Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Wisconsin

Yes, after filing bankruptcy, if you can pay the secured creditor the fair market value of the car in cash, there are provisions allowing the judge to declare the secured interest to be satisfied via an adversary lawsuit. Since litigating this is very expensive, however, you would be better off re-hiring your lawyer to attempt to negotiate with the secured creditor. I have had good luck resolving small lien issues such as title loans on lower value vehicles without undue expense, allowing the client to retain the vehicle. On the down side, if you ignore this lien, the stay in bankruptcy is lifted 45 days after you file your statement of intentions, allowing the creditor to seize the collateral under whatever options you authorized in the loan documents. Some WI loans now feature self-help replevin of vehicles without requiring the lender to go to court, so it becomes possibility for your car to just "disappear," although some demand correspondence is usually also required. Another option, of course, is to reaffirm the loan and resume installment payments, but that also reinstates the high interest rates (potentially 200% on title loans) as well as the right of the creditor to garnishee your wages. Please be aware that my responses to you in the public web forum do not make me your attorney and that I am not representing you or taking any action on your case. Instead, these answers are intended for public educational use only and may also contain lawyer advertising materials. Regardless of this, however, you are still welcome to contact me during business hours at my in Racine if you still have questions, or see me on the web at www.jayknixonlaw.com. For a list of my other answers on Law Guru, please see my profile link here at lawguru.com.