When will your car be repossessed?

Answer 1

It can be reposesed the moment you miss any payment... even if only a day or two late. In practice, debtors look to your overall payment and credit history and to whether or not you have been creditworthy with them so far, and they usually resort to letter and phone calls to elecit the owed monies. In point of fact, thay would much rather have your payment than the car itself. However, if you have a bad credit history and a bad payment history, they are well within their rights under your finance agreement to pick up the car at their earliest convenience. If your missed payment is due on the 15th, they "could" pick up your car on the 16th. Again, and in practice even with the poorest payment history or credit history, they usually give a few days "grace" period to allow a tardy payment to show up in the mails or to allow a late payment to be hand delivered. But they do not have to. Your late payment breaches your contract and they are well within their rights to repo right away.

AnswerConsumer Rights in Auto Repossessions

Before a lender can repossess your car you must have used your car as collateral for the loan and you must have defaulted on your contract with the lender. Usually, when you borrow money to buy a car, you have to use the car as collateral. If you do so and get behind on your payments, your contract will say that you have defaulted and your car may be repossessed. Although your contract with the lender governs the default and the repossession, you still have certain rights under state and federal law.

First, read your contract carefully, especially the part that talks about default. Usually, default is defined as the failure to make a payment when it is due, but many contracts also say that other things may be a default. The most common of these things are: taking the car out of state permanently without permission from the lender, or failing to keep insurance on the car, or damaging the car so that its value is reduced.

Before the contract can be declared in default for not making your payment on time, you must be at least ten days late and the lender must send you a "Notice of Right to Cure" the default. This Notice gives you 20 days to catch up your payments.

If you do bring the payments up to date, the default has been cured, and you can continue making regular monthly payments. You only have the right to get one "Notice of Right to Cure" for the entire term of the contract. So, if you get behind in payments again, the lender does not have to send you another "Notice of Right to Cure." If you do not bring your payments up to date after you have received the "Notice of Right to Cure," the lender can repossess your car. The lender can repossess the car in either of two ways: by using self-help or by filing a Claim and Delivery lawsuit. If the contract says that the lender can use self-help to repossess the car, he can tow your car from your driveway, the street or your place of work. The law allows the lender to use self-help in repossessing your car, but the law does require that the self-help be peaceful. If you see someone from the lender hooking up your car to tow it away, you can tell the repossession people to stop. When you tell them to stop, any further attempt to tow the car is not peaceful. If the repossession continues, the repossession people risk liability for wrongful repossession.

Besides self-help, the lender can bring a claim and delivery lawsuit to repossess your car. Usually, the lender cannot repossess your car under a claim and delivery lawsuit until the papers are served on you. Also, you usually have a right to a hearing in court before your car is repossessed. However, if the lender has a good reason to believe that you may destroy or hide the car, he can get the judge to allow immediate repossession whether the papers have been served or not.

If your car has already been repossessed, the lender must send you a notice of your Right to Redeem the car and a notice of what the lender intends to do with your car. Both notices usually are included in one letter. Although you have a right to redeem your car from the lender, he can require that you pay off the entire balance of the loan, plus any costs for repossessing your car. Usually you only have about ten days to two weeks to arrange to pay off the car. If you cannot do this, the lender can sell the car and apply the money to your loan.

In the notice of what the lender intends to do with your car, the lender tells you that the car will be sold at private or public sale or that the car will be kept as full payment of the loan. If you have paid 60% of the original loan amount, you have a right to make the lender sell the car within 90 days of the repossession. This is important when you have nearly paid off the car before the repossession because if the lender sells the car, he must use the money received to pay costs of the sale and to pay off the loan. Anything left over must be paid to you.

If your car has been repossessed when the loan is still rather new, sale of the repossessed car may not bring enough money to pay off the loan. The money that is still owed on the contract is called a deficiency balance. A lender can sue you for the amount of the deficiency balance. If the lender sues you for a deficiency balance, he may also be able to require you to pay attorney's fees, repossession costs, repair or clean-up costs, and court costs. If the lender gets a judgment against you for the deficiency balance, the judgment will appear on your credit to pay off the deficiency judgment.

