Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Missouri

In 2006 I was 21 years old. I had no car of my own and had never bought one before. I was living with a friend who had 4 children. She had a car but it had broken down and it was also not big enough for all of us to fit safely. There was a "push, pull, or drag it in" sale going on at a local used car lot. I went with my friend, she traded in her car and got a van. I thought she just needed my help to get it, so I signed the papers. Shortly after that I moved out. When I went back to visit I found out that my friend had moved to Oklahoma in the middle of the night. I received a phone call shortly after that from the used car place stating that the payments were not being made. I told them that she had moved to Oklahoma and to try to call her mother who lived there. I never really heard back from anyone. I did get one other call saying that they were going to reposses the van and sell it at an auction and what was left owed after that would need to be paid, but again never heard anything back. I recieved a letter in June of 2009 but I thought it was just a collection letter. The amount still owed was $5,106.28 plus interest, totalling $6,6681.21. I was a full time college student at that time and I didn't have that kind of money. I didn't know what to do because I had lost contact with my friend until I heard about her death in Jan. of 2009. I kept the letter but figured it would go to collections and be against me on my credit. I think I did receive one other letter before that, but nothing else and no phone calls. Well on Monday 3/22/10 I was served court papers for AC Breach of Contract. I am not sure what I should do or if there is anyway I can make payments or something to try to resolve it. I am still a full time student and only work part time and recently have been having a lot of health problems that have kept me from working. The total now is $5,106.28 plus $1,696.08 in interest, plus $765.94 in attorney fees. I looked the VIN number up online to see if I could find the van. I got a CarFax report that said the van was bought in 2007 in Arkansas but was repossesed. It did show the purchase and registration in Missouri in 2006 and the registration in Oklahoma in 2007.


Asked on 3/25/10, 10:03 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael R. Nack Michael R. Nack, Attorney at Law

If you are able to hire an attorney to represent you in the pending lawsuit, then you should do so. The attorney should be able to negotiate a settlement that will save you more money than the attorney costs you, and also make arrangements for payment over time if you need to do that. Finally, the attorney could look into whether or not the repossession was conducted legally and advise you as to your options regarding such issues. Good luck.

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Answered on 3/30/10, 5:00 pm


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