BkMaster Posted July 25, 2003 Report Share Posted July 25, 2003 A while back I posted about a friend of mine having a repo from a few years ago. The letter I posted was actually sent. I know a few of you here said they would laugh and tell us where to go. The bal due was around $14k, and they filed for a court date to gain a judgement. Well I will try to shortin this up a bit, we actually filed an answer to the summons. Then a few days later they called. They said they would agree to the terms of the letter, $3k to settle w/ monthly pay at less than $100) except they want us to agree to a concentual judgement, so if defaulted they could seek the full amount through garnishments. They are sending something in detail to us. Now I know this is not the answer we wanted. We sure don't want any judgement on file. So my question is, where do we go from here? ANy suggestions are welcome. The only way we would agree to settle the account is if they offer to forgo the judgement. If not, the filing of a chapter 7 would certainly be in order to avoid the judgement and get rid of a lot of the debt. The letter also made point that if we couldn't come to agreeable terms that we would have no alternative but to ask the courts for relief. We did not specify what route but they should get the drift.Opions please.....Also, if for some reason they did agree, would this start the SOL over again? The SOL date on this account is so close to being up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sisflomi Posted July 25, 2003 Report Share Posted July 25, 2003 Hi Bk, did you check to make sure the repo was done completely the way it is supposed to be done? What state is your friend in? Are you sure its not past sol yet? You can always try to counter and see if they come back. I would bet they don't have proof of this and thats why they are willing to neg with this. Have you sent dv letter out to them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BkMaster Posted July 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2003 My friend got a book of evidence in the mail for the original summons. It looks as though every thing is in order. The SOL is up next year in our state.The repo, well, wasn't like they had to go find the car. My friend actually called them and told them where they could pickup the car. The only thing wrong in there was, they noted to the courts that they couldn't locate the car and charged this outrageous fee for storeage and repo. I mean were talking like $3K in repo fees, when they were told where the car was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BkMaster Posted July 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 Any other advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonewall Posted July 27, 2003 Report Share Posted July 27, 2003 I am having the same problem in a way. I got a car and had it financed via a rip off finance co. (When even thought I had some problems Ford prob would have financed me) and, the car was repoed last Apr(2002). The repo was 60% my fault. But here is my question, I don't think it was doen right, I told them where the car was and to come and get it(I know big mistake), but after that I never got a letter or call to get the vehicle back before auction( I got money from a family member) nor did they send me any info on them changing the title, etc. I want this off of my CR. I acknowledge the fact that I owe them the money but He** if they screwed it up don't I have some recourse to have it disputed? By the way I live in Illinois so if anyone from here knows the law and can help thanks a million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadynRed Posted July 28, 2003 Report Share Posted July 28, 2003 Stonewall - if you were not sent ALL the proper paperwork, notices, etc. according to the State laws, especially UCC Article 9, then they cannot even collect a deficiency ! You need to find out exactly what your state laws are as far as what is required for a LEGAL repo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonewall Posted July 29, 2003 Report Share Posted July 29, 2003 Thanks much, this is what I got from them; 1) a nasty phone call saying that" hey we sold your car for $xx.xx and you now owe us this amount(remaining balance) (3 months after we sold your car) 2) A letter from a collection telling me that they now own the account and I now owe them the money and while we are at it did we tell you that you can use your tax refund to pay off some of the balance. (Got this 10 mths after they sold the car)I never got a letter giving me a chance to redeem it, etc. Looks like I will be spending my vacation writing the state AG to see what recourse I have. Thanks again, P.s. If you have any other ideas bring them on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calawyer Posted July 30, 2003 Report Share Posted July 30, 2003 There are a whole lot of issues to be considered in evaluating a deficiency claim after a repo. There are federal laws relating to repos and state laws as well that are frequently ignored by creditors. Depending on the violation, these cases can sometimes result in money going back to the borrower.However, if you are satisfied with the financial terms of the settlement but just don't like the mechanics, try this. Tell them to draft a settlement agreement where the defendant agrees that judgment may be entered if, and only if, defendant defaults on any payment under the settlement agreement. The case will be dismissed with prejudice when all payments have been made. This puts more pressure on the defendant to make timely payments but may avoid a judgment on the credit report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonewall Posted July 30, 2003 Report Share Posted July 30, 2003 Well to sound goofy, I am not happy with the amountthat was offered to me in the collection letter. Although I know it is my fault that I defaulted on the loan, I was never given a chance to get the vehicle back at auction, or before the auction(I never got notice of any of this). So thats my biggest sticking point. Do I offer them a % of what I owe and if they agree take it and run, just to end this or what? Or kick it up and take them to court? (not that it would help me either) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calawyer Posted July 30, 2003 Report Share Posted July 30, 2003 You need to evaluate the legal merits of any claim you might have from the repo. Here is a site that may be useful:http://www.illinoisprobono.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentID=349This one is even better:http://www.illinoislawhelp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentID=17#unlawfulGood luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BkMaster Posted September 29, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2003 Ok heres the update... The CA agreed to the $3k settlement, and payments of $100.00 per month til its paid... They dismissed the filing for the judgement and agreed no tto refile unless she defaults on the arrangement. I'm wondering if they took the offer only cause they feel they would lose the case anyway.None the less the SOL with the OC is up in like 8 months, could they still get the judgement if she defaults after the SOL is up?Not that she plans on doing that, but if times get hard or something happens I want to know where it stands. They did send a letter to the court explaining the arrangement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 29, 2003 Report Share Posted September 29, 2003 READ THE REPO LAWSIF they screwed up YOU CAN SUE THEM FOR MONEY!!I am doing the same thing right now. My car was repod by a greedy buy here pay here and I have them on 5000 worth of violations.I should have legally only owed them about 900. Now they are going to get sued for more than that.. and they know they are screwed.READ THOSE LAWS !!!!!!This is just some of the stuff CALawyer found for ya..You should counterclaim for damages in any deficiency lawsuit where notice of the sale was inadequate or the repossessed property was not sold in a commercially reasonable manner. When either of these things happen, section 9-507 of the Uniform Commercial Code permits you to sue for actual damages or for an automatic statutory penalty against the creditor. The penalty is equal to the finance charge plus 10% of the cash price of the secured property. You can get this penalty imposed against the creditor for an improper notice of sale even if the sale otherwise was commercially reasonable. If there are multiple debtors, such as a husband and wife, each may get damages assessed against the creditor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BkMaster Posted September 29, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2003 I'm lost..The only thing they did wrong was they charged her a repo fee with storage. A ridiculous amount of money.. She told them where the car was and they waited to pick it up. But every thing else seemed to be on the up and up, wiht the exception of how much they sold the car for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calawyer Posted September 29, 2003 Report Share Posted September 29, 2003 But every thing else seemed to be on the up and up, wiht the exception of how much they sold the car for.That is a pretty big exception. I would want to know who purchased the car (was it the creditor? Don't laugh this happens all the time).But things are complicated now that she has settled. Did she sign a release? Does it preclude a claim against the creditor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BkMaster Posted September 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2003 Thye sold the car at an auction, and I didn't see anything in there that says she won't sue the creditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calawyer Posted September 30, 2003 Report Share Posted September 30, 2003 Ok heres the update... The CA agreed to the $3k settlement, and payments of $100.00 per month til its paid... They dismissed the filing for the judgement and agreed no tto refile unless she defaults on the arrangement.No, this is what I was referring to. I assume they didn't dismiss without an agreement. You need to look at the agreement and see if she released any claims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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