Keep Your Car: How You Can Stop the Repo Man

When times get tough, you may be hard-pressed to make mortgage or car payments. In Northern Kentucky, creditors don’t have to give you any written notice of their intent to repossess your car. They don’t even have to notify you that you are late on payments. There is no set number of months that you have to be behind on payments before they can try to repossess the vehicle. In Northern Kentucky, the average number of days a car owner is late prior to repossession of the vehicle tends to be sixty-nine, but that is not a law. Many creditors, especially buy-here, pay-here lots, tend to attempt repossession immediately after the first payment is missed. In fact, many creditors make their living by repossessing a vehicle as soon as possible, then selling the vehicle to a new person, over and over again.

Contact Your Creditor

First, be pro-active. If you call your creditor ahead of time and explain the situation, some of them will allow you a payment modification plan so you can catch up a missed payment or avoid getting behind altogether. This is especially true if you have good credit or a good payment history with that creditor. Another benefit of asking ahead of time is that you can gauge a creditor’s attitude before they have an opportunity to repossess. They can’t repossess if you haven’t missed a payment yet, but you can force them to tip their hand as to whether they would rather work out a payment plan, or rather repossess and re-sell your vehicle. Be aware that the creditor will want to know the reason you are late. If it is a one-time issue, they will be more likely to hold off on repossessing your vehicle than if you have a more long term issue, such as loss of a job.

Some Temporary Tips To Slow Down a Car Repossession 

If the creditor has already called the repo man, you can still buy time to catch up payments on the car. First, make sure your car is parked inside a garage somewhere. In Northern Kentucky, the repo man is not allowed to illegally enter a building to legally repossess a car. Second, if you have to drive your car and park it outdoors (such as at work), then don’t park it in the lot where you would normally park. Park it down the street and walk a bit. If the repo man can’t find the car, he can’t repossess it. Finally, park with your license plate facing the wall. In Northern Kentucky, cars aren’t required to have front license plates, and this means the front of your car is more anonymous than the back of the car. All of these steps are very temporary fixes. Eventually the creditor will file papers in court to force you to turn over the car, and violating a court order to turn the vehicle over will result in accusations of theft.

Bankruptcy Will Protect Your Vehicle

A Northern Kentucky bankruptcy lawyer can help you file a bankruptcy to protect the vehicle and other property. You can keep your car in a bankruptcy, even if you are behind on payments. Northern Kentucky bankruptcy attorneys can create of new payment plan with a creditor that they are forced to accept. The main benefit of bankruptcy, moreso than any other option, is that your car lender will no longer dictate the terms of payment. Instead, you will. Filing bankruptcy is often vilified by creditors, because in a bankruptcy you take the reins of your financial future and get a fresh start.

Lawrence & Associates Accident and Injury Lawyers, LLC can help you which option to take to stop the possibility of repossession today!

Contact Us (859.371.5997) for a Free Consultation