Chapter 7 involving car lien in Missouri

[Bianca9105]

Hello, I have a family member (who is also a first responder) that was forced to file for chapter 7. In this filing, she included a car with a lien. The creditor told her to keep the car. They never came to get the vehicle. After over a year of this car sitting, she tried to gift the car to her nephew (a struggling nursing student with no transportation).
The title on the vehicle shows the lien from before Ch. 7. She called the creditor for help, they told her after a year of letting it sit, they were coming to get the car. 2 months later, no one has showed up for the repossession and the car is still just sitting.
The car needs new plates and she would like to gift the car to her nephew. But she isn’t sure how to get this done if she cannot acquire a title showing no lien. Any help is appreciated. The goal is to get the car legally registered free and clear to her nephew if possible? Thanks!

[justbroke]

She can't gift or sell the car to anyone. There is a valid lien on the vehicle. The Chapter 7 did not, in any way, remove the creditor's rights to repossess the vehicle.

Your family member should contact the creditor and ask them where to drop it off.

The fact is, they really don't want it. We call it "eating steel" in the industry. No lender wants to eat steel. However, they can't ask your family member to pay because that would be a violation.

If your family member still knows the contact information for their former attorney, I would reach out to them. Perhaps the attorney can write a letter to light a fire under the pants of the creditor.