Im May 2005 I purchased a brand new Jimmy. I was financing through GMAC. My truck was repoed in January of 2006 due to 2 missed payments, with no warning. I didn't know the payments hadn't gone through as they were automatic withdrawl and I was never contacted about it. Anyway, my truck was taken, along with a truck full of my possessions as I was literally right in the middle of moving. Then about 6 months later I get a letter from GMAC stating that I owe 7,000$. Up to date, I have only heard from them one other time. Does anyone know if this is a legit debt that I am obligated to pay as they have the truck?? And if I am obliged to pay it, how long can this go on without payment?

They should have notified you and served you with papers before taking it and they should have given you the option to pay up to date -the late payments (with extra charges) within 15 to 30 days to get it back.

They sell the vehicle and charge you the difference. Like you owed 15, and they sold it for 8,000 you owe the difference of 7,000.

It sounds like they did do some wrong things. Depends on your states law though too

Your Repossession Rights. What happens after the car is gone and what rights do you have to protect your wallet and credi record.

Yes, it is a legit debt. They sold your vehicle at auction and the $7K is the difference between what they sold it for and what you owed plus any legal fees and repo fees incurred. As for your personal possessions, you should have gotten them back, but good luck. It is shown as a judgment on your credit report already I am sure. It will stay there until paid and ruin your credit score. Eventually they will find other means of collecting there money.

As for the whole situation... do we look that stupid? Do you expect me to believe that you didn't realize there was an extra $600-$800 in your bank account from these payments "not going through".

I welcome your question, but try not to patronize me with stories like that. I have to deal with this crap everyday!

The repo guy I worked for served them papers and explained everything to them.
If not served they should have at least gotten a certified letter in the mail

The repo guy you worked for was nice! Which is honestly how repo guys should be, but dealing with what they deal with I don't blame them for being indifferent most of the time!

It is no different than your monthly statement, which doesn't have to be certified. At least in my beautiful state!

Actually no, normally you never know it is going to be repo'ed until it is gone, and OK, you were not balancing your checking account? If it was not paid for two months, you would have know it, if you were keeping any track of your money. Poor book keeping is not an excuse

After I was taken you would have received notice of their intent to sell, and a date you had to pay off the balance to keep the vechile.
Anytime before the sell you had the right to go to the impound area and get your personal belongings out of the vechile, if you did not use your rights, it is not their fault either,

After it is sold, you will owe the balance, they take what you owed, plus legal fees, plus repo fees, plus storage fees, then they take off the money it sellf for and you owe the balance. You can expect a judgement down the road if arrangements to pay is not make.

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Actually no, normally you never know it is going to be repo'ed untill it is gone, and ok, you were not balancing your checking account ?? if it was not paid for two months, you would have know it, if you were keeping any track of your money. Poor book keeping is not an excuse

After i was taken you would have recieved notice of their intent to sell, and a date you had to pay off the balance to keep the vechile.
Anytime before the sell you had the right to go to the impound area and get your personal belongings out of the vechile, if you did not use your rights, it is not thier fault either,

After it is sold, you will owe the balance, they take what you owed, plus legal fees, plus repo fees, plus storage fees, then they take off the money it sellf for and you owe the balance. You can expect a judgement down the road if arrangements to pay is not make.

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Sorry FR I got no more rep to spread right now... this is right on the mark though! I love your opening paragraph! I personally love how mooches (how we refer to habitually late paying or repoed customers with no legit excuse in the car business) always try to blame someone else for not paying their bills. RESPONSIBILITY!

I actually didn't notice the money not being taken out as I am a bartender and live off my tips, and tips only. At the time I was living with my parents therefor had no rent or any other expenses, except for insurance which was also automatic withdrawl. I NEVER went to the bank for any reason, so DO NOT tell me that I noticed something that I didn't. I was looking for an answer to a legit questions, not some stupid remark from someone who doesn't know my banking or living situations, so keep your useless comments to yourself... and anyone who did help answer my question I really appreciate it. I figured I owed the money but someone recently told me that I didn't have to, so I thought I would look into it.

It is called responsibility, you are suppose to know you have payments coming out, and should be checking your bank account, heck I actually check my online every day to be sure no inncorrect charges come out, you would be surprised I have at least two incorrect charges a year hit, one just last week.

Being a adult and being responsible, means you keep track of all of your bills.

And we are trying to help by showing you how poorly you handled your money and how this was your fault, and how to learn from it, and perhaps others reading can learn from it.

I am not here to pat your hand and let you know it was not your fault if it was.

Also I was correcting many who told you incorrect, there is no notice in most states of any repo, that would defeat the purpose, since the people would often hide the car,

Also had you been putting money in the bank ( since you knew you had car payments,) the money to pay them would have been there.

