Many adults in New Hampshire will experience financial stress at one time or another. Falling behind by a payment or two on some of your financial obligations could happen because you lose your job or have an unexpected medical issue that results in both lost wages and medical bills. Often, missed payments just mean a tighter budget the following month and a few costly fees from financial companies.
Collection activity may start as soon as the day you miss a payment. When the debts that you fall behind on are secured debts, your collateral property may be at risk after a missed payment. Many people purchase vehicles using a loan. If you miss payments to the lender who financed that transaction, they could potentially repossess your vehicle.
Can you prevent the repossession of your vehicle?
You won’t necessarily receive advance notice
New Hampshire law does not require that lenders give you advance warning of a vehicle repossession effort. However, they will have to file paperwork with the state following a successful repossession to validate that it was not a theft of the vehicle. You may not know until after a vehicle disappears from a driveway that the lender decided to repossess it.
Your financed vehicle could be vulnerable to repossession after a single missed payment. If you can’t make director arrangements with the lender, then the best way to protect yourself may involve filing for bankruptcy.
How personal bankruptcy can protect financed vehicles
The first and perhaps most important protection that bankruptcy provides for those worried about repossession is the automatic stay on debt collection. Companies will have to stop calling you, delay or dismiss pending lawsuits and halt repossession efforts when you file for bankruptcy.
The second benefit involves potentially renegotiating certain loan terms to bring your account back into good standing. Your lender likely would prefer that you reaffirm your financial obligation and continue making payments on the vehicle. Especially in Chapter 13 bankruptcies, creditors may cooperate with you to modify the existing loan so that you retain ownership of your vehicle and they start receiving payments again.
