Question

My husband had his car repoed. We got in the mail yesterday that we owe a collection agency 14k. We are in California and we were not given notice about his car being auctioned. We cant afford to pay this at all and I have no idea what to do. Is it possible to pay a portion of what we owe?  

Answer 1

They auctioned off the car. You owe the difference of the loan and what it was auctioned for

Answer 2

. What she said. And if you get a summons to court, go. My husband didn’t go and they froze our bank accounts etc and it’s gotten nasty. Not trying to scare you, but wanted you to be aware.  

Answer 3

You can try to negotiate, but with it being a new account, they will likely pursue through court. If the account is only in his name, he needs to handle it and all contact should come from him. If in his name, you need to take steps to put your check and assets in your own separate account. Otherwise if they get a judgement from court, they can go after any account or assets with his name on it: bank accounts, property, wage garnishments. If you are not in the loan, you need to make sure they don't have access to your income and assets so get them separate. This will allow you to have live should they do garnishments. If they take tax return (joint return), you can file an injured spouse claim stating debt was solely his and you will get some money back but it will be delayed. Gat your taxes filed asap before this happens. If you really do not have the means to pay, you can always seek advice from a bankruptcy attorney. A court judgement stays on your credit 7 years and a bankruptcy 7-10. I hope this helps.  

Answer 4

That’s how repossession works. Now you make payments on the collection instead of the car loan.  

Answer 5

Go to Legal Services today and see if they can advise you.  

Answer 6

You can negotiate a payoff, make sure to get documentation before you pay them though.  

Answer 7

My car got repoed a few years ago, I owed about 20000 they auctioned it and I still owed 10000 and they called me and offered a settlement offer of $2800

Comments

@randarandal Seymour thank you!  

Answer 8

I'm kind of in the same situation, but my finance company is calling me to negotiate with me to get my car back. I owe $16, 000 on the car still but they said that they would settle for $5, 000 to get my car back with title in hand. Do they usually do this?