Please help/ car car charged off...

ch.-Welcome! Hopefully Debtcruncher will be along soon as he has solid knowledge with regard auto loan terms,etc. Hang in there..

You need to call them!! There may be something they can do to help you..If you avoid communicating with them, they can and probably will come and repossess your car without notice.

good advice fins....okay, re-reading the post again....You mentioned you have been 5 payments behind (not ina row?)..How many payments are you behind right now?

I didn't catch the not in a row thing! I thought you were 5 behind..So you have been LATE 5 times...But you are behind now? You need to call, being charged off is not a good thing.

Every finance company will have different policies and procedures, so this is just what I do... If I intend to repossess a car, then I usually wait until after I actually take it back and sell it before I chargeoff the balance. It just makes for less of a chargeoff doing it that way. The only time I go right to chargeoff without repo, is if I really don't intend on repo-ing it.

So it may be in your favor that way, maybe they don't care to get the car back. Nonetheless, they could still repo it after a chargeoff.

How many payments do you have left on the contract? Sometimes a company might not repo, but they will just hold onto the title, because they know if you ever want to sell the car you will need to payoff the account to get that title. For example, sometimes I have customers make all their payments but they still owe a whole bunch of late fees... in that case I won't repo, but I do charge off the balance and hold onto the title until they pay off the account.

Tell me a little more about the account: how serious is the delinquency, when's the last time you paid, have they been calling you or sending letters? Then I can tell you a little bit more what might be going on in their end.

Hello
Thanks for responding! I still owe 35 more payments the car,as of today I owe 5 payments-at one point I'll catch it up to 2 or 3 payments behind then it's back to 4 or 5. I'm not going to pay until I talk to them or a lawyer. I do want to work it out I just couldn't seem to catch up and it frustrated me to a point I was too weak to talk to them. The last time I paid was 10/07 that was 1 payment, before that was 08/07 I paid 2 payments. They send letters to my family and friends and to where they think I am, but I haven't responded personally at all. My family tell them everything about me. Oh and it was charged off this month. Thank you all for your advice, I really love this site.

I'm sorry to say but this is more severe than I first pictured. 35 left means your not even half-way through. This is not the kind of balance they just forget about and hope one day you'll want the title.
Chances are that their corporate policy makes them chargeoff any account that is over 120 days past-due; from there they send it to their recovery department.

You say they send letters to 'where they think you are.' Does that mean you have moved and they don't really know where you're at? The car may already be out for a repo and they just can't find it yet.

You still may be able to save the relationship, but it will take effort on your part. The longer you avoid contact with them, the less they will work with you when the time comes. Maybe if you can scrounge up at least half of the past-due amount ... then call them and tell them your prepared to pay half of what's due, and develop a plan to bring the account current. They might work with you in that case.

But don't just ignore it. They might not find the car now, but they are very good at acquiring information. One day they will end up grabbing the car, and then they won't give you any options except to pay the full amount.

There can be no better person out there from whom to get the real picture. I have learned so much from this thread. This site is blessed to have an individual with this much background and experience. As trying as it must be for Chermonique, the facts rest here. Communication is everything right now. Good luck to you.

Thanks so much for the info, I will keep you posted on what happened. Happy Thanks Giving to everyone!!!1