How does Reposession work?

[anjelt]

What is the name of your state?

I bought a van for my mom in 2001 this past summer it was reposessed, the van was in Minnesota and I moved to Nevada, just after they took the van they started sending me these letters saying I owe them all this money. Then they sent me the vehicle registration form saying I had to pay 103.50 for the new tabs, the vehicle is no longer in my name, TOday I received a letter saying I owed them 8227.03 and they will work with me on payments, I am a student at UNLV and I am only working part time making 700 a month, there is no way I can make any payments on this, I barely have any money to eat. Do I have to pay this? My mom has had a vehicle reposessed in the past and she says she never had to pay a dime. Help How does this work? what do I have to pay?

 

[Ladynred]

You have to pay the DEFICIENCY that was left over after the van sold at auction. The deficiency is the difference between what you owed on the van and what they got for it at auction. In addition, they tack on all kinds of fees to repo the thing and sell it.

Yes you DO have to pay it or they will likely sue you and get a judgment. However, given that you make very little and have no assets, there's not a whole lot they can take from you - now. Judgments hang around a LONG time and they'll keep coming at you to get paid. It'll also stick to your credit reports like poop for 7 or more years to come.

 

[anjelt]

How do I know if they sold it at an auction, I only bought the van for 10,000 how can i owe 8227 on it?

 

[Ladynred]

If you owed 10K on it and they only sold it for 2,000, then that leaves an 8K deficiency or somewhat less plus all those fees. Auctions don't bring top dollar, they almost always sell for far, far less than the value.

Are you saying you never received any notice of the sale ? Did you ever get any notices regarding a 'right to cure' ? Did you ever get any kind of statement AFTER the sale with statement showing what the car sold for ??

If not, then they may not be legally entitled to collect a deficiency. There are procedures that MUST be followed and if they don't follow them they can't come after you for what's left over.

 

[badapple40]

You have to pay the DEFICIENCY that was left over after the van sold at auction. The deficiency is the difference between what you owed on the van and what they got for it at auction. In addition, they tack on all kinds of fees to repo the thing and sell it.

Yes you DO have to pay it or they will likely sue you and get a judgment. However, given that you make very little and have no assets, there's not a whole lot they can take from you - now. Judgments hang around a LONG time and they'll keep coming at you to get paid. It'll also stick to your credit reports like poop for 7 or more years to come.

That is NOT true, he may, or may not be liable for the deficiency judgment. You are dealing with secured creditors. If they took the vehicle, they then must dispose of it. In so doing, states that have adopted Article 9, which is pretty much all of them, require advance notice prior to the sale of the collateral. They also require commercially reasonable sales.

The amount of the purported deficiency leads me to believe the sale might have been commercially reasonable, but who knows? Maybe the repo company in question sold it to a friend, or a brother, at a discount. Or maybe they didn't provide advance notice of the sale as required by Article 9, which would cancel out the deficiency.

To the original poster: Did they give you advance notice of the sale of the van? And do you know the terms of the sale (e.g. where was it conducted?)?

 

[anjelt]

i got something but I dont' think it's anything that has to do with a sale of the vehicle, I got nothing prior to that about the sale of the vehicle. Iwill have to find it and look at it again. But I am almost positive that it has nothing to do with a sale of it. Is there a way I can find out if it was sold?

 

[Ladynred]

Hey Badapple, I guess you IGNORED my 2nd post in this thread regarding their rights to a deficiency ??? Why do you think I asked the OP those questions about notices of the sale etc ?? I KNOW what Article 9 says, that's why I asked those questions, but he didn't say anything about not knowing about the sale until AFTER I'd replied the first time.

 

[anjelt]

ok no one has answered my question, is there a way for me to find out if it was sold?When I got the registration bill in the mail from Chrysler the van was still in their name! I called hte state of MN and they told me to throw it away because it was no longer in my name?

 

[Ladynred]

It apparently WAS sold or they wouldn't be after you for the deficiency.
You can try writing the creditor that repo'd it and ask for the details of the sale you were SUPPOSED to have been sent in the first place.
Do you have the VIN ?? You could try running it thru CARFAX.com. For $20 it will show you how many owner's its had and where.