what happens when

[tadbitconfused]

Right now we are awaiting our 341 meeting... to qualify for the chapter 7 we had to keep making our car payments, I am not sure if I heard the lawyer correctly but after the bk I can still turn my car in if I don't reaffirm it. Am I correct in this? I can't afford to keep making car payments more than my rent... We are keeping one but I want to breathe and not choke on car payments.. The reason for this bk is to get out of debt not stay there

[SinkingFast]

New Law says you MUST Reaffirm, Redeem, or Surrender. New Law eliminated "Ride Thru".

BUT, even if you filed an "Intent to Reaffirm" the Reaffirmation paperwork MUST be signed by both Borrower(s) and the Lender and filed prior to Discharge or there's no Reaffirmation. If you don't Reaffirm, you're free to let the car go back and any residual deficiency balance would be Discharged along with your other debts.

This is probably what you're attny is thinking, but did not convey to you.

There are other considerations too. This isn't a normal "quit making the payments and the Lender repossess the car" situation.

The Lender can't talk to you right now due to the Automatic Stay of BK. If you quit making payments between now and Discharge, the Lender would file a Motion to Lift Stay so they could repo the car to sell. I would think you would not want to wave that flag in front of the Trustee.

[tadbitconfused]

my intentions are to continue making the payments until we get through this but not reaffirm let them have it back at the end. Is that what you are telling me that the lawyer is trying to tell me. I am so brain tired I don't know what to do

[lrprn]

New Law eliminated "Ride Thru".

Actually the current bk law does allow a "ride through" for cars purchased more than 910 days ago. (For those members who haven't heard this term before, a ride-through is when what you owe on the car is reduced by the court to what the car is actually worth and that's all you owe.)

I'm wondering if your lawyer advised you to keep paying on your car after filing to keep your expenses higher so you would qualify for a Ch 7. Were you a borderline case with close to your state's median income for your family size?

At any rate, if you want to surrender the car, you should be able to do so before your discharge. You should ask your lawyer to explain clearly why he/she doesn't want you to surrender the car now. Just be sure NOT to reaffirm so you can walk away from what you still owe on the car no matter when that happens.

Hope everything works out for you!