Refinance with Harley

[PlDe]

Will Harley Davidson finance a motorcycle loan after being burnt in a Chapter 7.   Just recently had Chapter 7 Discharged.  My score went from high 690's to 548.  Within last 2 months its back up to 649 Vantage and 647 FICO 8.   Just curious if I should apply with Harley for a new bike.

[JoeRockhead]

A friend of mine who is a long time Harley dealership GM told me that you shouldn't apply for a minimum of 1 year, they prefer 2 years post discharge, and if you burned them in the BK, it could be much longer before they'll lend to you again.

Applying too soon and you do get an approval, you'd also be looking at a large down payment (30% to 40%) as well as the upper end on an interest rate which he said currently goes up to a tick under the 30% mark for people they deem high risk.

[PlDe]

Thank you.  Appreciate the input.

[IsambardPrince]

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@PlDe wrote:

Will Harley Davidson finance a motorcycle loan after being burnt in a Chapter 7.   Just recently had Chapter 7 Discharged.  My score went from high 690's to 548.  Within last 2 months its back up to 649 Vantage and 647 FICO 8.   Just curious if I should apply with Harley for a new bike.

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What was wrong with the old one that you didn't just discharge it and keep making payments?

If you did that they would have no right to take it and they'd have had to give you the title when you paid it off, but couldn't damage your credit or call it a repo if you ever stopped paying. (Just take it back.)

I don't ever advise people to reaffirm a car or motorcycle loan, but to tell the court discharge, keep, and make payments. Unless you really want it to go away.

There's the option to let the bankruptcy strip all your obligations to pay anyone and keep your car or bike even though they can't sue you or damage your credit if something happens later, as long as you didn't reaffirm the loan.

It sounds like that ship sailed, I am just curious if something was actually wrong with the bike.

[prairierider]

Hey, I know this post is a old, but wondering if you're still active on here?

I have a loan through Harley Davidson Financial Services (Eagle Mark Bank) that I am upside down on. 

I am current on payments, never missed, the bike is clean+sound and I'd like to keep it when I decide to file bankruptcy.

Do you think it's likely that they won't come take the bike back if I decide to file, include the loan on the filing, but remain current on payments?

[Lurker22]

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@prairierider wrote:

Hey, I know this post is a old, but wondering if you're still active on here?

I have a loan through Harley Davidson Financial Services (Eagle Mark Bank) that I am upside down on. 

I am current on payments, never missed, the bike is clean+sound and I'd like to keep it when I decide to file bankruptcy.

Do you think it's likely that they won't come take the bike back if I decide to file, include the loan on the filing, but remain current on payments?

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NAL, Not the OP - but IMO I doubt it, the costs associated with even a voluntary repo are huge and they'd likely lose more than if there's a cram down in your case 

[prairierider]

Thanks for the reply.

I would filing chapter 7, so from my understanding a cram down is only with chapter 13?

My lawyer said it's likely they won't come take the bike back as long as I remain current on payments.

[pizzadude]

I think that makes sense -- as long as you're continuing to make payments there is no incentive for them to repo the bike

[AndrewF]

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@prairierider wrote:

Thanks for the reply.

I would filing chapter 7, so from my understanding a cram down is only with chapter 13?

My lawyer said it's likely they won't come take the bike back as long as I remain current on payments.

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They have no right to repossess the motorcycle if you are current on the payments. A loan for a vehicle is two things, your promise to pay, and an agreement that the vehicle is collateral that they can repossess if you don't.

If you are current on payments, they have no right to repossess, even if you do not reaffirm it in bankruptcy, but if you go late they will repossess it and cannot report it on your credit report as late payments or repo if you didn't reaffirm it because the bankruptcy discharged your promise to pay.

Even if they had the right to take it, why would they if you are current on payments? They almost never get a good deal for a vehicle when they auction it off, and since you filed bankruptcy, they can't force you to pay the deficiency balance, so they'll just take a huge loss in repo fees and getting a very low price at auction.

[prairierider]

Thank you for the reply!

So my lawyer said that while they technically if I don't sign a reaffirmation they can take the bike back if they want to, however like you pointed out she said it's highly unlikely as long as I remain current on payments. She said they would much rather have my money than have to go through the process of repoing the bike and auctioning it off.

I just love my Dyna so much and she's clean so I don't pull hate to lose her 😭😭😭. I've never missed a payment and will be done paying her off in about a year and a half once I can accelerate payments on the loan after I free up some disposable income from medical debt during bankruptcy.

Really the only reason I'm filing bankruptcy is because of medical debt. Sucks, but it is what it is.