Refinancing car lease before filing Ch 7

[calgirl67]

Should we refinance our car lease before filing for chapter 7?

Are we allowed to do this or is there some kind of time limit on when we applied for a car loan and when we can file?

We are worried because if we get pushed to a Ch 13 our lease will be up right in the middle or it.

Need advice!!!

[kcfaninin]

We are in the same situation. Our attorney said it "shouldn't" be a problem, as long as our payment is similar to the one we have now. I would think the interest rate would be higher after filing too. He stated we needed a vehicle and it "shouldn't" show abuse. We are not liking our attorney for various reasons and have an appointment for a 2nd opinion, so I don't trust him completely. Hope someone else can offer some advise.

[maddog2112]

Cal girl, are you talking about buying thru financing your lease? Or purchasing before you file? We were in the same boat when we filed our 13. Our lease was going to be up 7 mos into the 13. I thought I would try and purchase the vehicle at the end of the lease,but 5th third bank wouldn`t deal on the price at all, which to me didn`t make any sense since they wanted more than the vehicle was worth. If I had to do it again, I would purchase new beforehand if I could get a descent rate and financing. I was able to buy a new vehicle 7 mos into my 13, but had to go thru the trustee and court. I could only find 1 place to finance me and I pay 18% interest on the loan. They did say it would have been 13% if I had been in my 13 for a year, but I couldn`t wait that long. That might work for you.

[backtoschool]

I took on a new car loan several months before filing chapter 7. Although my credit had already started tanking, (it was in the mid 600's at the time) my auto fico was around 700 because of my long standing perfect car payment history, and because I had just finished paying off a 40k car.

I traded in my car and got a new car with a very decent interest rate (6%). There was no problem reaffirming the car. If your credit score can still allow you to get financing, I would definitely consider taking care of your car needs before filing. That is one less thing to worry about once you file.

[OhioFiler]

Bought a new car 2 weeks before we stopped paying credit cards and met with our attorney. Attorney appreciated my savviness.

[calgirl67]

Clarify

I guess my question is: if we refi the lease/buy it out today, and file in a few weeks, is that ok?

The BK court does not say we can;t file for 180 days or somethin because we got new finance today??

Thanks guys - need clarification so we can move ahead with the lease buyout. Already got loan approved.