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Illegal Repo

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helpiniowa

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa

My truck was repoed last Thursday while my wife had it at her work. When I called them the said they had sent a notice to cure by certified mail and it was recieved and signed by somebody i dont even know, then she changed her story said the notice was sent back to the dealership. And apparantly all this happened in February. I am only 3 payments behind. How does this work. Also when I went to get my belongings out of the vehicle(kids seats, tools,ect) My wifes purse was in the vehicle and now there is $500 cash missing. Also the said it wasnt towed but driven with a key they had. When I purchased the vehicle they gav me one key and said that was all they had. I think something is wrong with this whole picture, but I am no attorney
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa

My truck was repoed last Thursday while my wife had it at her work. When I called them the said they had sent a notice to cure by certified mail and it was recieved and signed by somebody i dont even know, then she changed her story said the notice was sent back to the dealership. And apparantly all this happened in February. I am only 3 payments behind. How does this work. Also when I went to get my belongings out of the vehicle(kids seats, tools,ect) My wifes purse was in the vehicle and now there is $500 cash missing. Also the said it wasnt towed but driven with a key they had. When I purchased the vehicle they gav me one key and said that was all they had. I think something is wrong with this whole picture, but I am no attorney
Clear something up for me...what part do you think is illegal?
 

helpiniowa

Junior Member
Sorry I forgot the ? at the end
I think the whole repo was done wrong, no notice that i do know is required by Iowa law, having the 2nd key to my vehicle after purchase, driving my truck from ames to des moines instead of having it towed.
 
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Some Random Guy

Senior Member
Yes, notice is required in Iowa unless certain conditions are met.
Iowa Code 1997SUPPLEMENT: Section 537.5110

Feel free to sue the finance company for your damages. Likely this will only be the towing and repo fees. Not sure what your chances of winning are. You will still owe the finance company for the remaining balance on your loan, plus penalties, interest, auction fees, minus the amount they sell the car for at auction.

As for the missing $500, sue the towing company in small claims for your loss. It may be hard to convince the judge that you had $500 in the purse, given that you didn't have enough money to make your car payment for 3 months.
 

helpiniowa

Junior Member
The dealership is the finance company. And without the truck being towed who do i try to sue for the $500(it was my rent money for the month).
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
Sue everyone involved.

No one is telling you your chances.

The BEST chance you ever have in court is about 50-50, more or less.

So, how will you prove that whoever got your dough? That is, what EVIDENCE do you have to present to the court?
 

TigerD

Senior Member
Sorry I forgot the ? at the end
I think the whole repo was done wrong, no notice that i do know is required by Iowa law, having the 2nd key to my vehicle after purchase, driving my truck from ames to des moines instead of having it towed.
It isn't your truck -- you didn't pay for it.

DC
 

helpiniowa

Junior Member
I do own the truck, title isin my name with a security intrest from the dealer. I still own the vehicle and I think they should have done it the right way. As for taking them all to court, the only people i know are the dealership. They refuse to tell me who drove the truck to des moines from ames, and it wasnt a tow company from Ames. I did find out that if I can prove to the court that I was not given the notice according to the rules of civil procedure they can make the company return the truck and pay damages. But how do I get to see a judge to prove this
 

Some Random Guy

Senior Member
she changed her story said the notice was sent back to the dealership
So are you saying that you were sent certified mail and refused to pick it up? The returned certified letter originally sent to your address is their proof of your notice. Just because you don't pickup your mail doesn't mean you get to keep the car without paying for it.

Since you are not aware of any tow company being involved, feel free to sue the dealership over the missing $500.
 

helpiniowa

Junior Member
I never refused any certified letter. They cant even tell me when it was sent exactly juts sometime in february. Also even if they did send it , the payments i havent made are Sept, Oct and Nov.
Do the people that picked the vehicle up have to notify the police of the repo in case I had called it in as a theft? And is there anyway of making the dealership tell me who picked the vehicle up?
Again as I said before the cash was there to pay rent!
 
I'm trying to figure out why the OP's wife would leave her purse, with 500.00 in cash, in her vehicle instead of taking it in to the job with her.

So far I can't come up with a scenario in which that makes much sense.
 

Some Random Guy

Senior Member
and read the link I put in earlier. If they notified you in February, then that notification is good for 365 days. Even if you cured the default and then went into default again.
 

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