Legal Question in Consumer Law in North Carolina

I bought a car in 2005 from the nissan dealership. I paid on the care for the next 4 years. The car was not paid off at the time; however, it shows on my credit report as being paid for through nissan. Last Friday (January 18, 2013) my car was towed. I have had the same address for the past 3 years and no one ever came to get the vehicle. Now another business is claiming to have bought the lean in December of last year and had the car towed. I have gotten my registration, paid my car taxes, and carried insurance on my vehicle every year and no one had come to take it until now. Again my credit shows the care is paid off through Nissan. So my question is after all these years can they still legally just take the vehicle? What can I do?


Asked on 1/22/13, 12:55 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kenneth Love Ken Love Law

Unfortunately, the credit report is not conclusive evidence. It can be persuassive, but is not conclusive by itself. You said that your credit report showed the loan as paid off but that you knew it was not paid off...and it seems at some point stopped paying. Unfortunately, if you knew the car was not paid off...as a lawyer I could never encourage or advise you to go to Court and lie and say it was paid off....unless you truly believed it was.

If the vehicle was not paid off the lien still survives and they do have the right to reposses. Now, the new company will need to prove that they have the right to repossess. If the lien is not listed in their name, they will have a difficult time proving this. See a lawyer for assistance.

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Answered on 1/22/13, 1:07 pm


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