Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Florida

Re: Car loan

Yes, you can refinance a car loan. Whether or not you get the refi is determined by the same underwriting procedure as getting any other kind of car loan. It depends on your credit, income, loan to value, etc. So, the it is completely within the bank's discretion (barring illegal discrimination and such) as to whether to make the loan. Generally speaking, most lenders will not refinance car loans that they currently hold, so you likely won't be able to get a refi from the bank that is currently carrying the loan.

You should be cautious about refinancing though. Remember that cars depreciate, so refinancing for a long period of time will increase your overall interest paid and will likely leave you in a very bad equity position in the car for a long time to come. As a general rule, the longer you finance your car, the more interest you will pay overall. That rate may look lower, and your monthly payment may look lower, but the overall money you will spend to buy the car will be a lot more. Be sure to run your own amortization (you can use Excel to do this) to see just how much this will cost you in the long run.

We will be adding some materials on family budgeting to our website next week, so you may want to check out www.LaBellaLaw.com late next week.

Re: Car loan

It's up to the bank as to whether they will refinance, and yes, they can put the refinance on your credit.