ATV repo after discharge

[bal_ny]

One of the accounts discharged in my ch. 7 was a Yamaha (HSBC) revolving credit line for an ATV. The ATV was a gift for my boyfriend and given to him at the time of purchase.

When I met with my lawyer pre-filing, he told me that HSBC could repo the ATV if I didn't reaffirm but that it was unlikely because the amount they'd recover in an auction wouldn't justify the amount spent to repossess. At any rate, BF was ok with giving the ATV up if it came to that... we just wanted out of our financial mess.

So now I'm discharged. Today I received a call from a lawyer's office, representing HSBC. They want to come get the ATV. I'm ok with this; BF suddenly is not The man who was "do whatever you have to do" is suddenly all "It was a gift and I don't want to give it back And now it's no longer in my back yard. I have NO idea where it is.


Legally, where do I stand? If I can't produce this ATV, how deep is the crap I'm in? I will call my lawyer tomorrow, of course, but was hoping to get advice here as well. I'm in NY, if it makes any difference, and my ch. 7 was no asset.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I think you have a problem and sooner or later the ATV will go. I would not fight this unless partner is willing to pay it off. It is possible that they may contest your bk on this issue.

Look, it is a toy, you need to get your new start in life going. Don't make a mistake to harm your new start. I partner needs this so much, he needs to discuss this with the creditor, fast. ONLY my opinion. 'Hub

[bal_ny]

Hub, I agree with you 100%. We do not NEED this thing. But if my partner is bent on being a weenie-head about it, I want to know where I stand.

As far as I'm concerned, he can make arrangements with HSBC to pay them back himself. But can he do that??

[Never_Again]

I am sure that if he is credit worthy, HSBC will be happy to loan him the money to buy it. Or, he could pay them cash, and probably get a good deal.

When we met with our lawyer, he said that ATVs and snowmobiles were the biggest things that people hated to give up! He said that it seemed that many of them would give up their own children first. I guess that we have seen this first hand.

By rights, the ATV has a lien against it, and legally, you had no right to assign the title to anyone else (which I doubt that you did formally.) In other words, you can not give it away. So, in their opinion, and probably legally, you still own it, and really should convince BF by using whatever means necessary that it should re-appear, to make this right. It is NOT worth jeopardizing everything over. You probably could re-affirm it if you choose to do so.

[momof5]

Do you live together?

If not then just tell your boyfriend that this is out of your hands now. Tell him its going to end up between HSBC, the Bankruptcy Judge and him which is most likely what will happen. Especially if HSBC is pretty set on reclaiming this ATV.

You may be required to testify to the fact that he refused to surrender it. The BK judge may take into consideration it was a gift and only require him to pay a small amount. Either way this probably is going to get alot bigger before it goes away.

[bal_ny]

We do live together... 17 years of un-wedded "bliss"!
Well, most of the time, anyway

I think his response last night was a knee-jerk reaction to losing his toy. In the end, I think he'll be reasonable and give it up - I *do* see him being a little resentful about it, though. And I can't really blame him... if he'd bought something for me that I have to give back because he couldn't afford it, I'd understand but I'd be disappointed.

[JRScott]

Yep maybe he'll cool off by tonight.

Certainly you'll have to give it back, I'd hate to see any trouble from it. Perhaps you two can find another used one in a local trade mag to replace it with in a month or two?

[NowOrNever]

We also had a Yamaha dirt bike financed with HSBC. We wanted to keep it because it is my son's. After our discharge, a third-party collection agency contacted me about it - I can't remember who it was. The woman with the CA was very nice and offered to clear the title for about $100. I know most folks say to just tell them to come and get it and see if they do, but this bike belonged to a nine year old and I didn't want to take the chance. I paid the $100 and got my title. The original remaining balance was nearly $800, so I was happy with the deal. And they reported it as paid as agreed on my CR.

I don't know how much you owe or if it's something you would consider, but maybe they'd be willing to deal with you.

[bal_ny]

Update -

They were willing to take $3000 to keep the ATV and have "paid as agreed" put on my credit report. They were even willing to space the payments over 3 months. I owed $6300, so it was a pretty good deal.

Even so, BF made the decision to let it go. We *might* have been able to squeak through the winter with both ATV and heating oil, but in this economy you never know. As he put it "I'd hate to screw up Christmas and buying oil for something stupid."

He did ask that I arrange for it to be picked up when he's not here, so it's going on Monday morning while he's at work. I feel pretty crappy about it - I wanted him to have this gift and he uses it for so much - but what can you do? Hopefully in the Spring, if things are better, we'll be able to easily afford another one.