Assets please help.

[charleenkay]

Hello I was just told by the collection agency that they were going to take me to court and also find out if i owned any land, property or cars. Well I don't own any of that but i do have a car that my dad is acutally the signer for the car i am just a co-signer. Will they be able to take that since it's not actually my car? Any comments are appreciated, Thanks!

[FoolAndHisMoney]

Hello I was just told by the collection agency that they were going to take me to court and also find out if i owned any land, property or cars. Well I don't own any of that but i do have a car that my dad is acutally the signer for the car i am just a co-signer. Will they be able to take that since it's not actually my car? Any comments are appreciated, Thanks!

Is it a credit card collection agency or the lien holder for the car? Only the lien holder can take your car. This also depends on the equity in the car and your states collection laws.

[charleenkay]

No it's not collecting for the car it is collecting for a credit card that i owe for. They are threatening me telling me they are going to look at my assets and my getting employment verification on me. The car is mine but my dad signed for it and i am just the co-signer on the car. I am just worried that my credit card problem will have some kind of affect on my dads car. Also if i ever considered bankruptcy would that even have anything to do with me co sign on this car with my dad? Thanks!!!!

[lrprn]

Hi charleenkay and welcome! My answers to your questions are below in red:

No it's not collecting for the car it is collecting for a credit card that i owe for. They are threatening me telling me they are going to look at my assets and my getting employment verification on me.

The collector who now owns your credit card debt is seeing if you have enough assets to take to court for a judgment. They are checking your employment to see if your wages can be garnished after getting a judgment in court.

The car is mine but my dad signed for it and i am just the co-signer on the car.

Since both of you signed the car loan, legally if one of you defaults on the car payments, the other one is still responsible for the debt and must make the payments instead - that's the creditor's protection having two persons responsible for the debt rather than just one of you. Who is making the car payments now - you or your dad?

I am just worried that my credit card problem will have some kind of affect on my dads car.

As long as your dad makes the payments on the car on time, even if your creditor takes you to court and wins a judgment against you for your credit card debt, the car can't be taken.

Also if i ever considered bankruptcy would that even have anything to do with me co sign on this car with my dad?

Declaring bankruptcy should be the very last resort. It has very long-lasting effects on your credit (7-10 years from the date of filing). However, if you do ever declare bk, it won't affect your dad as far as this car goes. He didn't file, you did. If you have other co-owned property however, then this answer could change.

Thanks!!!!

Hope this helps!

[no_it_all]

Why wouldn't a judgement allow a creditor to force the sale of an automobile (assuming there was equity beyond state exemptions) to satisfy the judgement? If the sale price pays off the existing lien holder and also the judgement, why couldn't there be a sheriff's sale?

Think 350K Porsche Carrera GT with 200K of equity in it and existing liens of 150K and a judgement of say, 45K looming. I am <pretty> sure that the sheriff could gobble that up for the creditor, even if the debtor was current with payments.

[SinkingFast]

No it's not collecting for the car it is collecting for a credit card that i owe for. They are threatening me telling me they are going to look at my assets and my getting employment verification on me. The car is mine but my dad signed for it and i am just the co-signer on the car. I am just worried that my credit card problem will have some kind of affect on my dads car. Also if i ever considered bankruptcy would that even have anything to do with me co sign on this car with my dad? Thanks!!!!

I think the real question here is,........... Who's name is the title to car in??

If it's your name, or even possibly joint, the Lender could force the sale of the car.

If the car is in Dad's name, then legally, the car is his and the Lender cannot touch it.

[Minnymouth]

yEP, depends on whose name is on the title.....

[GoingDown]

Why wouldn't a judgement allow a creditor to force the sale of an automobile (assuming there was equity beyond state exemptions) to satisfy the judgement? If the sale price pays off the existing lien holder and also the judgement, why couldn't there be a sheriff's sale?

Think 350K Porsche Carrera GT with 200K of equity in it and existing liens of 150K and a judgement of say, 45K looming. I am <pretty> sure that the sheriff could gobble that up for the creditor, even if the debtor was current with payments.

Although it is rare for debt collectors to go after a vehicle that already has a lienholder (the car loan company in this case), they actually could seize it and try to sell it at auction, hoping that they would get enough to pay off...

1st-- the lienholder (the car loan company)
2nd-- the debtor's exemption
3rd-- whatever is over and above those amounts goes to pay off the judgment plus the fees involved in seizing and auctioning the car.

In most cases, if the car was not an expensive car with a lot of equity (auction sale value of the car minus what is owed on it), it wouldn't be worth it to the creditor. I've heard that if they can't get enough money from auction bidders to pay off at least the lienholder, then the car has to be returned to the lienholder (the car loan company) since they are the ones who actually own it, and they will then try to return it to the debtor if the debtor is continuing to make payments to the car loan company. Otherwise, they auction it off themselves and come after the debtor for a deficiency balance.

I've also heard that sometimes the sheriff's constables are reasonable people and if they see that there is a large car loan on the car, and it is obvious that there isn't any equity in the vehicle above the exemption amount, then they won't bother seizing it. But alas, you can't always count on getting a reasonable sheriff.

[sisterfunkhaus]

I hear what you guys are saying, but ultimately, doesn't it all depend on what state he/she lives in? If cars are exempt or a large enough amount is exempt, then there are no worries. If there is no exemption or a small exemption, then it would depend on the value of the car. If it is a very modest car, there is little equity in it, and there is at least some exemption then they won't come after the car. Now if it's the Porche that someone mentioned before and isn't exempt, then there might be a problem.