Is It Too Late

[SMinGA]

You'll have atty & filing fees of $2500-4500 for the ch. 13. Plus the trustee will take 5-10% of all you pay in. Last but not least - you must be able to afford a monthly plan payment. If you cannot afford your car payment now - then you will have trouble in the ch. 13. And there is no refund on attys fees paid.

I don't know if bankruptcy is right for you - only you can decide that. But Try to go into it knowing as much as possible. There is a good chance you'll pay thousands in legal fees and still end up losing the car when your plan fails because you can't make the payments.

[researchnerd]

Think seriously about what you are proposing. You want to spend $3-5k on legal fees, invite the government into every possible aspect of your financial business for 3-5 years, and have a permanent public record...just so you can keep an expensive toy? I'm not judging here, I love fast cars, but in this case it just doesn't make sense.

What happens if you encounter a real emergency? What if you lose your new job, or get injured or sick and have huge medical bills? Once you've filed, you won't be able to file bankruptcy again for years, and you could be stuck with much, much more than the $24k debt you have now.

My suggestion: If you have enough $ to pay a BK attorney, use it to buy a beater and surrender your car to the lender. Once you are no longer making car payments, use that money to settle with your other creditors for 30-50% of what you owe. A year from now (maybe less) you will be free and clear, you won't have to ask your Trustee's permission for everything, and you can save bankruptcy for what it was intended - a true emergency.

[mrskal]

I have to agree with the last three posts. For Rozi, sounds like the same situation, I would give you the same advice that the OP got.

[noreaga2001]

So I have a non op on my car right now, do I have to have current insurance to file and does it have to be full coverage or just liablity

[mrskal]

What is a "non op"?

[noreaga2001]

A non op means the car is non operational, since i have it in the garage i just got a non op because my registration hasnt been paid on it.

[mrskal]

Oh ok, got it. Dont know the answer to that.

[researchnerd]

The car is non-operational ...so you're not using it for transportation, and you're filing bankruptcy to keep it? Seriously, think about your priorities here. Even if you don't complete your case, BK will mess up your credit for 5-10 years and will remain public record forever. It may keep you from getting a job, obtaining a mortgage, or renting an apartment in the future. Why would you do that to yourself unless it was absolutely necessary?

When you obtained the loan on your car, you probably signed an agreement to keep it insured at full coverage for the life of the loan. Check your loan/purchase documentation, it should be in there. If that is the case, not having insurance would be a good reason for your lender to object -- the fact that you're not honoring the terms of your loan could be considered bad faith -- and request that you surrender the car.

[SMinGA]

I don't think the car actually IS non-operational. He's afraid to take it out of the garage (it might get repo'ed) but he needed to tag/register it.

Insurance is most likely a requirement of your loan agreement. If you don't keep full coverage, that will be additional reason giving the lender opportunity to file to lift a stay and take the car. Filing bankruptcy would delay the process, but not stop it if you don't comply with your obligations...

[NowImDownInIt]

Oooh, something I can answer!

No, it isn't too late. A pp said that you have 30 days after repossession to get it back, but that's not true. You have 10 days before the car can and usually will go to auction. I filed Chapter 13 two days after my car was repossessed and got it back 2 days after that.

You MUST have current insurance and they require you have a maximum $500 deductible.

Your car is not considered non-op just because the registration sticker is out.

As far as interest rates go, it will go down but your car is not eligible for cram down. Mine went from 18% to 7% in the plan.

Because you are in such arrears, they will require that you pay the car through the plan.

[Rozi]

Does anyone have any experience with Citi Auto? They keep saying they can lower my interest rate but I am not sure if they are lying to me or not. This would be much better than filing bankruptucy.

[noreaga2001]

Yes sminga is right, it is not non operational im just not gonna get it registered because im not moving it, thanks for the advice guys, so it does have to be full coverage insurance?

[NowImDownInIt]

Yes. As long as it is under lien it must be full coverage comprehensive and collision. You should actually have that already.

[Exployer1234]

Oooh, something I can answer!

No, it isn't too late. A pp said that you have 30 days after repossession to get it back, but that's not true. You have 10 days before the car can and usually will go to auction. I filed Chapter 13 two days after my car was repossessed and got it back 2 days after that.

You MUST have current insurance and they require you have a maximum $500 deductible.

Your car is not considered non-op just because the registration sticker is out.

As far as interest rates go, it will go down but your car is not eligible for cram down. Mine went from 18% to 7% in the plan.

Because you are in such arrears, they will require that you pay the car through the plan.

They will send a notice out stating you have 10 days, but normally it takes longer then that to run it through a sale and switch the car out of your name.

I had my car repo'ed on 1/26. The bank did not transfer the loan out of my name until 3/1. I had the chance from 1/27/09-3/1/09 to reclaim the car and pay all the fees. The bank was even nice enough to send me a new notice every 2 weeks stating I had another two weeks to pick up the car. The car did not run through an auction until mid april of 09. The car was a 04' Jag. the storage fees alone were over 4000. I chose to let the car go and cut my losses at that point. When I lost my salaried job I had no way to pay for the car anymore since the company I was with gave me a car allowance and travel expenses.

[NowImDownInIt]

They [the bank] will send a notice out stating you have 10 days, but normally it takes longer then that to run it through a sale and switch the car out of your name.

Normally is a dangerous word. This is not typical and is specific to your situation. You have to go by what you have been informed by the bank because 10 days is all they are required to give you. Yours may have given you more time... the economy was way down at that point and I am sure the market for Jags was down. That doesn't mean that it wasn't sent to auction, but if it didn't sell they were going to keep sending you notifications until it did. My SIL's truck was sold at auction 11 days after it was repo'd and she was sent a notice that she owed the $9500 deficiency on her loan after they sold it. So it is done. Whether it's normal or not is not for us to say.