Served summons to appear in court - REPO in 2000

[TR76]

What is the name of your state? Illinois

This morning, the sheriff served me at my home with a summons to appear in court over a reposession in 2000. I made several attempts prior to the repo to make payment arrangements, my husband had lost his job, but they never called me back. One day, we came home and the suv was gone. Afterward, they sent letters stating we still had to repay the debt because they undersold it at an auction. I was surprised that they were trying to collect at all because it used to be once they resold, that was it.

Anyway, I made arrangements to repay the debt but couldn't afford the original loan terms so I agreed to pay an amount (more than I could really afford but I felt I had no choice) monthly, they said there would be no interest applied any longer. Financially, things got even worse and that amount was not available to pay it, we had another note that ate up my monthly salary we HAD to pay and it was the only vehicle we had so there was no choice which one to pay. I hadn't heard anything for almost 3 years... then this happens this morning. And, it now has interest applied so the amount went up $3k more and that doesn't include other fees.

So my question is this: what is next? I cannot afford to pay $9500 they are asking for, period. We are just making the basic monthly bills right now. Are they going to work with us or what? No one will give me a loan to pay off even a settled amount and that's because of this very problem! Our credit is in the s***hole because of this reposession and now this... I don't know what to do next - do we hire a lawyer? I don't want to walk into court and be taken advantage of because I am ignorant to the laws where this is concerned. I don't have this money, shouldn't they be able to tell that?

Do we file bankruptcy and if we do that, what are the repercussions to my current car loan - will I be able to keep it? Finally, we paid off the other truck last year so we could afford a car and because I have two kids, we HAVE to have this car (and because of this mess, they socked us with 23% interest on the note). I'm just so confused, my head is swimming and I don't see a way out.

If anyone has ANY info, I would certainly appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[Ladynred]

I was surprised that they were trying to collect at all because it used to be once they resold, that was it.

Sorry, I don't think so. Repo deficiencies have been pretty standard for a long time. Any time they sell for less than what you owed, YOU are going to be liable for the deficiency plus repo fees, auction fees, storage fees, etc. and lawsuits for this are VERY common.

Were you sent documentation regarding the repo and the subsequent sale ??
Did you get anything that told you when and where the auction was going to take place ?? Were you sent a 'notice to cure' -- to pay up before they sold it ?? Did you get anything AFTER the sale that itemized what the SUV sold for, what the deficiency was and what fees they tacked on ?? ALL of that documentation and notices are REQUIRED for a repo to be legal and for a creditor to collect a deficiency.

. Are they going to work with us or what?

You can try, but the offer has to be reasonable or they'll just reject it and get their default judgment against you. They CAN garnish wages in IL, sieze bank accounts and non-exempt assets. Whatever you do, put your settlement offer/payment plan IN WRITING and get a signed agreement. Nothing you do on the phone is ever going to hold water.

do we hire a lawyer?

If you are not prepared to do this yourself, then yes, get a lawyer who knows what he's doing.

Do we file bankruptcy and if we do that, what are the repercussions to my current car loan - will I be able to keep it?

If you file for bankruptcy, the lawsuit will be stopped in its tracks and if you can't file before the judgment goes thru, then you'll have to make sure the judgment is vacated AFTER discharge. The repercussions to your current loan would be minimal. You can reaffirm the car loan and keep the vehicle, the bank will be very happy to keep getting its money. How much equity do you have in the vehicle ??

If you have other debts, and your income isn't going to increase signifcantly in the near future, then bankruptcy may be where you end up, just do it before 10/17 when the new laws go into effect.

 

[TR76]

Thanks for the information. We have no equity in the car we just bought because when they saw this repo on our credit, they made us put down $3k just to get the 23% interest rated loan. We purchased it in November. The only other thing we "own" is the truck we paid off last early Fall and it's only worth maybe $5500. We can't sell it either, my husband uses it for work.

Our income is not going to increase and could decrease at any time due to layoffs in construction. That's the reason we're in this mess to begin with.

I did receive the notice of resale and even tried to get a loan to buy it back but no such luck - the repo was put on our credit faster than you can snap your fingers so every place I tried gave me a big fat "NO" on that attempt. I got the itemization listing what it was sold for and the balance we owed. So it was all done legally, unfortunately for us. I still reel when I think of what they took for it at auction versus the loan balance...

Anyway, we have a few small oustanding debts that we're going to combine with this one to see if we can file Chapter 7 with.

My only other question is can a judge decide not to allow us to file, or throw out the case? We have to pay the filing fees and whatnot so could we be throwing that money away?

 

[Ladynred]

can a judge decide not to allow us to file, or throw out the case?

Not likely unless you've been up to fraudulent activity. If you're going to file Ch 7, do it before 10/17 when the horrid new law goes into effect.