I have posted this problem before...my dad has a 93 saturn with 113000 miles on it. he wanted me to have the car when he passed, but beings it went through bankruptcy in 97, bank one says he now owes 15000 dollars on the car. The cars value is around 3000. someone suggested that i buy the car from them. they won't do that. another suggested that i let them re-po it they don't want it, and have told me so recently, a friend told me i should file a small claims suit for the car against them in court, and subponea the bank president to show up...only him, not someone else. If he does not show, i would win by default, and maybe he would look at it and figure that he can't collect off of someone who is no loger here, and the car is worthless to the bank and they have already written it off. any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated. by the way, bank one has made no move on the car in any way shape nor form since 1998. is there a statute somewhere that i can use? shawn
A few questions..... Where is the title? Was the car listed in the BK? Do you have a will passing it to you? Or how the estate was to be distributed? Was there a co-buyer? Shawn
bank has the title was included in the BK, but re-done i had power of attorney no co-buyer he may have a will somewhere, but i have not discovered it shawn
What do you mean by 're-done' ? It was included in the BK but re-aff'd? If so, I would think you are at the mercy of the financial institution. Hopefully someone else here might know of something different. I think the re-affirmation eliminated any 'gain' from the bk as far as the car goes. You could also check your state to see if there is a local law concerning 'abondoned property'. There may be a loophole to give you possession if you can show that you have been the sole maintainer/user/etc. You definately can't 'sell' the car now. There is no way to transfer the property without the title. Are you able to get registration and insurance for the car? Has the bank ever tried to stop this? If not, it doesn't seem like they are too interested in the car. The main problem is that you have no 'proof' the car is 'yours'...the car was the 'property' of the bank with your father making payments towards ownership. I don't think he would have had the right to will it to you even if he did. The title is at the bank. There is nothing you can do without that title stamped paid in full. You can get a 'duplicate' title from the state, but it is going to be marked with a lien from the bank (and duplicate). It 'may' be possible that the the state would contact the bank for lien 'status', the bank may just say 'written off' and you could get a 'clear' dupicate title. A longshot, but worth a try.... You are not responsible for the debt on the car. Now, the problem is that you seem to be using it. I don't know what they could say/do about you using property that you 'know' is not yours. If it were me, I 'might' try the duplicate title request. This should cost less than 50.00 bucks or so. If it doesn't work, then I would make an appointment with a bank Rep and go there in person and tell them the complete story. Unless you get a real jerk I am sure you could work something out with them. I would be kind of afraid to just keep the car around if it were me. I would hate for the bank to 'write it off' and turn it over to the state. Once those guys get a hold of those things you never know whats going to happen. Don't want to scare you but you should keep that in mind. I hope this helps... Shawn
TAKE THE CAR TO THE BANK...give them the keys and tell them you won't pay them any money so don't ask, and walk out... You have no obligation to pay his debts since you were NOT a co-signer...BUT THEY MAY FILE SUIT AGAINST THE ESTATE...
they have asked for nothing since 98, and the car is all i have left of dads memories, they don't want it, nor do they want me to pay... i have no idea
Put a title bond on the car, after 90 days if nobody claims it, its yours. Call you local dmv regarding this. costs a pretty petty (as bond) but you get the car legally for free if the bank won't come get it.
thats my problem, how do i do that, would dragging them into court do it? my friend feels they will not bother coming from another state for the court date, thus winning the car by default
I DIDN'T KNOW THE OTHER STATE BIT... Just write them a NICE POLITE LETTER stating that they don't want the car, they don't expect you to pay HIS debt, so "SIGN IT OVER TO ME"...thank you very much.
Just do the title bond, thats how folks all the time pickup "abandoned" cars. If nobody claims it, its yours.
hmmm. title bond. do you have any more info on it? I've never heard of this and it's very interesting.
