Has anyone been able to renegotiate with Santander on an auto / RV loan?

[BrokeLoser]

Hi everybody!
I have a chapter 7 filed and pending and have a RV loan with Santander. Wondering if it's likely that they will settle or rewrite a new contract with me.
I'm about 10k upside down on it.

Thanks

[dancersmom22]

Good luck! They wouldn't work with us last year, and they wanted us to reaffirm an upside down car loan! We did a ride-thru instead. I'm calling them today to come get that car, as we just replaced it with a new (to us) car, with an awesome interest rate too!

[HHM]

Honestly, I haven't heard of any car lenders routinely (or ever) renegotiating car loans, it is just not part of industry practice.

[disconapper]

Santander wanted an re-affirmation agreement from me.....however, I did not sign one....I'm doing a ride-through with them as well and all is good, havent heard a peep from them since I've filed. I'd love to renegotiate the terms of the loan but I'd think they'd just laugh at me.....but maybe you should give it a shot, there's no harm in that.

[BrokeLoser]

Good luck! They wouldn't work with us last year, and they wanted us to reaffirm an upside down car loan! We did a ride-thru instead. I'm calling them today to come get that car, as we just replaced it with a new (to us) car, with an awesome interest rate too!

Sorry but what exactly is a "ride through"?
My attorney hasn't mentioned it as an option.

Thanks

[Rozi]

Sorry but what exactly is a "ride through"?
My attorney hasn't mentioned it as an option.

Thanks

Santander sucks! They are nothing like Citifinancial. Good luck getting anywhere with them. They would probably rather have the RV back then have you pay for it. A ride thru is when you don't sign an agreement to pay but, you just keep on paying the loan like it's a regular bill. If you miss a payment though they will repo you in a heartbeat but, also if you are ready to give up the RV you can just call them and they can come and get it and you won't be on the hook for paying it off since the debt was discharged in Chapter 7.

[HHM]

Sorry but what exactly is a "ride through"?
My attorney hasn't mentioned it as an option.

Thanks

A ride through means you just keep making the payments on the vehicle.

Technically, under the BK code, you don't have the option to do a ride through anymore with vehicles. So, the lender can repo the car at any time (assuming they could do so under state law) if you do not reaffirm. However, many lenders are content to keep receiving your payment and once paid off will give you title to the car (hence a ride through).

[BrokeLoser]

A ride through means you just keep making the payments on the vehicle.

Technically, under the BK code, you don't have the option to do a ride through anymore. So, the lender can repo the car at any time (assuming they could do so under state law) if you do not reaffirm. However, many lenders are content to keep receiving your payment and once paid off will give you title to the car (hence a ride through).

Okay, so the court doesn't require me to either reaffirm or surrender?
My 341 was on aug 11th is it too late?
Why would my attorney not mention this to me?

[disconapper]

I believe the court only wants to know your intentions with the vehicle...whether you want to reaffirm or surrender....if you were to reaffirm the loan, it would have to be signed off on by a judge...my attorney picked reaffirm to buy me some time....Santander NEVER sent any sort of paperwork, although they were advised that I intended on reaffirming the car....in the end, I'm doing a ride-through, I've caught the payments up and I now use the truck for work....and the good thing is..when I'm no longer interested in keeping the vehicle I can just call Santander and tell them to come get it...in the interim I'm driving a 2008 truck with less than
60K miles on it...and yes, I would think your attorney would have mentioned this to you, since it's a secured loan, your BK paperwork should reflect your intentions...I'm sure it's listed somewhere

[BrokeLoser]

I believe the court only wants to know your intentions with the vehicle...whether you want to reaffirm or surrender....if you were to reaffirm the loan, it would have to be signed off on by a judge...my attorney picked reaffirm to buy me some time....Santander NEVER sent any sort of paperwork, although they were advised that I intended on reaffirming the car....in the end, I'm doing a ride-through, I've caught the payments up and I now use the truck for work....and the good thing is..when I'm no longer interested in keeping the vehicle I can just call Santander and tell them to come get it...in the interim I'm driving a 2008 truck with less than
60K miles on it...and yes, I would think your attorney would have mentioned this to you, since it's a secured loan, your BK paperwork should reflect your intentions...I'm sure it's listed somewhere

Aren't you technically reaffirming the loan by continuing to make payments on it? Even though you didn't reaffirm through the court?
If you give it back, or it's repossessed later (after discharge) wouldn't you be looking at a repo hit to your credit even though it named in your BK?
What if you wanted to sell the vehicle before you paid it off?
Would they really issue title if you paid it off?

[justbroke]

Continuing to pay is NOT A REAFFIRMATION... ever! The reaffirmation process is very specific technical procedure which insures that certain notices are done and that an attorney and/or Judge has reviewed the reaffirmation. It has to be on a specific form and with a specific cover sheet, and entered into prior to the case being discharged.

Now, technically, whether you can "ride through" is really up to the lender. It is the lender's rights that are at play here. Some lenders will let you ride-through, while others... such as Ford Motor Credit (FMC)... want a reaffirmation or they will repossess! (Even if you are current!) It is their right under the bankruptcy code.

A lender is compelled by law to turn over the title if you pay off the loan.

As for Santandar, I would not reaffirm. Worse case is that I'd redeem and then refinance in 6-12 months. (This is exactly what I did in my Chapter 7. I redeemed from Santandar into a very high rate USBank/722 Redemption loan. I refinanced it 9 months later with Navy Federal at less than half the rate of Santandar... and I kept the same number of months.)

[jetsfan2010]

I got some info in the mail about the 722 redemption loan, didnt know if that was worth it

[justbroke]

It's only "worth" it if you can refinance within a year. The rate is high, but if you can, say, redeem a $21K loan balance for $9K (as I did), then paying 24% for 10 months isn't so bad. (So I paid about $2,200 in interest over 10 months. I refinanced at 8.9% 10 months later. My savings on the redemption was $12K... so I saved about $10K from the redemption even with the high interest rate.

However, you really need to refinance that redemption loan! That redemption loan has a really high rate.

(I will say that if the difference between your balance and the value of your vehicle is rather small, then it may not be worth it. You really need to run the numbers.)

[BrokeLoser]

I mentioned this to my attorney and he acted like he knew nothing about it...he said this 'ride-through' is nothing more than internet "mumbo-jumbo" so I'm confused.
Is their another way for me to better explain the process to my attorney?
Just so I understand this correctly;
I don't have to file a re-aff with the court to keep possession of it?
Do I tell the court / trustee that I intend to keep it or surrender it?
What do I (my attorney) tell the court with regard to the RV?
I can later, if so desired, stop making payments, call the lender and tell them to come get it without legal repercussion or a repossession?

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this one giving the little I've learned about Chapter 7 BK.

[justbroke]

Your attorney must not have practiced bankruptcy law before 2005. The ride-through is not mumbo jumbo and a simple query in Lexis would yield an abundance of cases that use the same language. I'd actually be wary of any bankruptcy attorney that doesn't know that concept and claims it's mumbo-jumbo.

The fact is, does Santander allow ride-throughs. If so, then you just list on your Statement of Intentions (SOI) that you will "retain" and then under other you list "retain and pay". That's the ride through... nothing more than that. However, if Santander will repossess without a reaffirmation you REALLY need to look at the financial aspect of either reaffirming OR redeeming.