{"id":137,"date":"2017-10-16T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/how-avoid-vehicle-repossession-after-late-payment\/"},"modified":"2023-03-27T11:54:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:54:54","slug":"how-avoid-vehicle-repossession-after-late-payment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/how-avoid-vehicle-repossession-after-late-payment\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid Vehicle Repossession After a Late Payment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Sometimes things come up and you miss a payment on your auto loan. To avoid a vehicle repossession<\/a>, you need to act quickly. <\/p>\n

What happens when a payment is late?<\/h2>\n

\"\"Depending on your auto loan lender and the terms of your agreement, you may incur a late fee immediately when the payment isn\u2019t received in full and on time. However, a late fee doesn\u2019t necessarily mean the late payment will appear on your credit report.<\/p>\n

There are guidelines that creditors should follow to comply with federal law when there are late payments. Based on these standards, a late payment can\u2019t appear on your credit report until it\u2019s at least thirty days past due. It\u2019s a violation of federal law for a creditor to report an account as late prior to thirty days.<\/p>\n

What should I do if I miss a payment?<\/h2>\n

If you miss a payment on your auto loan, try to bring the account current by making all past due payments plus late fees\u00a0immediately, if you\u2019re able to. If you wait more than thirty days to pay your balance, you run the risk of the late status appearing on your credit.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re able to, set up automatic payments so that you don\u2019t miss a payment in the future. You can also set up a calendar, email, or text reminder to stay on top of bill due dates.<\/p>\n

What if I can\u2019t pay the bill immediately?<\/h2>\n

Unexpected life events happen all the time and financial hardships are common. If you\u2019re having difficulty paying bills on time, it\u2019s still important to confront the issue and take action immediately.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re experiencing a short-term financial hardship that you know will be resolved soon, contact your lender to discuss your options. They may allow you to defer this month\u2019s payment until the end of the loan. Be sure to get any changes or updates to the original agreement in writing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What if I can\u2019t afford my loan?<\/h2>\n

If your loan agreement is proving to be unaffordable<\/a>, you should contact your lender and have an open discussion about your available options. Explain your situation and why you\u2019re having difficulty making payments. They may allow you to defer payments for a period of time. You may want to consider refinancing or trading in your car for another, more affordable option.<\/p>\n

If you choose to voluntarily repossess your car, the lender must follow the law and provide you with proper documents concerning your loan and sale of the vehicle.\u00a0 As well, the lender will probably list your loan as a repossession on your credit report.<\/p>\n

What to do if you think your car might be repossessed?<\/h2>\n

If your account is sixty to ninety days late, your vehicle may be at risk for repossession. Contact your lender, if you haven\u2019t already, and prepare for a potential repossession by following these steps<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A vehicle repossession can remain on your credit report for up to seven and a half years, so it\u2019s important to take steps to avoid this at all costs.<\/p>\n

Seek Legal Advice<\/h2>\n

\"\"Flitter Milz is a consumer protection law firm that pursues matters against lenders for wrongfully repossessing vehicles, and against the credit bureaus for reporting inaccurate information on credit reports. Contact Us<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0 Our attorneys will provide a free case evaluation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes things come up and you miss a payment on your auto loan. To avoid a vehicle repossession, you need to act quickly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[40],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3080,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions\/3080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}