Judgement - car seized

[Dkomo888]

Hello,

Last night I was delieverd a judgement for a past due debt in the amount of $1800 bucks. I admit that I was contacted once I think, but I was sort of resigned to have the amount garnished from my wages.

Imagine my surprise last night when the officer of the court knocked on my door and told me they were seizing my car.

I've had the car about 3 weeks. I put no money down on the car paying only tax and title. So i owe $14,999. I looked up the Kelly Blue Book value for fun today and saw that it is $14,750. I've sent a couple of frantic e-mails tonight to the "law firm" representing the plantiff. I mean is it just me or does this not make a lot of sense? In the e-mails I said that I was hoping to get a garnishment going and have the car returned, and explained the value of the car vs. what I owe on it.

I guess my question is do you think that having them go to a garnishment is something that they will even consider? It seems to me from a monetary standpoint they have a lot better chance getting the money that way rather then try to auction the vehicle off at $2500 more then the going value of the car.

Anyway and thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Thank you

[StartingOver08]

Well, it does seem very strange that they would take your car that has no equity in satisfaction for a judgment. Usually they would want liquid $$$ instead.

So a couple of questions: Is the car you bought 3 wks ago with the same creditor? Are they related in any way? Is the new car showing on your credit reports yet? Is it possible you had another vehicle that had a lot more equity before this purchase and you traded in that vehicle before they could sieze the car?

It is hard to tell what is going on without a little more info. This seems like a lot of work on the creditors part in order to force you to part with cash.

[Dkomo888]

No the car I bought was with a different creditor. The creditor is an old apartment complex that I had stayed in for a few months. At the end of the short term lease the apartment manager and I decided to let me leave and then I was just going to sign over my security deposit to him at the end of the lease. Well it turns out that there are laws regarding the use of security deposits and using it towards last months rent is a no-no.

So no, the creditors aren't connected in anyway.

As far as the car showing up on credit reports yet, that I'm not sure. Seeing as how I haven't even made a payment yet I kind of doubt it. And no I haven't had a car since about 2004. I tried to explain to the guys last night that they may want to wait a day to contact the creditor to see id this is something they really want to do, but I'm sure they hear those things all the time.

Also I am in Michigan if that means anything.

[StartingOver08]

Well, sounds like a local creditor. They can get creative. Is it possible the apt complex does not know where you are working and in order to force you to come to them with the cash they took your car? Maybe one of the attorney's or moderators has more insight on this because it really feels like a 'squeeze play' by a local creditor.

[Dkomo888]

Yeah I was thinking too that maybe they didn't know where I worked. The thing is for the last four years I've walked to work - my apartment complex is half a mile from where I work.

It also doesn't necessarily seem like it is the creditor who decided to go after the car. The request to seize property order was dated August 1st by the lawyer representing the creditor, and not recieved by the officer of the court until August 24th. I didn't get my car until the end of September, so it seems to me like the officers of the court take whatever they find to satisfy the debt, not knowing that in my case I actually have 0 equity in the car.

I mean if they have the ability to somehow seize cars that are wholly owned by banks and are then able to auction them off and make an additional $2,000 bucks on top of what the banks are owed, then they got a pretty good thing going I guess.

[StartingOver08]

You are probably right, they just took the first 'asset' they saw. That's why creditors get judgements, so they can seize assets. As to selling your car for a profit, I don't think it works that way - how can they auction it off for $2k more than the KBB value in this market? If anything there is going to be a deficiency that they will come after you to collect.

Your payments are still due to the car finance company until you get this worked out. It really sounds like they want you to contact the attorney's office to get a release for the car in exchange for the payment of the judgement.

[woeisme]

Are you sure it was an officer of the court, and not a scam where someone just had you help them steal your own car? Because this all sounds very weird, how can they get a judgement that lets them seize an asset that belongs to the bank at this point, not you? How could they legally take posession of something with a court order written BEFORE you even had possession of the car??? Something sounds really fishy to me. You might need to call the police, they may have illegally stolen your (the bank's) car.

[StartingOver08]

Are you sure it was an officer of the court, and not a scam where someone just had you help them steal your own car? Because this all sounds very weird, how can they get a judgement that lets them seize an asset that belongs to the bank at this point, not you? How could they legally take posession of something with a court order written BEFORE you even had possession of the car??? Something sounds really fishy to me. You might need to call the police, they may have illegally stolen your (the bank's) car.

WOW! Never thought of that. Woeisme is right. Call the police right away just in case.

[Dkomo888]

I’m pretty sure it was legit. The documents were all real and filled out correctly. The card for the deputy is a real number and a reverse number look-up goes to the government building. They also knew how long I had the car before I told them. I’ve got a receipt from the towing company and paperwork from the deputies.

The document reads that it authorizes deputies to seize all property they deem as meeting the court judgment. In addition to my car they took two of my mountain bikes as well (they also told me that the two mountain bikes are only worth about $25 a piece when in reality they are probably worth more then the $1800 by themselves). I’m really hoping that the lawyer for the people I owe will see that there is no way they will get what they owe from any kind of sale on the car. Then maybe they can release the car back to me so I can set-up a garnishment instead.

I never thought I’d say it but man a nice big garnishment would really hit the spot haha.

[AngelinaCatHub]

[treehugger1]

Pretty amazing! What state are you in? Here is what I would do. Look up your state's vehicle exemption amount. I would think that in the papers given to you by the deputies there might be a form for you to claim exemptions. If not, call the clerk of your local court and see if they have a standard form for claiming exemptions. The law enforcment agancy is really taking a risk here in my opinion. You need to file your exemption (In my state, this is $2150.00 equity in a vehicle.) You probably need to file the exemption with the court and the law enforcment office.

This creditor sounds as if they are out-of-line. I don't even think the sheriff can sell the car and meet your exemption. As already mentioned, they will have to auction the car and pay the lender to get the title. I could be crazy, but I doubt the lender is going to give up the title for anything other than the amount owed. In addition, the creditor who holds the judgment probably had to post a bond to cover the Sheriff's butt. It sounds as if someone spent a lot of money attempting to get nothing!

Again, if your state has an exemption for a particular amount of equity in a vehicle, you need to file for your exemption. What state are you in?

[PoorGrammyinBK7]

This sounds very, very weird.

[treehugger1]

Beyond weird. Here is another thing worth considering. When you purchased the car, the a title should have been applied for with the lender listed as lienholder. Since the car was recently purchased, it could be that the lender has not even submitted the paperwork for the vehicle. It might be in your interest to notify the lender of the situation. Then again, this might create new problems. Its one thing for a auto lender to repossess an automobile. It's quite another for a creditor to seize an asset that belongs to another lienholder.

[Dkomo888]

Well I spoke to the lawyer representing the lender today. They agreed that it wasn't in their best interest to keep the car so they released it back to me. They agreed to set up a payment plan or garnishment.

The only thing I owe now to get the car back is the court costs, which are at $832.

Almost half of what I owe in the judgment. Man that hurts.

[BigJohn]

Years ago, I got a judgement against this one person. I filled out the paper work and had his vehicle seized. The guy was able to get the vehicle back, without paying anything, and then skipped. I wihed I knew how he got the vehicle back.