Do You Need a Lawyer if your Car Gets Repossessed?
A car repossession can be one of the most taxing things you have to deal with. It’s an inconvenience to go around without your car, not to mention, there’s hefty fees you have to pay in order to get it back.
In addition, you may need to hire the services of an attorney to make the repossession process easier. In this article, we’ll take a look at the special circumstances where you may need to hire a lawyer. Yes, it is an added expense on your wallet but in certain cases, a lawyer’s help can make all the difference in you winning your car back
Situations Where You Need to Hire a Lawyer
1. Your Car Got Repossessed Wrongfully
If you’ve made payments on time but your car got repossessed, you can sue the creditor. Let’s say you’ve been late in making payments the last few months, and the creditor takes your car anyway. You can still bring it up to court especially if the creditor accepted the late payments.
You should check your loan contract and see what constitutes as a default. Sometimes, it’s more than just being late on your payments. It could be that you relocated and took the car with you or you’ve been failing to make payments on your car insurance.
Whatever the case may be, check these terms with your lawyer and see who was in fault. You have a greater chance of getting your car back if the creditor broke one of the terms.
2. You’re in the Military
There is a law stating that if you’re on active military duty, lenders need to get a court order before they can repossess your car. Even if you signed the loan or paid the deposit before you went on active duty, you are entitled to this right. Talk to your lawyer about this and they’ll be able to tell you extensively how to address this in the suit.
3. You Don’t Want to Pay the Deficiency
At this point, your car would have already been sold at the auction which means you won’t be able to retrieve it anymore. The nightmare doesn’t end there as you might still need to pay the difference. This happens if the car was sold at an amount less than what you still owe.
Let’s say you still owe $10,000 on the loan but the car was sold for only $5,000. The remaining $5000 is what you call a deficiency and your creditor can ask this from you with the help of collection agencies.
A lawyer can help you avoid paying the deficiency or at least lower the amount. There’s certain situations where you are not obligated to pay such amount such as if the deficiency is less than a few thousands dollars or if there was a breach of peace. It’s important that your lawyer fully investigate the situation so they can come up with the best defense for why you don’t need to pay the deficiency.
These are the situations where you don’t need to hire a lawyer:
- If you have no plans of getting the car back, you don’t need to get a lawyer. This is often the best solution if you yourself know that you can’t afford to continue making payments on the car.
- If you do have the funds to pay back the loan and retrieve the car, then you definitely don’t need the assistance of a lawyer.
Even if you think you don’t need to hire a lawyer, it’s best to consult with one anyway so you know what your basic rights and options are. They might just be able to come up with a good defense and possibly help lower your payment dues.
Hopefully, this guide has helped you come up with the decision whether or not to hire a lawyer. We’d like to hear your stories. How has hiring or not hiring a lawyer helped your case? Share your thoughts in the comments below!