Reaffirm Ally?

[Anonymous]

I've scoured through this forum looking for answers to questions about reaffirming. Seems the consensus is "DON'T DO IT", but some seem to have had a good experience reaffirming for credit and fear of repo reasons.

My loan through Ally is fairly new (July 2018). I owe roughly $35k on it, and the car is worth probably about the same. No equity, probably not underwater too much (just that initial "drive off the lot" decrease in value). I know there are a handful of lenders that seem to require it, and will repossess even if current on payments (looking at you, Ford).

I'm current on payments and have never been late. I've reached out to both of my lenders and asked to send reaffirmation papers. Those calls went easy, both provided me with their addresses to keep sending in payments since autopay gets turned off.

So, my questions:

1. Will Ally come get my car if I'm current and never had a late payment if I don't reaffirm?

2. Is the difference in credit for reaffirmed vs. "stay and pay" really that different?

3. Do you ever get the option of autopay back? Seems "yes" for reaffirmed, but I assume no for "stay and pay"? Sending out checks is going to suck monthly for 5-7 years.

3. Same questions for Travis Credit Union in CA if anyone knows?

Thank you!

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Background: Filed for BK7 on 11/16, 341 is 12/12. Wish me luck!

[Anonymous]

As far as the Travis CU goes, I owe about $15k on a car that's now worth roughly $15k ($162 of equity! yes!). Loan started around $32k, I believe. A 2014. The Ally was a brand new 2018.

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I re-affirmed with Ally because I had a lease with them and that was the only way to guarantee that they would not pick up my car. I had 9 months left and re-affirming allowed me to start off with a positive tradeline on my credit report. Most lenders don't credit report after filing so that was a positive with my experience. If your car is a straight finance with them and you are current I don't think its in your best interest to re-affirm your debt because they should not be able to take the car as long as you remain current. Re-affirming such a long term debt like that removes all the protections you get with filing. If the car breaks down 2 years from now or you find yourself in another financial bind you can just return the car with no penalty. Its really important to discuss your options with your attorney. During my re-affirmation hearing the judge declined to approve several re-affirmations applications because it wasn't the the debtors best interest. I dont believe you will ever get the online access and auto pay back if you don't re-affirm. You can always pay them through your credit union/banks bill pay. Good luck on your credit repair journey.

[Anonymous]

Don't let simple conveniences like automatic draft/ACH debits be a reason to reaffirm. As stated above, if automatic payments are important to you, use your bank's bill pay feature to automatically pay the auto loan bill without a reaffirmation. 

If you lose your job or become disabled ... or the car gets totaled ... or stolen ... and paying off the loan is not a viable option, you can simply ask the lender to pick up the vehicle if you don't reaffirm. If you DO reaffirm, on the other hand, and you're in the same situation, your credit may be negatively impacted by a deficiency balance and/or late payments if you're unable to pay off the loan, or pay it on time.