And you would have been getting ( or someone would have gotten) late pay notices, and the such. Your story is just not beleivable, knowing how collectoin works, since the last thing they really want to do is repo
** unless it is a buy here pay here place, they do like to repo often.

She wasn't asking what she did wrong.
She asked where does she go from here.

May 2005 was how long ago? I am sure she learned from the mistake

You know somehow I really douibt it, had they learned anything, they would not know still be making excuses why they did not know it was not paid.

The question would have merely been, my car was repoed, thus and thus, not giving excuses why it was repoed.

And sometimes a good fatherly talk to help them learn to take responsibility for ones actions never hurts.

Exactly... first of all my paychecks from work went directly into my bank, and obviously everything was working out fine how I was doing it for the first 7 months so I didn't know anything was wrong. I never was making excuses for what I did, or like the above said, asking where I went wrong, or for anyone to tell me it was OK, I asked a simple question. I can see "how poorly I handled my money" but that is none of yours or anybody concern, so maybe next time you should just stick to answering the question that is asked so something like this doesn't happen again. And I didn't receive ANY late payments notifications. All of this is besides the point and really none of your business, I appreciate any of the useful information you gave me, but other than that leave my personal matters and mistakes out of it.

I wasn't making excuses, I'm giving you the REASON my truck was repoed. I was explaining my situation. Get over yourself.

I was never not taking responsibility for my actions either. Try reading what I wrote again.

I think at this point the only question is how can money still be owed, depreciation...

As said you owed whatever the truck cost let's say 20,000, they took that amount minus what you already paid minus what the truck was worth being 3 years old and came up with 7,000.

Unfortunately they probably have a clause in some papers you signed explaining this calculation and you can't fight it. You might be able to take them to court for not giving you a chance to pay the amount due but you may have missed their letters / calls.

I work in the collection industry, as well, I have worked in auto industry. Here is the bad news. When you default on you loan, the bank, as the dealer is only selling the car, can take your car back. If you do not update your info, then the letter of disposition (what has or has not been done to your truck) will never make it to you.
The collector in me finds it hard to believe that you did not notice that you had extra money in your account, also, that you were not called on the missing payment. My neighbor works as a liaison with a dealership and bank, his sole job is to call customers that have missed payments and ask in a polite way if the payment was missed. He works from home, and that is all he does. If you are on your checking account, you should have seen that the payment did not go through. I feel that you are not being completely honest, and that if your car was repo'd in two months, this being unusual, that something is being left out.
So, the truck is sold at auction, you are charged for the actual repo, then the cleaning of said car/truck, and the auction fees. The bank you used has no connection to the original dealer, if truck was repoed in the area of dealership, so the car is taken to the auction. Now the bank does not have a "Buddy" like most locals do, that push up the bid on cars and trucks to help get more money for the car, so you suffer in that the truck goes for less then it should. The dealer gets a great price on the car, and you pay the rest as you are still required, in some states to pay the entire amount, including finance charges (total contract) that the bank would have obtained, had you gone to full term on your contract.
In collections, on autos, if you had a co-signer, this is where we, collectors, make our money. In the case of two people on the note, we can collect the balance owed, double.
Yes, from you, and the co-signer. It is true.
Now depending on which state you live in, determines the stat. of limitations on your debt.
Some states are 10 yrs and others 3. Hope you do not live in the higher as interest can be charged until that date arrives. The best bet, is to pay now rather then later.
Check with an attorney for the laws of your state. Be more aware of everything you are paying, handling it before sitting down to watch TV for the night.
To anyone who feels they do not have to pay their bills, or have issues with interest and late fees. Remember, no one forced you to use the credit, so don't play dumb when you get called from the creditor. You owe them money, plain and simple.
Also, if you voluntarily turn your car in, it is still a repo, and you have to pay for the car anyway, so you may as well get rid of cable, and you cell phones, and pay for the car.

K thanks for all your help. Im not being dishonest about anything, I didn't say they never sent me a notice of non payment, I just never received any. And it was repoed in 2 months... a friend of mine had hers repoed after missing only one payment just the month before. I am from Ontario so maybe things work a little different around here... I don't know. But I am being honest with my story... and I know not keeping track of my banking was my mistake and not an excuse... I was just explaining my situation. Anyway, thanks for all your help to everyone!

As for the age of the car, it is not a calculation when determining what is owed, the amount owed after sale of car at auction is the amount unpaid from original contract plus late fees and collection/repo/auction fees. And again, I mention, if in collections, our attorney allows us to collect the amount from both parties, legally, depend on state laws.