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lsullens · Sep 5, 2008, 09:51 PM

I am asking if you can get garnished for repo on car , they recently sold it and didn't get what was owed on it .

froggy7 · Sep 6, 2008, 01:00 AM

Yes. You still owe the rest of the money (plus repo and legal fees), so they can get a judgement against you. Whether they can garnish your wages depends one what state you are in.

ScottGem · Sep 6, 2008, 05:22 AM

That's typical. Its rare that an auction sale will cover the balance owed. So yes, you are still responsible for the shortfall. They will need to file suit against you and obtain a judgement before they can get a wage garnishment.

Fr_Chuck · Sep 6, 2008, 07:16 AM

Yes, they can ( if garnishments are allowed where you live) and often you will owe more money after they sell the car than you did before they took the car, that is why repo is really a bad idea.

Lets say you owed 10,000 on the car, well the repo fee may be 1000 dollars, storage another 1000 till the sale, the cost of the sale ( advertising on auction) 500, and cost of the sale another 500. So now the total at the day of the sale you will owe will be about 13000. So that 10,000 car will be lucky to bring 5000 at the sale, so you may still owe 8000 after they take and sell the car.
This may not be your case but this is common

Justice Matters · Sep 6, 2008, 01:36 PM

Before a garnishment can occur there must be a judgment and before that a lawsuit.

If a lawsuit is filed you may be able to argue mitigation as part of your defence. Specifically, that the plaintiff failed to sell the car for the highest possible price and as such some or all of the outstanding balance can be attributed to the plaintiff.

This can be a tricky defence since you can no longer have the car appraised and the plaintiff, who had the car, may say the car, given its condition, fetched what the market would bear.

progunr · Sep 6, 2008, 01:41 PM

Most states require the vehicle to be sold at auction.

It would be hard to prove that it didn't sell for what it was worth, when it was sold to the
Highest bidder.

You could try to negotiate a re-payment plan before they sue you, or you can just wait, appear at the hearing, and present your best defense.