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Reaffirmed Car To Be Repossessed After Bankruptcy – Ray

“Dear Steve,

I filed bankruptcy and reafirmed my car. I then lost my job. Now my car is going to be repossed. I am several months behind.

How can I keep my car now that I have found steady employment and can make the payments

Ray”

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I asked my friend Mike Killian to answer your question for you. I wanted to make sure you got an answer as quickly as possible as I’m a bit backed up at the moment. I’ll be watching the comments on this question and be around to help if you need me.

Dear Ray,

I am assuming you filed a chapter 7 since reaffirming is more associated with a chapter 7 than a chapter 13. If by chance you are dealing with a chapter 13, you can contact your attorney or the court and explain your dilemma and there is a small chance of a little wiggling room. Additionally you can also change to a chapter 7 to include the car, which I know you want to keep. But that would be an option.

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Again, however I assume you filed a chapter 7 and the law is pretty clear. Per the Moran Law Group, “The debtor can chose to waive the discharge as to a debt that is reaffirmed. Generally, the parties to the reaffirmed debt have the same rights and liabilities that each had prior to the bankruptcy filing: the debtor is obligated to pay and the creditor can sue or repossess if the debtor doesn’t pay.“

As such, one of the few things you can do is to contact the lender and see if any arrangements can be made to pay the back payments over time.

I wish there was better news but there simply is not.

Sincerely,

Mike

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Mike Killian
Mike Killian is founder of Learning Credit and Debt Management. He has been writing and teaching about credit and debt management issues for over 12 years. His articles have been referenced by various members of the media, including MSNBC and The Motley Fool. Mike has also offered debt elimination seminars to businesses and community colleges for many years. He has an MS in counseling and is a nationally certified as a Personal Finance Counselor. Mike can be found at LearnCreditManagement.com/.

2 thoughts on “Reaffirmed Car To Be Repossessed After Bankruptcy – Ray”

  1. Hi, I filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy a little over a year ago it was discharged. At that time I reaffirmed my car, but no longer want to keep it. I am current on the payments but had to buy a bigger car and can no longer afford two payments. What happens if I decide to go with a voluntary repossesion? The car was reaffirmed, so will they come after me? Do I have any options?

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