So a little backstory, about 7 years ago I was in rut personally and financially. I had just lost my job and gone through a divorce so money was tight to say the least, to add on top of that my old car had just blown a gasket and was completely junked.
I managed to secure a job but needed a car bad so with no savings I went to a dealership in hopes of getting finances for their cheapest car. They were great in helping me out and only asked for 300 down for a decent little Hyundai Accent but at 14% interest through Wells Fargo Dealer Services. I took it because I was about to be homeless and this job paid ok.
Fast forward a year or so and I’m doing fine. Until the lawyer fees start adding up with the divorce lawyer, I am adding debt to myself at an extreme rate. The car has also been burden with a bad alternator not covered under warrantee since I bought it used among other mechanical problems. I get overwhelmed so I start prioritizing rent and essentials, basically leave the car to be repoed. I just drive it until one day I assumed it would vanish.
That was 5 years ago and I still have the car.
I am now in a better place with a high paying job in a DoD contractor and only 700 dollars worth of credit card debt. I managed to keep the car registered and insured and use it as my daily driver. I recently started to think I should upgrade so I called Wells for the first time to see if I could resolve the issues or just give them the car back. They tell me basically the car is about four months from being written off the books, essentially giving up on trying to get payment for it and I would get it for free. Tax penalty being they would add the debt to my taxes as income. The reason why they could not start the reclamation process was due to them being in multiple class action lawsuits I guess my loan was a part of.
I don’t like the idea of being and asshole so I ask if there’s any way I could maybe refinance or return it. They say I can refinance but the loan payoff is substantially higher than the Kelley blue book or trade it in a roll the amount the trade I couldn’t cover into my new loan. I have already been approved by my credit union for a new loan so I would like to avoid paying anything higher than I want.
So essentially r/personalfinance unless I sign paperwork saying I received my settlement from the lawsuit (I have not) they cannot act to repo the car. Should I be a scumbag and let it ride?
Submitted May 14, 2020 at 03:02PM by Savage_Idiot_Bastard https://ift.tt/2z08IKf
