Negotiating auto loan payoff after Ch 7 (not reaffirmed)

[kjg]

Hi all,

Has anyone negotiated a lower payoff amount on an auto loan (that was not reaffirmed), postBK? I owe appx $4800 on my car, auto loan through Capital One. My Ch 7 bk was discharged May 2014.

Please let me know if anyone has any experience or advice. Will they let me pay off for less than the full pay-off amt, how should I negotiate it, and how much less might they take (in your experience)? The car's value is probably $7500 range although I'm not sure what they consider it to be...

Thanks in advance!

[LadyInTheRed]

I don't have any experience with this, but I'll make some comments based on what I have read about debt negotiation.

With so much equity in the car, the chances of them choosing to accept a lower payoff is small.

They aren't going to make any deal with you while you are current on payments. If you stop payments in order to get them to negotiate, you risk that they will repossess the car, even if they act like they appear to be negotiating. If that risk is acceptable to you, stop making payments and when they start calling, ask if they will accept a lower payoff. Keep cash on hand to bring the loan current, including late penalties, in case they won't negotiate. And keep the car in a locked garage so they can't repossess it.

[justbroke]

Has anyone negotiated a lower payoff amount on an auto loan (that was not reaffirmed), postBK? I owe appx $4800 on my car, auto loan through Capital One. My Ch 7 bk was discharged May 2014.

I have never heard of this. If there was a desire to pay less than market value, the time was when you could do an (11 USC) 722 Redemption. But, there is a but, you sare indicating that the car has a higher value than the market what is left on the loan. I don't know of any creditor that negotiates where there is significant equity (nearly 40%) in the vehicle.

Since the vehicle is worth more, why not just pay it off quicker (double/triple the payments) and be done cleanly?

(I have to admit, this is a strange request.)

[Drazil65]

I agree, pay it off with cash. There is equity, significant, why would they even consider it? This is not a lot of money, pay it off!