Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

Re: vehicle debt

No. They did away with debtor's prison a long time ago. It sounds like the collection agency is threatening you with criminal action. It is illegal for them to do so. Nevertheless, you might want to clean out your stuff from the car because they have a right to repossess it if you fall behind in your payments upon appropriate notice (although they sometimes do so without notice and say they gave notice).