Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Illinois
we voluntarily returned a car to the bank expecting them to sell it and come after us for the defficiency amount. Instead they recieved a judgement for the full amount and have not sold the car. They are now garnishing my wages for an amount higher than the car payment we couldn't afford. Can we demand the car back? Is this legal of the bank? Is this something the bank can be in trouble for? What do I do, bankruptcy is 1300 bucks and NOT what I want to do.
1 Answer from Attorneys
When you returned the car voluntarily what if any arrangements did you make with the bank? It sounds like none. It also sounds as though you either defaulted or put up no defense to a collection lawsuit and it went to judgment. You may have forfeited your legal rights to defend forever. And now you're not only paying the judgment but interest on the unpaid balance, continuing attorney fees and court costs to garnish you, and administrative fees your employer may be taking for itself as compensation for having to deal with this. Otherwise there are too few facts here to render any kind of sound opinion. Unless you want to hire a lawyer to help decide what options you may have, including some kind of insolvency option like bankruptcy, the best you might be able to do is go to the bank and see if you can work something out even at this late date.