As regular readers of our Philadelphia Consumer Protection Law Blog know, our goal is to share information that can help you protect yourself and your finances whenever possible. To that end, we are going to pass along some tips read recently for people who believe that their car might be repossessed.
Far too often, repossessions are carried out improperly, involving violations of the law, property rights or proper repossession processes. Clearly, it makes sense to try to avoid repossession entirely, which is the point of the advice from the folks at nerdwallet.com.
Their advice to people who have missed a payment on their car loan is to stay calm and act fast. Some lenders are using technology that enables them to remotely disable vehicles after a single missed payment, so time is not on your side.
The first thing to do is to figure out exactly how much you owe and how much you can pay to the lender. It is also important to know your options at this point, and perhaps most important to call the lender and discuss the situation with them.
In order to figure out how much you owe, look at your loan agreement, current balance, interest rate and what late fees might be assessed for missed payments.
Then take a look at how much cash you have on hand and how much you can pull together quickly. In that way, you will know if you can cover the missed payment completely or in part.
In some situations, a missed payment is a red flag that the loan is simply unaffordable for you at this time. You might well face repossession or the possibility that you will have to trade in the vehicle for one more affordable.
No matter the situation, call the lender and talk it over. Ask about your available options.
If your vehicle has been repossessed, it might be time to make a different call; this time to an attorney experienced in protecting consumers from repossesors acting improperly. You can call Bensley Law Offices, LLC for more information about how we can help.