Auto Repo - cosigned like an idiot!!

[Anonymous]

Hey Everyone!

I cosigned an auto loan for a family member..yeah now i know...after several years of late payments and taking hits to my credit report (8) 30-day lates, (1) 90-day late...the car was repossessed a month ago...My other accounts are in good shape, though I'm carrying a high balance on my visa, the history is good..I also have student loans that are all current...

What is the real implication of this repo? My credit report is showing a charge off debt amount of $21k..ouch!! Are they going to come after me to get that money? or will they sell it themselves? How long will it stay on?

I have never had a repo and just looking for any help to offset the repo.

My score has been as high as 645 but now is a 556-571.

Any help, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[llecs]

Sorry that happened.

The car, if not already, would be auctioned off at a lower price. They will then reduce the amount owed by the amount they sold the car and both of you would have to pay the difference. The lender would mark the TL as a repo and and eventually a "charge-off" if unpaid. Score-wise, your FICO might dip a little further once the "repo" remark appears, but I don't believe it would dip too much further if the 90-day is already showing. If it remains unpaid, they can continue to mark lates each month, and add interest, but eventually that'll stop if sold to a CA or paid off. If it remains unpaid, the lender or the CA (if they own the debt) can sue for the difference.

The debt will remain on your CRs for about 7 to 7.5 yrs from DOFD, or the month it first went late and never recovered. Assuming the 90 led to the repo and if it happened last month, then I bet your DOFD would be around 11/2009. It'll likely fall off by 11/2016. If you can, I would send a PFD to the lender. Make sure you had the $$$ to PIF first, but if they agree, and if you pay, then they'll remove it from your CRs. If you can't PIF, then rapidly save up the $$$ to do so if you had to to prevent a judgment from either the lender or any future CA. Remember, once you have the $$$ saved up, you can always offer a settlement for a lower amount.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for responding! At this point, I guess it's best to wait and see what the car gets sold for and go from there....you have provided with some really great information and I definitely will pursue those options...Do you have any idea on how long the selling process is? How quickly will they sell the vehicle?

[llecs]

It varies based on state I'm sure. Most, if not all, require the lender to supply a notice of intent to sell within days of the repo with an actual notice of how much the car was auctioned for. However, they may have sent the notice to the other party if they are the ones paying the bill, communicating with them, etc. Usually the sale would happen inside of a few weeks, I'm guessing. I went through a repo years ago in VA and the bums took the car after being late for 30 days. They took the car pretty quickly (inside a week) to an auction house. I finally received notice that I could redeem it and paid the prior month, the current month, and some fees and got the car back. Some states require a chance to redeem it and some don't. And yet others give you a chance to PIF first before the car is auctioned. But if I didn't redeem it, I think there was a chance for the car to be auctioned within 3-4 weeks of the repo.