How and when could your vehicle be repossessed?
How and when could your vehicle be repossessed?
And how to get it back once debt buyers get ahold of it
Have you ever missed a payment on your car note? While your vehicle could be repossessed as soon as you miss a payment, it probably won’t happen right away. If you miss a couple of payments, then you will be in breach of the underlying promissory note, which grants security or collateral interest in the vehicle.
At this point, the finance company will be allowed to legally repossess your vehicle. The lien that appears on the title of the vehicle gives the finance company a property interest in the vehicle and is governed by Illinois law.
Repossession, which refers to any way in which the lienholder* gets the vehicle back in its possession, usually makes people think of the classic example of a tow truck removing a vehicle from a driveway.
Recommended Read: “How I Can Help You With Auto Repossession”
This isn’t always the response. Some people will turn over their vehicle to the dealership once they realize they can no longer afford the payments (or realize the car is junk and not worth fixing), and the dealership will turn over the vehicle to the finance company.
Most debtors think that if they voluntarily give back the car to the dealer and the dealer says, “Don’t worry about it,” their problems with the car are over. The truth of the matter is that the debtor will still owe money on the note and will be obligated to pay back any amount that is still owed on the promissory note after the vehicle will have been sold at auction.