If you decide to turn your car in...

[wrigley1976]

in what stage of the Ch7 process do you do so?
I am upside down and behind on my current car.
I am in a situation that I need a car for work.
If I turned it in, when would I do it?
I would need to but/lease another car asap

[StartingOver08]

If you need to buy a little time for your car you can select the option to reaffirm on your Statement of Intentions when you file.

You then negotiate directly with the BK dept of your lender to see if they will work with you to make the payments more affordable. Sometimes they will reduce the rate, change the terms, put the arreage on back of the loan. Sometimes they won't. If they do work with you then you may want to consider signing the reaffirmation. Some people just continue to pay and NEVER sign the reaffirmation - this is called a ride thru.

Some lenders will NOT work with you at all - in that case you can change your Statement of Intentions to 'surrender' and refile it with the court. This new Statement would need to be filed before your discharge. It took me about 59 days to refile my Statement of Intentions that showed I was surrendering.

The mistake I made was calling the lender too soon after discharge to make arrangements to physically surrender the vehicle. I called the day after discharge - I should have waited for the bank to call me. It would have taken the bank a lot longer to pick up the car if I waited for them to contact me first.

[BkinTX]

Can you arrange to turn the vehicle in or do they always come get it? Or can you schedule a date/time for them to pick it up so you are prepared?

[StartingOver08]

Can you arrange to turn the vehicle in or do they always come get it? Or can you schedule a date/time for them to pick it up so you are prepared?

I scheduled a date and time for pick up away from my house. I did not want a tow truck coming to me to pick up the vehicle!

[BkinTX]

That sounds much better!!

I have to say, StartingOver08, you have been so helpful to me since I've joined this site. You are always kind and have given me a lot of great information without being judgmental or condescending. I really appreciate it and just wanted to say thanks!

[StartingOver08]

My pleasure! I hope things work out well for you soon.