Reaffirmed Car & Payment

[Route66]

Hey Gang,

Question for you! Just looking for some advice here...I was discharged from my bankruptcy back in Feburary....and my credit score is currently a 588...
I have a '04 Chevrolet Malibu with about 50k miles on it that I re-affirmed (I sent them the reaffirmation paperwork but never heard anything back from them..so im assuming everything is OK since they havent tried to take it back or contact me)..My payments are $486/month at 16.5% APR. Pay off is $18,000 and unfortunately it only bluebooks at $8 or $9,000. My payments are too high and im having a difficult time making ends meet with my payments and would like to get into something cheaper. Obviously, I probably won't be able to roll in $9-$10,000 in negative equity into a new vehicle...

The lender, Triad, has not posted anything at all to my credit report since I filed for my bankruptcy back in October of 2006. (Luckily, i've had a few late payments to them and they dont show up).

EDIT: Also, I forgot to mention, the Vehicle is in my wifes name with me as the co-signer. Her score is a 515..

Any suggestions/recommendations about what I can do to get into something with lower payments? I'm clueless...

[lrprn]

I have a '04 Chevrolet Malibu with about 50k miles on it that I re-affirmed (I sent them the reaffirmation paperwork but never heard anything back from them..so im assuming everything is OK since they havent tried to take it back or contact me)..Any suggestions/recommendations about what I can do to get into something with lower payments? I'm clueless...

Did you file your bankruptcy with a lawyer? If you did, I'm surprised he/she would encourage you to reaffirm a car that is so completely upside down. Since you've already been having trouble making the car payments on time, sounds like filing bankruptcy didn't help you as much as you hoped it would financially.

First thing for you to do is to find out if the reaffirmation papers were really accepted by your lender. If you filed with a lawyer, he/she can find that out for you. If you filed without a lawyer, they contact the lender yourself. Explain as little as possible when you call. Just because you sent the papers and the lender hasn't contacted you doesn't prove a thing. If you filed without a lawyer, then the reaffirmation agreement had to be approved by a judge. If yours wasn't, then the reaffirmation agreement isn't valid and you can thank your lucky stars!

[SinkingFast]

You can register on PACER:

http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/

Check your Case file and see if the Reaffirmation Agreement ever got filed with the Court. If the Reaffirmation Agreement was not filed before you were Discharged, then the debt was Discharged in BK. You can turn the car over and walk away if that's the case.

But be sure and check first.

[Route66]

Yes, I did file my bankruptcy with a lawyer...(Legal Helpers..quite a disappointing performance by them..but atleast they got everything done). I agree though, he should not of had me reaffirm the car since the the vehicle is $10,000+ upside down. Bankruptcy has helped me out huge and my score is going up and up...Just would like to get out of my $486/mo carpayment and into something a bit cheaper so I can have extra money to save..

Since I did file with a lawyer, I will see if they can check with the lender to see if they were approved. Is there any way I can check that online myself? I did go to that PACER website and searched through all the documents and there was nothing at all about a reaffirmation listed...The finance company was listed as a creditor..but nothing about a reaffirmation.

Looking through my BK paperwork from the courthouse I received, and under the ch 7 individual debtors statement of intention the vehicle is listed as "Debt will be reaffirmed pursuant to blahblah'

I remeber that triad did send me some paperwork reference the reaffirmation that needed to be approved by the judge & such but my lawyer said to just sign them and send them back w/o the judge's signature and its upto them to get the judges approval.

Should I just have my lawyer contact the creditor and see if the reaffirmation was approved?

Did you file your bankruptcy with a lawyer? If you did, I'm surprised he/she would encourage you to reaffirm a car that is so completely upside down. Since you've already been having trouble making the car payments on time, sounds like filing bankruptcy didn't help you as much as you hoped it would financially.

First thing for you to do is to find out if the reaffirmation papers were really accepted by your lender. If you filed with a lawyer, he/she can find that out for you. If you filed without a lawyer, they contact the lender yourself. Explain as little as possible when you call. Just because you sent the papers and the lender hasn't contacted you doesn't prove a thing. If you filed without a lawyer, then the reaffirmation agreement had to be approved by a judge. If yours wasn't, then the reaffirmation agreement isn't valid and you can thank your lucky stars!

[Route66]

Went though the entire PACER site searching everything for my case..didn't find anything related to the reaffirmation though. However, in my discharge paperwork there is a page that says i intend to reaffirm the vehicle...

Under Documents & Filings on the PACER website the last listed entry is 2/13/07 Case Closed.There is nothing at all listed about reafirmation documents being filed with the courthouse..

You can register on PACER:

http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/

Check your Case file and see if the Reaffirmation Agreement ever got filed with the Court. If the Reaffirmation Agreement was not filed before you were Discharged, then the debt was Discharged in BK. You can turn the car over and walk away if that's the case.

But be sure and check first.

[poorme]

The lender would also be able to tell you if they received, and either approved or denied, the reaff application.

The reaffirmation 'problem' is one that plaques many filers, and this board is littered with claims of intent, faulty lawyers, non-responding lenders, etc. which lead to lost/repo'd vehicles. It is imperative that any filer who wishes to reaffirm their auto loan take an active, aggressive, and unrelenting attitude toward getting the forms to the lender and pressuring their attorneys to follow up (if using one). If you don't have the lender-signed agreement in hand before discharge, you can almost always kiss that ride goodbye.

[lrprn]

I'm guessing that since PACER isn't showing your reaffirmation, your car lender didn't send your reaffirmation agreement back to the court. If that's the case, then are you ever lucky! That means that there's a chance you can walk away from the car and not owe the upside down $10,000. That will put a repossession on your credit record, but you won't owe $10,000 - only you can decide which is best for you in the long run.

Should I just have my lawyer contact the creditor and see if the reaffirmation was approved?

Contact your lawyer and have them look for the filed reaffirmation agreement themselves first. Explain clearly that if there is an agreement signed by the judge, you want a copy of it. Also explain clearly to the lawyer that if there is no filed agreement, you do NOT want to reopen your case to get one!