Take repossession or a charge off?

[Anonymous]

Hi, I am not going to be able to make a payment before any of this goes down. My car company said my car is scheduled to be picked up but if i can hold it 3 more days it will be charged off. Which is best? I know both will look bad on credit for 7+ years. i would like to call them back asap and tell them what to do in the next hour. I appretciate your good advice.

[Anonymous]

Not sure but doesn't a charge off mean you keep the car and owe the full balance due on the loan.

The repo means you will owe the difference between what they can sell it for and what you owe + recovery fees.

If you are not upside down the repo means you will owe less.  

If you are upside the repo means you would owe the full loan + recovery fees

I would think  the one where you owe less is better for your credit but again it may be an insignifcant difference if you are upside down.

Not sure may depend on state and lender but you may have an opportunity to reclaim your car if you can pay in full which obviously is not the case, but sometimes you can reclaim it and reinstate the loan and work out a new payment plan at least according to the internet.

Hard to know for sure without all of the details but I would consider filing for bankruptcy as quickly as possible as once it's filed there is an automatic stay and they cannot repo the car.  It may be written off before that happens then I'm not sure but think you would have the car and not owe anything but that really sounds too good to be true.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Bouncing back from bankruptcy is not that hard and you may benefit from walking away from other debt, starting clean and rebuilding.

[Anonymous]

I read somewhere that a repo adds a "repo" and a "charge off" on your credit and they can still sue for the money.

I wont be able to make a payment before they sell the car if they repo it.

they said that if it is charged off they cannot negotiate on the loan in the future.

the total of whats owed is 13k and it might get 3-5k at auction. yes, i know.. no need to comment on that.

I have about 2 days before they take action, im not sure that is enough time for bankrupcy, is it? i was hoping to start work by time this all happened, ill actually be making great money here soon but not until after this goes down and wasnted to buy a home next year. oh well.

thank you for the kind words about bankrupcy and for responding with advice. this would be the only thing on there if i did one, not sure which would look worse, bankrupcy or the charge off. i hear charge offs can possibly be removed with some professional agencies help. but im not sure if there is any truth to that.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Not sure but doesn't a charge off mean you keep the car and owe the full balance due on the loan.

The repo means you will owe the difference between what they can sell it for and what you owe + recovery fees.

If you are not upside down the repo means you will owe less.  

If you are upside the repo means you would owe the full loan + recovery fees

I would think  the one where you owe less is better for your credit but again it may be an insignifcant difference if you are upside down.

Not sure may depend on state and lender but you may have an opportunity to reclaim your car if you can pay in full which obviously is not the case, but sometimes you can reclaim it and reinstate the loan and work out a new payment plan at least according to the internet.

Hard to know for sure without all of the details but I would consider filing for bankruptcy as quickly as possible as once it's filed there is an automatic stay and they cannot repo the car.  It may be written off before that happens then I'm not sure but think you would have the car and not owe anything but that really sounds too good to be true.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Bouncing back from bankruptcy is not that hard and you may benefit from walking away from other debt, starting clean and rebuilding.

---

I read somewhere that a repo adds a "repo" and a "charge off" on your credit and they can still sue for the money.

I wont be able to make a payment before they sell the car if they repo it.

they said that if it is charged off they cannot negotiate on the loan in the future.

the total of whats owed is 13k and it might get 3-5k at auction. yes, i know.. no need to comment on that.

I have about 2 days before they take action, im not sure that is enough time for bankrupcy, is it? i was hoping to start work by time this all happened, ill actually be making great money here soon but not until after this goes down and wasnted to buy a home next year. oh well.

thank you for the kind words about bankrupcy and for responding with advice. this would be the only thing on there if i did one, not sure which would look worse, bankrupcy or the charge off. i hear charge offs can possibly be removed with some professional agencies help. but im not sure if there is any truth to that.

[Anonymous]

From experience I had a motorcycle with the same thing happen and it was a CO but I got to keep the bike. Eventually I settled for less with NFCU and they released the title. Im not proud of it, but I was able to get rid of it once I settled and made that money back I had to come up with to settle.