Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California
auto repossession
My question is this... how many days past due must a car payment be in order to repossess? The reason I ask this is because due to a wage garnishment (a prior eviction due to my spouse being out of work) I am barely making it. I was check to check before the garnishment. I have never been more than 26 days late on my car payment. I tried to work out payment arrangements telling them my situation. They told me that they don't do payment arrangements,obviously I couln't afford the car,I should give it back to them and never should have gotten the car in the 1st place. The one time my payment was 26 days late (I've been late a lot but usually within 10 days of the due date and always include their $15 late fee) they told me they were sending out a repo company that night if they did not get their money. They also told me that if I was late by one day ever again they would repossess it and refuse payment. I'm trying the best I can, the garnishment will end in 2 months. Can they repossess it for being a day late? They also constantly call my job even though I have asked them verbally and with a letter to contact me only at home or on my message phone, How can I stop this? I am not allowed personal ph calls at work. Thankyou
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: auto repossession
Unless the written finance agreement between you and the bank/finance company provides otherwise (and it likely does not), your lender can issue a repossession order as soon as you are late on your payment. Most lenders do not do this for several reasons, not the least of which it's not good for business; but it's also expensive to start the repossession process - and most likely, you are the one who will pay the repo charges if you want to redeem your vehicle.
If your lender is this aggressive, then most likely, something about your your payment history or credit history has given the lender reason to be so quick on the draw. In light of this, your best bet is to be on time. You could try refinancing the loan, but I imagine that you are not a candidate for that.
You probably should have sought a lesser wage garnishment amount; but the time for that is undoubtedly past. Nevertheless, you could call the creditor which issued the wage levy and find out if they will be willing to spread out the amount of the deduction.
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