Are you behind on car payments? Is a car repossession looming in your future? Now’s the time to act.
Car repossession is one of the many reasons people contact the Indiana bankruptcy attorneys here at Sawin & Shea. Losing your car can completely disrupt your life and work, so you may wonder what you can possibly do to prevent it.
Here’s some good news: You don’t have to just give up and allow your car to be repossessed. You may still have the option of keeping your car through bankruptcy. Let’s look at what you can do to prevent losing your car.
Bankruptcy Offers a Way to Keep Your Vehicle
Chapter 13 bankruptcy, also known as a reorganization bankruptcy, stops a car repossession in its tracks using something known as the automatic stay. It halts collection efforts and gives you the opportunity to reorganize your debts, including vehicle payments, preventing the loan company from taking your car.
During your Chapter 13 bankruptcy, unsecured creditors are forced to take payments in only the amount the law says you can afford or have to pay. You stay under the court’s protection, which continues to stop collection efforts until the end of your bankruptcy.
If the car loan company keeps contacting you or repossesses your car during your bankruptcy plan, they could be breaking the law. At Sawin & Shea, we help our clients put the law to work for them by holding creditors responsible for bankruptcy law violations and creditor harassment.
With the help of a bankruptcy attorney, you can pursue options like demanding compensation for harassment, modifying the terms of your car loan, reducing your interest rate, and perhaps paying only what the vehicle is worth without all the penalty payments piled on top. These benefits come as a huge relief for people who are deeply in debt.
Recent Supreme Court Decision Means Timing Matters
Until recently, there was still a bit of wiggle room with the timing of getting a repossessed car back immediately. It meant you could have your car repossessed, file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, and have your car back in your possession fairly quickly.
However, a recent Supreme Court decision means it’s now very important to file your bankruptcy case prior to your car being repossessed. It’s more difficult now, but still possible, to get your car back if it is repossessed before you file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
While it’s still possible to regain possession of a repossessed car, now it will require a court hearing and a bankruptcy judge’s ruling. During that time, you may be without a car. In this situation, there’s not much you or your lawyer can do about it until the bankruptcy court grinds along in their process.
Filing for Bankruptcy ASAP
As you can see, it’s more important than ever to contact a bankruptcy attorney immediately if you’re getting behind on car payments. Don’t let a car repossession happen without talking to an attorney first. The earlier you contact us, the more time and options you have.
We can potentially help you file your bankruptcy case prior to repossession and prevent losing your car for even a moment. Talk to Sawin & Shea today for a free consultation that will get the process moving as quickly as possible.
Sawin & Shea—Indianapolis Bankruptcy Attorneys
Filing for bankruptcy is not the end. It’s the beginning of a new financial life for you. The Indiana bankruptcy attorneys at Sawin & Shea can help you get rid of overwhelming debt and advise you on life after bankruptcy. We are here for you during this life-changing process.
Please do not hesitate to call us today at (317) 759-1483 or send an email for a free consultation. We are ready to help.
Hello, my name is Andrew Sawin, and I am one of the attorneys at the Central Indiana law office of Sawin and Shea. One of the many reasons that people contact our office is when they are behind on car payments and a car repossession is pending. Losing a car can cause serious waves in your financial life. The good news is that we have ways of helping you out of this situation. Most often, in a situation where a client wants to keep a vehicle that they’re behind on, we look to a chapter 13 or reorganization bankruptcy.A chapter 13 can stop repossessions and get you back on track with car payments while reorganizing your other debts and forcing creditors to take what the law says you can afford to pay. This is all done under the court’s protection, so all collection efforts, including the repossession, have to stop. We can even modify terms of your car loan, including reducing interest rates and, in some cases, only paying what the vehicle is worth.
However, a recent Supreme Court decision now makes it important that we file a case prior to your car being repossessed. Until recently, if your car was repossessed, we could quickly file a chapter 13 bankruptcy and get it back immediately. Now, we can still get the vehicle back if repossessed, but doing so will require a court hearing, and the final decision on whether the car will be returned will be up to the bankruptcy judge. This will take time, time that you will be without a car. And while we are confident that, in most cases, we will be able to get the vehicle returned to you, the process will not be quick. And remember, the judge makes the final decision. If we file a case prior to repossession, we will not need to go through this process.If you were behind on car payments, contact the Central Indiana law office of Sawin and Shea right away. Time is of the essence. Thank you.
