I live in Texas, had a car repo-ed after I was laid off. I found a job. But with a much smaller wage. Can they sue me for the balance if I can't afford it any more now than I could before. I am 60 yrs of age & am trying my hardest to get enough money to retire in a few years.
Thanks,

Can you find out if there is/was a small balance that you could pay to relieve you of the entire debt? What I mean is if you missed a few payments, can you just make that one lump payment? Do check and find this out because something similar happened to me. I turned the car in voluntarily and years later they posted or entered a judgment against me. Luckily, I caught it in time to have it vacated in the meantime but it turned out that if I had paid the 2 months I fell behind in, I was OK. Course they did not tell me that. I still have to find out more because I do believe you owe whether it's a voluntary repo or not. Also, I'm in NY. I don't know the laws in TX. If they do get a judgment on you, they can garnish a percentage from your wages. They can also freeze your bank account(s) and find money where you may have it. Some things are exempt such as unemployment, disability and I believe social security but wait for the pros to agree or disagree with me on the S.S. I'm not so sure about pensions and other retirement plans you may have as well. If it's correct that they cannot touch social security, maybe you will luck out and you'll retire before this whole process goes through. Wait for some answers from the pros here. I'm sure someone will be able to help more and give you more info. Good luck to you.

Thanks for your response, Texas is different. It has been over 1 yr & I just received my 1st letter. Hopefully someone will know.

OK and best of luck to you again. Maybe in the meantime talk to them and at least seem like you're trying to work with them to avoid a judgment. They may offer you a payment plan which is better than having a judgment against you. I'll follow up to see what advice is offered or suggested. I could probably use it myself. Take good care.

I certainly am not an expert, or professional, but I listen to a lot of financial shows. There was advice just last week of how to handle a situation like this. Talk to the creditor and tell them if the amount they want is far too much for you to handle, that you are willing to pay this debt, but you have to live also. Make an offer that is suitable to what you can afford. If they refuse to work with you and demand (for example 20-25% as garnishment or payment) way too much, you can tell them that you do have the right to file bankruptcy and will do so if they will not work with you. I am repeating what I heard on TV on one of those advice shows, but it sounded good to me! Good luck!

If they repo a car, yes you will owe the balance even in Texas. In fact you will owe more than the balance, you will owe the repo fee's, the legal fee's, the auction fees. And the car will sell for a lot less than the balance due in almost all cases.

So they can sue you and most likely will at some point and get a judgement against you. In Texas they can not garnish your wages for this type of debt.