Switching Vehicles

[steveok]

I have a vehicle that is probably one payment away from being paid off within the Chapter 13. It is 4 years old and has been starting to give me trouble. I contacted the paralegal and she said she felt I could get the trustees approval to sell the vehicle and use the proceeds to purchase another vehicle without incurring new debt.

I shot an email over the attorney yesterday, and he responded that he was having the paralegal "contact the Chapter 13 Trustee’s office and ask if the Trustee will consent to your request."

I feel this might be a good sign whereas if he didn't feel good about it, he wouldn't even go to the trustee.

[DavidT11]

Hi, Steveok. When you say your automobile is almost "paid off", do you mean paid-in-full under the terms of your promissory note or do you mean "paid off" according to how that auto loan was adjused or modified within your confirmed Chapter 13 plan?

[steveok]

It wil be paid 100% in full as in accordance with the promissory note.

[159515951]

If I were in your shoes, I'd find out how much the repair(s) will cost, and I'd keep the car unless the repairs are very, very expensive. If the repairs are $2,000, that's less than 6-7 payments on a newer vehicle. Why not just repair it and drive something you actually own, rather than going back into debt and driving the bank's car?

If you do buy a new car, you're going to inevitably find yourself in the same position in another 3-4 years. Conversely, you can make reasonable repairs to a paid-off vehicle and easily drive it for 10 years.

[steveok]

I don't think you read my post...I am going to be able to trade the vehicle in for a better vehicle for the same price. I will not be incurring any additional debt. Granted I might have a smaller vehicle and some other offsets, but alas a better and more dependable vehicle.

[159515951]

My mistake -- I thought you were incurring additional debt.

[DavidT11]

Hi, Steveok. It sounds as if you have the economics figured out. With that, your lawyer needs to file a "Motion to Sell Property" or something like that. The motion and its corresponding proposed order needs to be clear (i) what the sale price is, (ii) how much is owed on it, (iii) that the outstanding balance will be paid to finance company or bank holding the lien within, say, 10 days of the sale and (iv) that you plan on using the surplus (that is, sale price less the amount owed to lien holder) to purchase another vehicle. That should do it.

[steveok]

Thanks David...he has already contacted the trustee...the beautiful part of this deal is there will be ZERO owed on it, and I told him that I expect to receive approximately 15 - 16K for the vehicle and will use 100% of that to purchase a newer vehicle. He said he would let me know as soon as he hears something from the trustee. Sounds like in our district he only needs the trustees approval, but I'll wait and see.

Just found out that the "ex" apparently lost her job, but has a new one...I'll be glad to finish this...should have final payment in approximately December of next year!