Car Reaffirmation... changing mind. Is this possible?

[momof5]

We received the reaffirmation papers today from the attorneys office. He has refused to sign them since we show -$920 on our schedule. Undue Hardship is checked so we will need to prove that we can financially afford it.The amount on the schedule really is not accurate though as it does not include my husbands new part time job.

Heres the problem. We are sitting here thinking that maybe we really dont want to keep the vehicle. Its a 2002 and includes $4000 from our previous vehicle. We are at nearly 100,000 miles. It wont be 'paid off' until Jan of 2011. The payment is $302 a month. Which honestly is not a problem. We have 5 children so having a mini van is almost a need rather than a want although I think I can survive without a vehicle for a few months and then just get a cheap,pay with cash type car in the future. I will miss having a good running, van that I can depend on though. Then again we have already paid nearly $8000 dollars towards this car... wouldnt this be money just thrown away?

There are so many pros and cons to keeping it. I know I am all over the place...I just dont know what to do! Probably should have thought about this sooner but the thought of giving up our minivan was not an option a month ago.

Can we change our minds now and just not sign this reaffirmation agreement? Will we still need a hearing? What does this do to our BK? as our original filing shows that we intended to reaffirm.

Thanks so much for your thoughts on this....

Also what is this 722 that I have read about? I am wondering if this is an option if we give up the van? Maybe find something with a smaller monthly payment? UGH!!!!

[JRScott]

You can certainly change our mind. Just inform your attorney you have chosen not to reaffirm.

722 is a type of auto replacement loan I don't know a lot about hopefully someone who does comes along

[deafbroke]

You can choose to not reaffirm. Just don't sign the papers. Also you or your attorney will need to ammend your bankruptcy filing to show you do not want to reaffirm.


DB

[southernbelle]

Don't sign the papers and your lawyer will do the rest. Also, even if you did sign them you have 60 days to change your mind and cancel the reaffirmation agreement anyway.

[Logan]

You do understand that you can keep the vehicle if you do NOT reaffirm the loan? Just continue with the payments. Your creditor doesn't want a mini van with 100K miles.

Also, in the future you can turn it in at anytime if you don't want it.

Logan

[BK2008]

Also know that not all auto lenders will let you keep it if you don't reaffirm. And in the event you do keep it without reaffirmation, and later decide to turn it in, you will have a BK & a repo on your credit report vs letting it go thru the BK.

I went thru a similar situation, and for my state, this is what I found out.

[laurannm]

Also know that not all auto lenders will let you keep it if you don't reaffirm. And in the event you do keep it without reaffirmation, and later decide to turn it in, you will have a BK & a repo on your credit report vs letting it go thru the BK.

Is this true? I had heard about if you do not reaffirm your house, and then decided to let it go down the road, that a future lender would consider the BK and foreclosure two separate incidents, but hadn't heard that about a car.


Whether or not you can ride-thru also depends on your state's repo laws. In our state (MA), law dictates that as long as you remain current, they cannot repo your car. Other states have similar laws, but not all states.

[BK2008]

Is this true? I had heard about if you do not reaffirm your house, and then decided to let it go down the road, that a future lender would consider the BK and foreclosure two separate incidents, but hadn't heard that about a car.


Whether or not you can ride-thru also depends on your state's repo laws. In our state (MA), law dictates that as long as you remain current, they cannot repo your car. Other states have similar laws, but not all states.

I know I originally has reaffirmed my home, but towards the end of the 60 days (and because my job is precarious), I decided to let it go thru BK, because I didn't want to get hit with a BK AND a foreclosure down the road.
They count as 2 separate events.

I also reaffirmed my vehicle, because my lender was going to take it if I didn't. But because I don't owe a lot on it, it has some equity, and my payment is really low (what else am I gonna get for $140/mo that is in excellent shape and decent gas mileage?), I decided it was worth it to reaffirm the car.

And I went out and bought it 3 months before the BK filing, so my credit was still good.

[AngelinaCatHub]

From what you said, it may behoove you to look in the paper now for a cheaper van. With fuel prices at they are, SUV’s and Vans are being dumped. You possibly could work out a deal with an individual to hold the Title until paid with the funds you are currently paying. There are also some ‘buy here, pay here’ places but they are awfully high interest. After your bk, it will actually be easier in that you cannot bk again for some years so you are a safe bet. Start saving a bit for a down payment now. The van obviously is upside down due to you financing 4k old debt on top of the van’s note. My wife and I purchased an old police car with 112K on it, and it runs like a top. Not what you want but we lucked out and all we put into the thing was a good oil change, spark plugs and connecters, an alternator, battery and belt. Two tires later that year. That is normal maintenance anyway. You could do as well with a glut of cars in this country. ‘Hub

[b_girl]

We were initially going to re-affirm both of our vehicles but have since decided to let them go in favor of one multi-purpose vehicle. My attorney told us if we changed our minds about re-affirming all we had to do was turn in the papers to them unsigned. We also wondered how it would effect our bankruptcy...the total payments for both equalled $700...he checked and because we were -$500 he said we could easily give up both without any repercussions. Be sure to check with your attorney to make sure it's the same for you.

As for the 722 redemption, it's a vehicle replacement loan during bankruptcy. The interest is high, and the selection is low. We've been talking to USBank about it and were willing to give it a try, but we're having second thoughts....seems like the auto dealer they go through wants you to choose the vehicles they really want to sell, rather than the vehicles you choose. Sunshine Mary had a good experience with them, but we're about to back out.