Can I reaffirm my car loan without my lawyer's help?

[tomas71]

I should have done my homework better before I filed Chapter 7. I bought a brand new 2005 car with 7.1% interest...yah, it's high, but with my credit being where it was at the time, I was lucky to get the car financed thru Toyota as it was.

My lawyer knew I had this car and she also knew I planned on keeping it and not declaring bankruptcy on it. Months after my bankruptcy was discharged, I got a letter from my lawyer saying I now needed to mail in my payments (I used to be able to go online and make my car payments) because of my bankruptcy. I called Toyota Financial Services and they told me my lawyer needed to file a reaffirmation form. I asked my lawyer about his and she told me that Toyota was "punishing me for declaring bankruptcy...and that I should just mail in my payments. I also learned that my payments are no longer being reported to any of the credit bureau's. I honestly thought they were being reported after bankruptcy. I have never been late or missed a car payment since I bought the car 2 years ago. My lawyer said that in 2007 that "they) are trying to pass a law to over turn this type of loan and that it should be reported to the credit bureau.

I'm confused and she isn't any help. She took my $1299.00 and pretty much wrote me off. Can I reaffirm this debt without the help of a lawyer? I really want this car loan to be reported to the credit bureau's. I've worked hard to keep up with the payments and I need to rebuild my credit.

Does anyone know?

[JollyGG]

Is your bankruptcy discharged yet?

[bige1030]

Since you say this is "months after" the discharge, I don't think you'll be able to reaffirm the loan at all anymore. Maybe you could go before the judge and beg of him to allow you to reaffirm, but the statutory time period for reaffirmations ended at discharge.

[manglicmot]

tomas71, I see a large time gap between the time that your lawyer told you that you need to mail in payments and the time you were discharged, you say it was months. During those months, were you still paying on line? It sounds like you must have been, otherwise you would not be current right now. So why would your lawyer all of a suddent write you a letter telling you to pay by snail mail? It seems you should be able to continue paying like you have been for the last few months.

My lawyer, and his paralegal, told me that they have been filing Chap 7s without re-affirming car loans and that's what they are doing with my case too. Since I am not the least bit interested in rebuilding my credit, I really don't care if the payments are reported to CRAs or not. As long as they will keep accepting my payments I will be happy. But I would really like to do it on line rather than snail mail.

[tomas71]

Here is what I learned from my lawyer.

My discharge went into effect on Jan. 2nd, 2007. I received a letter from my attorney on Oct. 13th, 2006. It was not until 1 month ago that I learned that my payments were not being reported to the bureau's. When I received the letter in October, I contacted my lawyer asking why I coud no longer go online and pay my car payments. She told me I was "being punished" for filing bankruptcy and that I now had to mail in my car payments. I called Toyota and that is when I learned of this reaffirmation thing that was never explained to me by my lawyer. I called my lawyer and said I wanted to file a reaffirmation, but she said it was too late and that this year Congress might be passing a law prohibiting this practice. Below is I copied and pasted the e-mail she sent to me.

Some creditors refuse to report car payments as a punishment for filing bankruptcy. It has nothing to do with the new law, and everything to do with punishing you for filing bky. Congress is likely to pass a law prohibiting the practice this year. You can get a free credit report three times a year. You are entitled to a report from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Go to

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/ and follow the instructions.