Protecting Your Rights When Threatened with Repossession

Strategies for Keeping Your Vehicle

Protecting Your Rights When Threatened with RepossessionAre you struggling financially because of an injury, a divorce or the loss of your job? Are you in arrears on the payments for your car or truck? Have you received notice that your vehicle is about to be repossessed? You have rights! Here are some steps to take to protect your interests.

The Requirement of a Court Order

As a general rule, your lender or their agent (a repo man) may not “breach the peace” without a court order. This means they cannot use or threaten physical force and that they cannot come into your home or garage to repossess without a court order. They may, however, repossess the car on the street in front of your house, or in any other public place, without a court order.

It’s also important to understand that, if your car is repossessed with personal items inside, or with the tags on the car, you will likely never see those items again. Accordingly, if you anticipate that your vehicle may be repossessed, and you must leave it in a public place, you should take care not to leave any valuables in it.

You may consider taking the tags off the vehicle and leaving it in front of your home, or in some public place. However, when you do, you will be considered to have abandoned the vehicle, and may be cited by police for violating the law. A better approach would be to put tags on the vehicle only when you drive it.

Another option, if you know that you won’t be able to bring the account current, and want to avoid the fear and hassle involved with an actual repossession, is to drive your vehicle to the Department of Motor Vehicles, remove the tags, and surrender them to the DMV. The DMV will give you a receipt when you turn in the tags. You can then contact the lender and advise them that the vehicle may be picked up at the DMV offices.

Contact Heath, TX Bankruptcy Attorney Carrie Weir

I offer a free initial consultation to all potential bankruptcy clients. Contact my office by e-mail or call me at 972-772-3083 for a private meeting. With offices in Rockwall, Texas, I represent clients in Heath, Greenville, Lavon, Wylie, Mesquite and Rowlett.

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