Keep making car payments when you plan to turn the car in?

[sjohnson3278]

Hi all! I must say that I have received the most valuable information from all of you. I filed my BK 3/12/09 pro se. I have completed my 341 meeting and am awaiting discharge. My question is this; I did not reaffirm my car and have been making payments on it. I plan to get a new car and turn this one in once I have been discharged. Should I still make the payments on the car or just stop paying? If I stop paying, can they pick the car up before I am discharged? Thanks for your help!

[TEW]

You don't really need to wait for your discharge. If you stop paying before the discharge they will need relief of stay to repo the car. It's really up to you.

[lrprn]

I filed my BK 3/12/09 pro se. I have completed my 341 meeting and am awaiting discharge. My question is this; I did not reaffirm my car and have been making payments on it. I plan to get a new car and turn this one in once I have been discharged. Should I still make the payments on the car or just stop paying? If I stop paying, can they pick the car up before I am discharged? Thanks for your help!

Your car's creditor can't touch the car before you are discharged unless they file with the court to get permission to lift the stay, then come get your car.

You didn't say when your 341 was, but you are likely at least 30 days into your 60 days before discharge and closing in a non-complicated, straightforward Ch 7. It's doubtful if your car lender could get the stay lifted before your case is discharged and closed no matter how fast they pushed it.

Since you intend to surrender the car once your case is closed, whether you make another car payment or two at this point won't matter much in the long run. But be ready for the repo man to be at your door as soon as your case is closed if you don't make any more payments.

[downsized]

Stop paying! Save that cash for the new car.

[danaf]

No - do not keep on making payments. Drive the car until they repo and save your money.

But I have to wonder why you think you will get a better interest rate after you are discharged?

Hopefully you've got that part all worked out.

[sjohnson3278]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I have already contacted a dealership that said they can finance me once I have the discharge (the finance company has everything ready to go once I get to that point). The car I have now is a 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier sedan. I purchased it in August of 2007 and pay $160.00 every 2 weeks. The interest rate is about 24%. I still owe $5700.00 on it and it is worth $2400.00. I figure I will get rid of this, get into something a little bigger (that car is SMALL when you have kids in the back, lol) and even if I don't save on the interest at least it will be better suited for my family. My 341 was on April 17 and the trustee report states there are no assets for distribution and he would like to be excused from futher duties on this case so I am hoping that the discharge will come with no further issue.

[marinah]

Wow, your situation is so similar to ours...we filed pro se, on the same day as you, and are considering doing the same thing with our car! I hope everything goes smoothly for you from here on out, it sounds like your case is simple like ours.

We are debating, though, about turning in the car...because we will have to withdraw some $$ from an IRA just after discharge to have a big down payment for a new car, because we don't want to have a big car payment. We are a little concerned about the financing, though -- but we really believe turning in this car is the best thing to do -- it's a Kia minivan, with 65,000 miles on it, so the warranty is gone -- Kias are not the best made cars -- I hate the thing -- and it costs us $340 a month for the next 3 years.

Just curious, did you have a previous relationship with the dealer you spoke to about financing? Or did you just go to a dealership that had the kind of car you wanted? We are thinking about trying to line things up before discharge like you did.