In November of last year I voluntarily initated repossesion of a vehicle with a nearly $43,000 auto loan on it. Fast foward 7 months. To date the lender claims to still have possession of the vehicle and has not sold the vehicle. They suggested I could still recover the vehicle if I wanted to as it still has not went up for auction or sale yet. This was surrendered due to an inability to pay for this vehicle, and the burden it was causing on finances. I know that voluntary or not this will still hurt my credit once it does finally report as a reposession.
So my questions regarding this are as follows:
1. How long can the lender keep the vehicle for sale without selling it?
2. While the vehcile is held for sale can they add storage fees?
3. The vehicle value is depreciating every month, as such do I just lose this?
At this point being 7 months in it feels like a bad situation I was already trying to minimize is only being made worse by their inaction. I've reached out to them every 2 weeks, and to date they have no updates just that once sold they would send a statement of the final sale value and any fees that are deducted from that amount and what my remaining balance would be.
1. They can hold on to it for however long they want, they own it.
2. Yes.
3. Yes. It'll just continue to depreciate until they sell it.
@Brian_Earl_Spilner - Thanks so much for the reply. I guess my question is I was reading that the sale has to be considered commercially reasonable. If deemed not so appearently it can cause issues for them if action is brought from what I read a little bit ago while awaiting replies.
Could commercially reasonable be that no reasonable party should hold an asset for more than 6 months while it loses value when more than the asset is worth is already owed to them? All the while incurring further indebtedness onto myself and in leui them as well?
"In consumer transactions, however, the secured party must dispose of the goods within 90 days of repossession if 60% of the cash price has been paid in the case of a PMSI, or if 60% of the obligation has been paid in the case of a non-PMSI. U.C.C. ‘ 9-620(e)."
Does it fall under those qualifications? You also have to keep in mind the auctions have been shut down for the most part during covid. It could be the reason they're offering for you to take it back, they can't get it into an auction.
In most states, the bank must notify you, in writing, of the following matters within a short time, usually five days after it has repossessed the car but before it is sold or auctioned:
Notice of Default and Right of Redemption/Right of Reinstatement
The lender must provide you written notice of your right of redemption and/or right of reinstatement. It must tell you:
- the amount of the outstanding balance of the loan, including all fees and charges
- the deadline to redeem the loan
- the method by which you can redeem or payoff the loan to get the vehicle back, and
- if your state allows for the right of reinstatement, the amount necessary to bring the loan current and the steps you need to take to reinstate that loan.
- https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/required-notices-car-repossessions.html
So I spoke to the recovery team again this morning. They state the vehicle is being sold by the repossession agent. As of today no sale has been made. Yes I do meet some of the prongs of the test. At what point would I say it was excessive or isn't commercially reasonable. I'm going to pull sales of that year, make, and model to see if others have been sold or are being sold. I think then with that data and if it goes much longer it could be argued as not commercially reasonable.
I am trying to be understanding with Covid19 but my concern is that once it is sold it'll be another 30-60 days before final paperwork is issued it is looking like the repossession won't be done until maybe the end of the year. Meaning it will have taken a full year to sale a vehicle that is a newer model and in demand series.
Also question when should the lender report the repossession? At this point the vehicle was repossessed a long time ago. But instead of reporting as such the lender has halted all reporting at 60 days past due and has not reporting anything on the loan since November of last year.
Okay there is some trickery (not the word I want to use) going on here. So when I spoke to Ally on 06/10/2020 they stated the vehicle had not been sold. But then just got a letter today dated stating the vehicle was sold for exactly $24,000.00 on May 28th, 2020! So what is wrong with this? The KBB Fair Market sale price on this vehicle is $26,869 (max is $28,282). The dealership selling the vehicle had it listed at $26,987. So why was it sold for $3,000 below asking price and average market value. Pulled a report that shows the average sale value is $26,055.58 with the high being $28,339.58. This vehicle had 13,000 miles on it and had every warranty still including the 36,000 bumper to bumper on it with under 14,000 miles on it.
What further is so questionable is the dealership still shows the vehicle as avaliable for sale unless they purchased it at auction? But if it went up to auction, and I can find no other record of the their attempts to sale the vehicle besides this dealership listing what did they do with the vehicle for over 5 months? Plan to have my friend call to see if the vehicle is avaliable tomorrow. And if so, have the sales representative sent us the file. Why it would still be listed on the website as avaliable if sold on May 28th, 2020? The title still shows registered in SC not NC where it is currently avaliable for sale. They also do not state how the vehicle was sold, claim the balance used to calculate the deficiency is from 2 months after they the voluntary repossession process started, and worse claim the standing deficiency is $21,883.97!
Any thoughts or helpful advice would be greatly appreciated, I know I will owe them but this seems a little bit ridiculous and very suspicious that it is only $130 above what is considered below market value with no records of attempts to sale it besides this dealership listing.
So just got the Experian Auto Check Report for this vehicle, it states "05/19/2020 SOUTHEASTERN REGION 13,933 Auto Auction REPORTED AT AUTO AUCTION". We have a problem here, are they not required to notify of the date and time of the aforementioned auction? Also why can I not find any reference of this auction that can only be found on this report from the new dealership who appearently purchased the vehicle at auction or no prior attempts to commercially sale the vehicle?
I'm just trying to get some clarity on if I should talk to an attorney or what everyone's thoughts are because at this point I feel like I've been taken advantage of an the letter of the law was not followed in reference to notification before auction and the date and time of auction. Plus, if I can't find record of this supposed auction where did it take place? And why was it not advertised?
They are required to accept payment before sale. And any sale must deemed commerically reasonable. Which if this vehicle was less than a year old with almost full manufacturers warranty and they are selling on commercials lot without issue it makes me wonder why they held it for 5 months before auction. Also law requires they notify me of the auction they did not. Actually they have to tell you the place, date, and time of the auction.
The reason I'm persistent about the updated TL is because if they to report the repo until say they deem I can't pay. The repo would appear fresh where it is not. The vehicle was repod over 6 months ago already.
Hope that makes sense, and thanks as always for the help @Anonymous