THEY ARE TELLING MY SISTER THAT THEY WILL REPO HER CAR ON MONDAY IF SHE DOESNT MAKE THE PAYMENT SHE WILL BE 15 DAYS LATE.
THEY ARE TELLING MY SISTER THAT THEY WILL REPO HER CAR ON MONDAY IF SHE DOESNT MAKE THE PAYMENT SHE WILL BE 15 DAYS LATE.
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DrDee is correct when she says it all depends on what it says in the contract.
She is wrong when she says returning the vehicle instead of letting them take it will help your Sister in the future. Auto finance is what I do for a living and believe me a repo is a repo is a repo.
Now, they can not even report her late until she is 30-days late so I think they are bluffing. Most major lenders do not start repossession proceedings until you are 90-days late.
But if it’s a small independent bank they can do whatever is in the terms and conditions of the contract.
Comment by SPIFIMAN1 — January 24, 2010 @ 2:20 pm
A bank can reposs a car if just one late payment.
Comment by Me I — January 24, 2010 @ 2:20 pm
It all boils down to the terms of the financing contract. She should have a copy of it, so tell her to check it. If it’s written into the contract that they can repossess the car if she’s even 5 days late— they can.
The most important thing she needs to do is COMMUNICATE WITH THEM. Nothing will incur a finance company’s or bank’s anger more than someone who ignores their calls, emails, letters, etc… She needs to call them and literally beg for mercy. In other words, ask them to work with her in order to avoid the repo. She might be surprised!
Believe it or not, they don’t want the car…. they want her to maintain the contract so they will earn all that fat interest in the long term. As long as she’s upfront and honest with them I can almost guarantee they’ll be willing to happily negotiate new terms for payment and cut her a break.
If all else fails and they are definitely going to repo— tell her to return the car to THEM– rather than having them go through the process of officially repo’ing it in the dead of night. The fact that she **willingly returned it** will go into the records of the case, and when she’s ready to buy another car– that will count in her favor, BIGTIME.
Tell her to call, apologize and give it one last try…. even if they’ve exchanged angry words in the past. At this point, she’s got nothing to lose.
Good Luck!
**EDIT** As another poster disputed a point I made RE: willingly returning the vehicle if the finance company is unwilling to work with her, I wanted to clarify: Of course, it would *not* have a positive impact on her credit — as he stated, "a repo is a repo"– true enough. However, every finance company, auto dealer and bank is different. My husband owns a finance company in Los Angeles, CA and I know for a fact that they *do* take into consideration the facts of each case when determining a borrower’s "credit-worthiness". I stand by my earlier statement that it *is* to her benefit to voluntarily surrender the vehicle asap rather than sit back and wait for the repo man. When your sister is ready to start over with another car, they should consider the facts– and it will work in her favor. If they don’t, she should find another lender.
Comment by DrDee — January 24, 2010 @ 2:20 pm
I would say that she is probably more than 15 days late. They can repo as soon as its late- however, they would rather have your payment with interest than the car back.
Comment by Beverly S — January 24, 2010 @ 2:20 pm