Auto Repossession
Auto repossession & auto deficiency debt attorney.
Are you being sued for an automotive debt?
There are several different types of debts that arise from your automobile. The most common auto deficiency cases are:
- Automobile Deficiency cases – when you stop paying your vehicle payments and your vehicle is repossessed, sold at auction and they sue you for the remaining balance on the account. This is not limited to cars, but also boats, RV’s, ATV’s, trucks, etc. and applies to both leases and sales.
- Excess Mileage or Damage cases – when you return a leased vehicle and they claim the vehicle has excess mileage or damage and sue you for the balance.
- GAP Insurance cases – when your vehicle is a total loss but your GAP insurance does not pay the full difference, which is surprisingly often.
- Mechanic’s Lien cases – when your vehicle sustained major mechanical damage and it wasn’t worth it to pay your mechanic who keeps the vehicle and sells it at auction to pay for his work – but the vehicle financing company doesn’t get paid
- Total Loss cases – where your vehicle is totaled and for some reason the insurance does not cover the loss.
- Charge Off cases – where the vehicle financing company either cannot find you and the vehicle to repossess your vehicle or decides that the vehicle does not have enough value to repossess and they just sue you for the remaining balance.
- Replevin cases – where the vehicle finance company cannot find or access the vehicle to repossess it and sue you to get a court order requiring you to return the vehicle so they can auction it off and sue you for the remaining balance.
- Towing Impound cases – where the vehicle is towed and sold at auction to pay the towing costs and lot storage fees resulting in your finance company suing you for the balance.
- Police Seizure cases – where the police seize your vehicle as it was used in the commission of a crime and auction it off for their fees.
If you are in the early stages of this process, and cannot afford to pay your vehicle payments anymore, contact us to discuss your options. Prior to auctioning off your vehicle, the vehicle finance company is required to send you notices that may allow you an opportunity to keep your vehicle. There are also other alternatives, such as bankruptcy or negotiating with your lender that can result in you keeping your vehicle.
If you have been sued or are in debt stemming from automobile debt, you have many defenses of which many people are not aware. A vehicle finance contract is a secure debt, meaning creditors can repossess a vehicle in default without notice. After recovery, the creditor can sell the car to recover some or all of the loan balance.
Even after the vehicle is sold at auction, creditors will hold you responsible for the difference between the amount owed on the contract and the amount recovered at auction. That amount will include costs of vehicle repossession and auction of the vehicle. Unfortunately, these vehicle auctions are nearly always private auctions where a few car dealerships underbid on all vehicles. Your vehicle almost never sells for what your it is really worth.
Avoiding the repossession and auction process can save you a lot. Even after auction, you may have many defenses. Creditors are required to abode by complex rules and provide proper notification while repossessing and auctioning a vehicle, Failure by the creditor could void the debt or make it prevent collection through the court system.
Get help with automobile debt or repossession.
Law Offices of Joseph I Harrison
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