Strange Repossession

How were you able to register the truck without the title? When you bought it in 2004 and paid it off, did you get the title from the original owner? Sounds to me like the amount you paid towards the truck didn't settle the whole amount due - if you paid for the truck by just continuing with the payments - sometimes (at the end of all the payments) there may be previous late fees, etc., that still remained and if so, title never went to the orginial owner. If the bank sent him notices and he never followed up on it, then yes, it may still be "owned" by the bank, and they can repo it.

I would call the original owner and have all parties involved, speak with the bank. At this point, maybe you can negotiate to have the $1400 reduced to say $400. Negotiate with them.

Did the repo man take the truck? Did the new owner have a title to the truck? How were they able to register the truck if they didn't have a title? It does seem strange.

Please let us know how it goes.

Good Luck!

The title was sent to the original owner after we sent the payoff amount in 04- after weeks of contacting the orginal owner in reference to the title it was finally signed and given to us and at that time we transferred into our name - we held the new title in our name free and clear - there were no loans attached to it, we then sold it to the current owner and tranferred title to her in 2006 - she had to give up the title to her lender (a credit union) so technically her credit union now holds the title for the loan she received to pay us. No, they didn't take the truck, after she presented her registration and her loan papers showing ownership. What gets me is the fact that the original lender was Daimler Chrylser not Wimington Trust - to our knowledge Wilmington Trust never had anything to do with this vehicle; thats what leads me to believe that this was all part of some scam to defraud the current owner of either money by claiming there was money owed on the truck or by getting the truck for yet an even bigger payday - they certainly didn't seem to put up much of a struggle as I understand it once she produced her loan documents and registration - they gave her some phone numbers to Wilmington Trust; they said she could call to clear up this matter but to no avail no one seems to know what either of us are talking about, they have nothing in reference to her and the truck and nothing in reference to us and the truck but she didn't know I don't think to ask about the previous owner since she only dealt with us. Still all too strange.

That IS strange! I would report this to the police and the state AG office. If this is a scam, they might've of heard of it! Imagine what would've happened if they "repo'd" the truck in the middle of the night!

If the vehicle was used as collateral while the employer had possession of it then the Title would show a lein holder. Since you were able to sell it and the Credit Union was able to be placed on as the lien holder then this is either a misunderstanding or a con.

Contact the buyer and if they have the name of the Repo company have the buyer contact the police and file an attempted theft by fraud. The cops should be able to contact the Repo Co and find out who issued the order and find out what is going on.

IF the cops won't do anything have them talk to a lawyer and see if they can find out what is going on. Since Wilmington Trust does not have a clue as to what is going on it sounds like a con game.

It is possible that Wilmington is a large lender and the repo people are making a guess about it being financed. I bet if she wasn't able to produce the documents they would have probably "called" Wilmington and they would have agree to release for a "fee".

I've seen people do devious things with titles....

For example, after your old boss got the title back from Chrysler after you paid it off ... he could have applied to the Secretary of State for a lost/duplicate title. In which case they'd mail him a new one, and he'd have two titles in hand to the same vehicle. He could have given you one, and then took out a loan with Wilmington using the other title.

That's just a possibility, I'm not saying that's what happened. But I have seen people play games with titles like that.

DebtCruncher's possible scenario sounds VERY possible. That might also explain why it took so long for the previous owner to get around to signing over the title.

However, it COULD just be a con also. It would be interesting to know whether Wilmington Trust would be able to find the original owner's name in their records regarding that truck.

To answer the ? though ...

1) For a anybody to repo, they generally do have to hold the physical title (Not present at time of repo, but in their possession). However some states don't actually issue titles to the lienholder (debtor keeps the title even with lien), rather they issue a certificate that shows their lien was recorded. In those states, as long as their lien was perfected, they can repo without having the actual title.

Now let's follow the chain of title, ie what should have happened along the way...

1) Husband's boss was financing the truck (vehicle registered to him/Chrysler had lien and title).
2) You bought the truck from the boss by paying off his auto loan. They sent the title to boss. At that point did he sign over the title to you, and you registered it with the state? You would have gotten plates in your name, and they would have sent you a title with your name on it. The state wouldn't have issued plates to you if there was still a lien on the truck; and once the truck was in your name, the boss couldn't have put a lien on there even if he had obtained a duplicate title.
3) When you sold the truck, you passed title to the buyers, and they registered the truck in their name, right? Right now, they should have the title.

If that's all true, then there's no legal way for Wilmington to repo.

My friend had his car repoed because he failed to pay his insurance premiums. It was repoed during the night and he had to pay his insurance before the car was released.

can my bank take my truck if all my loans with this bank state car can be used for collateral if loan not paid.truck is current and all loans also except my c.c. with them wich is 9 months late and a few months ago thay cleared this of there books