Boat Repo question

[CJsdad]

I'm in a similar situation as goryr88 below and have a couple of questions/concerns. As of December 2010, we had stopped making payments on an 08 Seadoo boat financed through GE Money Bank (in my wifes name with a lien by GE). My wife filed for Chapter 13 along with a foreclosure on our house. We called them January '11, explained the situation and were asked where they could pick it up, etc. we told them where it was, that we were moving and left it at the old house for them to get and moved away. We did the same with two cars which were picked up within a couple of weeks. Fast forward to last week, we were notified of an auction date for our house, so we called an old neighbor friend to check on things and were told the boat was still there!! I sent a friend to pick it up since the house is being auctioned and hell, might as well get some use out of it since they never reclaimed it.

Upon inspection, the boat does not start (wiring problems and seems to be seized) and the seats and some wiring have been eaten by rodents.

I am curious what to do from here. I have been told-

1) call them and see if they'll just let it go for a low settlement amount
2) not call them and fix and use it until they come for it (whenever that may be)
3) just let it sit in it's state and wait for them to contact us, at which point they will more than likely not want it anyway due to the problems.

I am really wanting to call them now, see if they'll offer a low price and just pay it off but I don't want to stir things up either since it's been quiet for so long and think the longer we wait for them to contact us, the more leverage we'll have in working out a price . Our financials have turned around quite a bit and I wouldn't mind buying it out, but obviously not for the original amount owed. What would be a typical scenario for something like this? Are they responsible for paying storage for leaving it at our place for a year and a half?

Thank you in advance!

[CJsdad]

Anybody? Or is this one of those "not touching that one with a ten foot pole!" questions ?

[AngelinaCat]

Most likely the right person hasn't logged in yet. Give it a little time.

I can't help with your question because we didn't have that sort of problem with our BK. The vehicle that got surrendered was a car that my 'Hub co-signed the note for. When the purchaser started defaulting on his payments, we made him surrender it.

Welcome to the forum, btw.

[CJsdad]

No problem. Thank you for the reply .
Joe

[AngelinaCatHub]

No problem. Thank you for the reply .
Joe

Hey Joe. Welcome. All three of your ideas are sound. The toy did not deteriorate over night, so you share a bit of that problem. If it were me, IF I wished to play with that toy, I'd fix the thing and use it. IF they contact you, and the toy is now repaired and working, THEN over them a payout compromise. If they do not compromise, tell them to pick it up and get it out of your way. No you can't charge them storage (and expect it to be paid).

Until they pick it up, you are the legal owner and are responsible for that chattel. Just my opinion. 'Hub

[CJsdad]

Hey Joe. Welcome. All three of your ideas are sound. The toy did not deteriorate over night, so you share a bit of that problem. If it were me, IF I wished to play with that toy, I'd fix the thing and use it. IF they contact you, and the toy is now repaired and working, THEN over them a payout compromise. If they do not compromise, tell them to pick it up and get it out of your way. No you can't charge them storage (and expect it to be paid).

Until they pick it up, you are the legal owner and are responsible for that chattel. Just my opinion. 'Hub

See, that's where it gets tough- they were told we were moving from PA to FL and the boat would be left at the PA house for them to get (which they said would be done in a couple of weeks max). They are the ones who left it in a vacant house. If we were there we would have been using it and maintaining it, or if we knew it would be nearly this long for them to get, we would have taken it with us and again- continue to use and maintain it during this time. When we were told it would be picked up shortly and to leave it there, that's what we did. IMHO, they are the ones who left it sitting neglected. No? Not being argumentative, just curious where the burden lies. If we were still living there and I left it neglected sitting there, then I would accept some responsibility for that, but when they know it is going to be left sitting with no one to care for it and they leave it there, isn't that on them? Well, morally at least- nobody said banks were moral lol.

As for storage, I wasn't expecting to ever see a dime from them, but was thinking about it more as a negotiation point when the time comes to attempt to settle.

We are actually having it transported down here, $1000 to get it here but beats letting it sit rotting and then getting auctioned off with the house. Again, I don't expect payout, but do plan on using it to negotiate a price- "*you* left it sitting at an abandoned house for a year and a half, it got mouse chewed, no longer ran, etc. *I* had to pay $1000 to get it down here before it got auctioned with the house, it cost me $xxx to fix it, etc.". I have never negotiated settlement before, so I don't know if this would even help in price negotiations but was thinking it couldn't hurt? On the same note, if the community had it towed out of there and it sat at a storage yard all this time, wouldn't the bank be obligated to pay for that and/or release the title to the towing company?

Thank you for your input!
Joe

[AngelinaCatHub]

As to post #6, I see. Well since you legally own it, you are protecting it. I doubt they will wish to pick it up in FL at their expense. I would not even notify them as a year and half is unreasonable on their part. Keep your receipts and negotiate ONLY if they contact you. They may have written you completely off. Once you are discharged or if you already are, they cannot sue you for that thing. You gave them their chance at the asset. 'Hub

[CJsdad]

One of my concerns is "legally" in FL, you have 90 days before you have to transfer a boat reg form out of state to FL. If I wanted to transfer, they would have to contact GE for the title, etc. which would only stir things up. That is why I am tempted to just call and see what they'll do for us- but at the same time, don't want to be out the transportation fees and such if they won't work with us and decide to take it tomorrow. Rock and a hard place I guess. The BK is not discharged as we have a 5 yr repayment, we were told it would be discharged once paid off. However, I see in our paperwork that GE had tried to petition a couple of times early on for payment and were denied. Even if they had written it off, I doubt they'll just send the title and lien release without getting SOMETHING for it.

I guess I'm trying to figure out what a typical settlement on something like this would be. Or if they'd even settle or only accept the full amount. Do they always settle for a lower amount on something like this? Looks like maybe $15k was owed and $10k was the "collectible amount" (or worded something like that, have to look at the papers again) at the time (early 2011). Just wondering if anybody has dealt with GE in a similar situation and how much their settlement offer was. We are willing to pay up to $5k for it, but obviously would like it to be as little as possible- especially with the full extent of needed repairs being unknown at this time. I didn't know if I was better off trying to negotiate now that it doesn't run as opposed to after the repairs or if it wouldn't make a difference. I don't know, guess I just want answers to questions that really can't be answered lol. Thank you again for all your help!

[AngelinaCatHub]

I don't think you have to have a Florida Title to register the boat. I could be wrong, I've only had one and long ago. Anyway, that certainly would be a way to get their attention. I'm stumped now, so if it does not mean a lot to you, write them a demand letter to get it out of your life, or surrender it for your almost two years of storage, or surrender a Title. Best I can do now. 'Hub

[CJsdad]

Not a problem, thank you again for your input! It does have some meaning to us which is another reason we would like to settle and not lose it all together, but not going to pay what was owed 2 years ago on it either, I'd let it go first. I think we're just going to ride it out a bit and maybe contact them at a later date about it. My wife is just concerned that after all this, we're just going to walk out to it gone one morning without warning. Oh well, take it as it comes. Thank you again.
Joe

[CJsdad]

Well, boat got delivered today- a bit rougher than when we left it . I am really itching to call and try to settle before putting too much into this thing. Gonna take a few bucks to get it "ship shape" (no pun intended ) and I'd hate to repair all the things that are due to them basically abandoning it only to have them not settle/take it and I lose all the money in repairs and transporting it. Anybody know what a fair settlement offer would be on something like this?