When vehicle is included in bk, how long b/4 you can return

[midnight]

I have an '08 van that is upside down at least 10k. Current rate is 11.99 percent. Have 5 years left on the loan. If I were to try to finance now, probably couldn't get better than what I have now. My main concerns is the amount owed compared to what it's worth. Granted it's a great warranty (Kia). I do love the van, and initally planned keeping it at least 5-8 years (there is 8 years left on the loan). Just makes me mad we were stupid when we bought it and we're upside down so much.

Anyway, since I didn't reaffirm and am riding through, can I just stop paying on it in like 1 or 2 years when I might get a better rate post-discharge (and get something that costs less, etc.).

I guess I'm wondering at what point can I *not* surrender/return it?? If I decide to go that way and get something for cheaper/lower payment.

And also, if I do surrender the car within a year or so, do I need to secure the financing before I return the car?? Or do people get financing after the car is surrendered?

[Strapped4Csh]

You can walk away from it anytime from now until the loan is paid in full. We're looking into doing just that with our honda van that we are riding through on right now. we like it, but like you we are way upside down and rolled over a couple other bad financial decisions when we bought it in the first place. We were discharged about a month ago and applied for a loan "just to see what would happen". We didn't even start looking at cars since we didn't want to put the cart before the horse, but we were able to get a 15.9% rate for 60 months with $2500 down through a dealer using americredit. High, but when you consider the 10-12K inequity we have in our current loan that isn't doing anything for our credit, not too bad. The dealer picked an $18,000 2006 jeep for the app, but that's way more than we're looking to spend (even though it is about $250 a month less than we're paying right now). I've heard Capital One is BK friendly, but we included them in ours, so they declined us right off.


Might be worth checking the americredit site - you can look for dealers in your area. Once we got the approval, we started to look to see who else uses them and are now seriously thinking about what we may be looking for. Go to the dealer as prepared as you can - we found that since we have bad credit, most dealerships think we're both stupid and desperate. Be patient - it took a couple days for the dealer to get an approval for us. As long as you don't go too overboard on credit inquiries, it can't hurt to look.

As far as financing before or after turning in your old car, if your loan is being reported the way it should be (Included in bankruptcy, discharged), other creditors don't know if you have that car or not right now since the bankruptcy prevents them from reporting anything (payments you are or are not making, repossession of a non-reaffirmed loan, etc). This is worth a check since Honda was reporting my loan to 2 of 3 reporting agencies when I pulled it a couple of weeks ago.

[BKDefender]

If your jurisdiction allows you to 'ride-through' then you can walk away from your car and they can't come after you for the deficiency. In the 9th circuit where I am (Nevada), there is a case that has explicitly stated that 'ride through' is no longer an option in the states in our circuit, so we can't do it anymore here. Now, if the lender allows you to do it then that's fine, but if they require you to either reaffirm, redeem or surrender, you have to do one of them and the court won't allow you to get out of it if the lender presses the issue.

--William

[jalex]

If your jurisdiction allows you to 'ride-through' then you can walk away from your car and they can't come after you for the deficiency. In the 9th circuit where I am (Nevada), there is a case that has explicitly stated that 'ride through' is no longer an option in the states in our circuit, so we can't do it anymore here. Now, if the lender allows you to do it then that's fine, but if they require you to either reaffirm, redeem or surrender, you have to do one of them and the court won't allow you to get out of it if the lender presses the issue.

--William

William,

Just out of curiosity, what would signal that the lender has allowed me to do a ride-through? I haven't received any paperwork for my vehicle, even after requesting it. I guess I would be interested in your take on what would happen in the following cases:

1) Debtor requests reaffirmation, bank does not send paperwork.
2) Debtor's attorney refuses to sign agreement. (If you are referring to the case I am thinking of, this is exactly what happened in that case)
3) Debtor's attorney refuses to sign agreement, hearing is held, and judge refuses to sign agreement due to negative DMI.

I'm in the ninth circuit as well, and kind of curious what's going to happen to my car. My lawyer says to not reaffirm, and as long as I'm current I'll be fine. I guess in my mind I'm thinking...what's to stop the CU from coming after the car 4 years down the road when I'm one payment away from paying it off and repoing it?

[maungoo]

If you stop paying for 3 months, they will come and get your car. You have 3 months to look for another financing which will be with higher interest rate, like 17.5%, but you can have better deal on used car and probably lower monthly payment. In this point, new financing company will start reporting positive to your credit history every month and after a year you can refinance your car with lower interest rate to credit unions.

Ride through the car which included in BK is good idea if the price is not up side down. But you will not get any positive payments on your credit report since you included your car in BK.

Some financing companies, like road loans, amaricredit, capital one, they will give you auto loan but with higher interest rate.

I have an '08 van that is upside down at least 10k. Current rate is 11.99 percent. Have 5 years left on the loan. If I were to try to finance now, probably couldn't get better than what I have now. My main concerns is the amount owed compared to what it's worth. Granted it's a great warranty (Kia). I do love the van, and initally planned keeping it at least 5-8 years (there is 8 years left on the loan). Just makes me mad we were stupid when we bought it and we're upside down so much.

Anyway, since I didn't reaffirm and am riding through, can I just stop paying on it in like 1 or 2 years when I might get a better rate post-discharge (and get something that costs less, etc.).

I guess I'm wondering at what point can I *not* surrender/return it?? If I decide to go that way and get something for cheaper/lower payment.

And also, if I do surrender the car within a year or so, do I need to secure the financing before I return the car?? Or do people get financing after the car is surrendered?

[aces67]

You should talk to the finance manager at your local dealership first and go from there. You may be able to get a lower rate now than what you think.

As long as you don't reaffirm you can keep the vehicle and turn it in whenever you're ready-just keep making the payments on time.

[BKDefender]

jalex:
Ride-through is no longer an option in the 9th circuit according to Dumont which was a California case issued this past September.
(http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastor...5/08-60002.pdf)

If your attorney says you can ride-through, you might want to bring this up to him and have him decide if his answer stands. The case basically says that if you elect to retain the vehicle and you do not redeem or reaffirm the debt, the BK stay is lifted as to the vehicle and the lender is free to repossess the car.

Since it's not property of the estate though, then your state's laws should apply.
I'm not sure of the law in your jurisdiction though - your state laws might protect you from repossession if you stay current on the payments.

--William