Special Situation?

[VictorK21]

Hi all:

I'm in a bit of a special situation, or at least I think so... My wife and I are seriously considering filing a Chapter 7, the bulk of the debt being this lemon car we purchased back in 1999. The car was an absolute piece of crap, yet the company wanted to hold us to paying the car off. How they expected us to pay for repairs they wouldn't do and also the car note and insurance (New York = sky high insurance) is beyond me. As a last resort, I took the car to the dealership and left it there, taking the plates off, as I told them I was going to do... I wasn't going to have this in my name anymore. Long story short, on our credit report it shows we're in debt up to $17,000 to these bastards.

We also are getting rid of some credit card debt that we had when I was laid off from work around the same time.

Now, we were living in NY, and I just recently got a job in Raleigh, North Carolina. I was told that more than likely, I would have to file in NY, because I haven't established residency in NC for 6 months. That would take us past the date for when the new laws are supposed to go into effect.

I believe altogether, our total debt is around $25,000.

Now, I have a 1997 Lincoln Town Car, that was my father's. I hadn't gotten around to putting it in my name after he passed away, since the insurance was still paid off. What I'm nervous about is, can they take the car? It has a Kelly Blue Book value of around $7,000. I really need the car, especially down here, since I have to commute to work.

Do I stand to lose the car if I put it in my name? And do I stand a good shot of eliminating the car loan debt?

[EdytaHome]

Depends on what exemptions you file, state or federal. Sounds like you have no real property? If that's correct, than in most cases you can keep your car and all your belongings. Under federal exemptions you can use your "wild card" of up to $20,000 and claim your car exempt. That's what we did along with furniture and a bunch of other stuff.
Good Luck...

[edwards2]

I work for an agency that fields a lot of calls about "lemon cars." In Tennessee a lemon is only referred to when it is a new car. A used car cannot be considered a lemon. Anyway when you took the car back it was considered involuntary repossession. Typically, they will sell the car and hold you accountable for the difference ala the contract you signed. Again, that is the law in Tennessee. I am not sure if it is the same for New York.

[cloudship]

I would seriously talk to an attourney on this one, and not just a bankruptcy attourney. When you file, one thing the trustee is going to look at is whether there are any potential cases where they could recover money, and this would include a lawsuit. You no longer have posession of the car, how was that handled? Do they still have it?

Especially since this is a bulk of your debt, it could get really sticky here. I am not sure what NY has for lemon laws, and I am not sure if some other laws might apply as well. This would be too complicated to really do without any kind of research on NY laws.

[VictorK21]

Well, I spoke to an attorney...

What had happened with the car was, I couldn't drive it to the dealership even if I wanted to, it was in that bad of shape. So once my insurance ran out, it stayed in the parking lot. One day on my way to work, I saw it was gone... I didn't receive notice from the dealership that they had come to get it, so I reported it stolen. This was back in early 2001. I've not heard from the dealership or anything since then, I'm just aware that it was sent to a collection agency.

The attorney says it shouldn't be a problem if I have a copy of the police report showing that I haven't had the car.

[HRx]

Whenever doing a voluntary repo, you want to notify the lien holder of your intent. This notification should be done, both telephonically and via certified mail. The intent should articulate when, and where you will leave vehicle as well.

[VictorK21]

That's the thing... That was going to be done, but the car was gone/stolen before I could do it...

[MichelleLeigh]

I'm a little confused......You said that you took the car to the dealership, took the tags off and left it there in your first post. Then, a few posts later you said that they picked it up and you reported it stolen. Did I miss something here?????

[HHM]

I'm a little confused......You said that you took the car to the dealership, took the tags off and left it there in your first post. Then, a few posts later you said that they picked it up and you reported it stolen. Did I miss something here?????

I concur, in your first post you said you drove it to the dealership, took the tags off, and left it there, then in your next post, you said you left in "some" parking lot becuase it wasn't running and it disappeared.
Which is it?

As for filing, you only need to live in the state for 91 days to file in that respective state (not 6 months.)

Regardless of the above, what the finance company is charging you for is the deficiency balance, the difference between the value of the car and what you owed on it. You are contractually bound to pay the full contract price (the total amount you financed), however, once you return the car, that debt becomes an unsecured debt and is easily discharged in BK.

[HRx]

I'm a little confused......You said that you took the car to the dealership, took the tags off and left it there in your first post. Then, a few posts later you said that they picked it up and you reported it stolen. Did I miss something here?????

What Michelle said.............

[tinroofrusted]

Sounds a wee bit fishy....

[VictorK21]

Sorry, I wasn't clear...

I had PLANNED on leaving the car at the dealership there, and I was going to take the tags off, effectively dumping it on them. I wound up having yet another mechanical problem with the car, which meant I couldn't drive it. When my insurance ran out, I couldn't keep the tags, so I took them off.

It was a couple months after this point that the car ended up missing.