If a claim and deliver or a deficiency action is brought against you, you may be able to raise certain defenses. These defenses include the failure of the lender to give you one of the required Notices, the failure of the lender to sell the car in a commercially reasonable manner, or even a breach of warranty by the manufacturer or seller in some cases. If you do not have one of these defenses, you may still be able to file bankruptcy and keep your car until the bankruptcy court says otherwise. Even if you file bankruptcy, in order to keep the car, you must pay for it.

Also if you pay every payment and you get to your last payment and you don't pay it then they can reposess it

Answer 2

As soon as you are one day late on one payment you have defaulted on your loan agreement. When you default on a loan agreement the lender can repossess the vehicle. But in reality they will repossess the vehicle according to what is written in the agreement you signed. Read the loan agreement. When you finance or lease a vehicle, your creditor holds important rights on the vehicle until you've made the last loan payment or fully paid off your lease obligation. These rights are established by the signed contract and by state law. If your payments are late or you default on your contract in any way, your creditor may have the right to repossess your car. Talking with Your Creditor

It is easier to try to prevent a vehicle repossession from taking place than to dispute it afterward. Contact your creditor when you realize you'll be late with a payment. Many creditors will work with you if they believe you'll be able to pay soon, even if slightly late. Sometimes you may be able to negotiate a delay in your payment or a revised schedule of payments. If you reach an agreement to modify your original contract, get it in writing to avoid questions later. Still, your creditor may refuse to accept late payments or make other changes in your contract and may demand that you return the car. By voluntarily agreeing to a repossession, you may reduce your creditor's expenses, which you would be responsible for paying. Remember that even if you return the car voluntarily, you're responsible for paying any deficiency on your credit or lease contract, and your creditor still may report the late payments and/or repossession on your credit report. Seizing the Car

In many states, your creditor has legal authority to seize your vehicle as soon as you default on your loan or lease. Because state laws differ, read your contract to find out what constitutes a "default." In most states, failing to make a payment on time or to meet your other contractual responsibilities are considered defaults. In some states, creditors are allowed on your property to seize your car without letting you know in advance. But creditors aren't usually allowed to "breach the peace" in connection with repossession. In some states, removing your car from a closed garage without your permission may constitute a breach of the peace. Creditors who breach the peace in seizing your car may have to pay you if they harm you or your property. A creditor usually can't keep or sell any personal property found inside. State laws also may require your creditor to use reasonable care to prevent others from removing your property from the repossessed car. If you find that your creditor can't account for articles left in your car, talk to an attorney about whether your state offers a right to compensation. Selling the Car

Once your creditor has repossessed your car, they may decide to sell it in either a public or private sale. In some states, your creditor must let you know what will happen to the car. For example, if a creditor chooses to sell the car at public auction, state law may require that the creditor tells you the date of the sale so that you can attend and participate in the bidding. If the vehicle is to be sold privately, you may have a right to know the date it will be sold. In either of these circumstances, you may be entitled to buy back the vehicle by paying the full amount you owe, plus any expenses connected with its repossession (such as storage and preparation for sale). In some states, the law allows you to reinstate your contract by paying the amount you owe, as well as repossession and related expenses (such as attorney fees). If you reclaim your car, you must make your payments on time and meet the terms of your reinstated or renegotiated contract to avoid another repossession. The creditor must sell a repossessed car in a "commercially reasonable manner" - according to standard custom in a particular business or an established market. The sale price might not be the highest possible price - or even what you may consider a good price. But a sale price far below fair market value may indicate that the sale was not commercially reasonable. Paying the Deficiency

A deficiency is any amount you still owe on your contract after your creditor sells the vehicle and applies the amount received to your unpaid obligation. For example, if you owe $2,500 on the car and your creditor sells the car for $1,500, the deficiency is $1,000 plus any other fees you owe under the contract, such as those related to the repossession and early termination of your lease or early payoff of your financing. In most states, a creditor who has followed the proper procedures for repossession and sale is allowed to sue you for a deficiency judgment to collect the remaining amount owed on your credit or lease contract. Depending on your state's law and other factors, if you are sued for a deficiency judgment, you should be notified of the date of the court hearing. This may be your only opportunity to present any legal defense. If your creditor breached the peace when seizing the vehicle or failed to sell the car in a commercially reasonable manner, you may have a legal defense against a deficiency judgment. An attorney will be able to tell you whether you have grounds to contest a deficiency judgment. Remember this repossession will stay on your credit for 7 years.

Answer 3

About two months after one stops paying for the vehicle.