, the more the creditor pays its attorney the bigger your final bill will be and that amount will continue to grow with post judgment interest and judgment enforcement costs and even more attorney fees.

5 - I ran a search and came up with several DIY sites on how to answer a complaint for debt. Study them all.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=florida+sample+answer+to+debt+complaint&t=ha&ia=web

6 - You have the option, of course, of hiring an attorney if you want to spend a few thousand on something you can't win.

7 - If you have other debts you can't pay, you might consider bankruptcy. Bankruptcy costs less than $2000 and isn't likely to hurt you much worse than this lawsuit.

8 - If it's your only debt, consider finding enough cash to offer a lump sum discounted settlement. 60% to 80% is a good ballpark because creditors like to get money rather than spend money. Just make sure you get a stipulation for dismissal when you pay.

That's pretty much the long and short of it.

 

[Jazzy90]

Thank you guys for the info and I am definitely trying to do all the research that I can at this point. Agreeing to everything as my response seems to be the most cost effective way of handling the situation and trying to find a middle ground to settle on the amount owed. Thank you all so much.