Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Well . . . technically, you were required to list the Santander account in your bankruptcy. During the course of your bankruptcy, the creditor usually sends you or your attorney a Reaffirmation Agreement, which you sign, return to the creditor and they file it with the Court. After the 2005 BAPCPA changes to the Bankruptcy Code, you are now required to either Reaffirm a debt, Redeem the vehicle, or surrender the vehicle. You did none of the above, and under a relatively recent bankruptcy case, Santander could repossess the car EVEN IF YOU ARE CURRENT ON THE PAYMENTS... Having failed to properly list them in your bankruptcy, and reaffirm the debt is a big problem.

Can they refuse to report the debt on your credit report? Yes. Can they show it as charged off? Yes. Listing them or not - they are tangled up in your bankruptcy, and can only report the debt on your credit report as current if you reaffirm the debt.

I was going to suggest that you reopen your case and ask the Court to allow you to reffirm the loan. But, there are two problems with that. First, the timeframe in which you are allowed to reaffirm a secured loan has passed. Second, and more importantly, you will have to go into Court and admit that you intentionally (you cannot claim that you "forgot" to list your car loan which you have continued to pay) failed to include a secured creditor. That's going to put you in ill favor with the Court right off the bat. I don't believe that the Courts have been real kind to Debtors seeking to reopen cases to file reaffirmation agreements, and that's with scheduled, secured debts. In your case, I think you may want to be happy that they are letting you make payments, and keep the car. If you had an attorney - you need to go back to him or her to make this right. This was a monumental mistake. If you filed the case yourself without legal counsel, this is the cost of not getting proper legal advice before you filed.

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