When will they take my car?

[micah]

I'm sorry if this has been answered a thousand times, but I searched for a while and couldn't find the answer.

The wife and I are finally planning to file Ch7 soon (within the next couple weeks). We will be keeping one car and giving up the other with the goal of buying me a junker to get to work with after the bankruptcy because we really do need two cars.

When we file, we'll obviously keep making payments on the car we want to keep. But I don't quite understand the timing of how we'll be losing the other car. Once I file and don't make a payment do they take the car ASAP or do they not take the car until after the discharge months from now? In other words, do I need to continue making payments during the bankruptcy just so I have the car to drive or can I stop paying and start banking the money to buy the new junker car when its all over?

Thanks!

[keepmine]

Once you file, the automatic stay protects you from a repo unless, the lender files for relief from stay.
Nobody can speak for your creditor but, worse case you should have a month at least from a repo.
Just stop paying, get all your personal roperty out of the car and bank the money to buy a ride post bk.

[micah]

Great to know. Thank you!

Follow up question: when do I notify the other car loan that I plan on keeping the vehicle post bankruptcy? Should I be calling them now, before I even file just to make sure there's no mis-communication? Or do I just keep making payments like nothings different?

[keepmine]

Do you have a lawyer?
What does your statement of intentions say? "Retain and pay"?

[micah]

We're planning to file pro se as we don't have the cash to pay for a lawyer. I understand the risks of doing so, but I've been reading up on this for several years and I'm hoping that being thorough and asking lots of questions here will help us get through this without paid council.

I haven't filled out a statement of intentions yet (or any other paper work, so far I've just been making spreadsheets for schedules I & J and figuring out who all my creditor are.) For the car we're keeping, I plan on checking "property will be retained" and I assume I need to check "Reaffirm the debt" box (as opposed to "redeem" or "other")

[LadyInTheRed]

For the car you don't want to keep, you indicate you will surrender it. No need to contact the lender. Just stop paying whenever you are okay with the car being repossessed. If you wait until within a month of filing to stop paying, you may get more time with the car if the lender does not file a motion for relief from automatic stay. The lender cannot repo the car until after your discharge unless they get an order for relief from automatic stay.

How to fill in the statement of intentions for the car you want to keep depends on what is allowed in your district and by your lender. Either way, you will indicate that you intend to retain the vehicle. Then, some debtors check that they will reaffirm and some check other and enter "retain and pay". If possible you want to avoid actually reaffirming the debt. Those who check reaffirm, often change their mind and do not reaffirm, especially if the creditor tells them that they are okay with a ride through and won't repossess because of a failure to reaffirm. If a creditor says they will repo the car if there is no reaffirmation, a debtor might sign and file a reaffirmation agreement and hope the judge won't approve it, in which case the debtor has satisfied the reaffirmation requirement as best as he/she could and, from all reports I have read, the creditor will not (and maybe cannot) repossess the vehicle if payments are kept current. You really should consult with some attorneys, without telling them that you plan to file pro se, and ask questions like these. How to best handle this situation really is location specific.

[LadyInTheRed]

I just found the following information on a CT attorney's website which appears to have been last updated in March of 2013. It says that CT law is unsettled on whether a creditor can repossess a car if you do not reaffirm but keep making timely payments. It is possible that the law has been settled since then. http://www.hjkroeger.com/hjkbky.html

Another site, seems to say the law was in fact settled as of 2009: http://www.serranolawyer.com/bankruptcy_chapter_7.htm

You'll need to do some research or consult with attorneys to find out what is the current state of the law in CT.

[frogger]

One thing to remember on a vehicle that you're not going to pay on and will be picked up:

Do not leave any personal belongings in the vehicle. Expect for it to be picked up when you least expect it.

[avengers]

Yeah. Even when they tell you when they're going to pick up the car, they might be wrong. They called us on a Wednesday and specifically told us they were going to take the car on Friday. So we didn't clean the car out. They took it that night. Ended up having to go to the tow company to get my belongings back. Don't really understand it. They ended up having to go to the police department to report the repo, then basically steal the car in the middle of the night. They could have just knocked on our door and we would have handed them the keys. Otoh, I guess they can never tell if someone is going to do that or be nasty about it.