“Dear Steve,
I live in CA $60K unsecured debt, 10K in student loans, 25K owed on car. student loans and car are paid up to date, unsecured debt hasnt received a payment in about a year and a half.
I am about to let my car go because I cant afford the payment anymore and plan to buy a car outright with cash. Can any of the creditors come after my car if I own it outright or would I be safe?
David”
The Answer:
Dear David,
As long as you are just buying some beater car to get around, nobody wants your crappy beater car.
But the real issue here is that you need to step up and do something about this situation. You need to intervene. It’s not going to get better all by itself. The minute you let that car go you are going to get slammed with a big crazy bill for the difference between what that car will sell for at auction and your current loan balance.
Good job though on staying current with the student loans. You need to keep those current.
Frankly, I think once you let the car go and you get the bill from the auto lender, you need to go talk to a bankruptcy attorney. Euthanize this old debt and stop it from festering so you can move forward in your life. This holding pattern of debt is not a place for you to live.
