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No, there are consumer protection laws in most, if not all, states that require a period of notification and discussion prior to repossession. When a car is re

No, there are consumer protection laws in most, if not all, states that require a period of notification and discussion prior to repossession. When a car is repossessed it should never be a surprise to the "owner."

LightG 5y ago
With respect, I've seen the suprise element happen too often for it to be considered rare (possibly different country, different legalities, but still, it's a global company. Mail goes to the wrong address, e-mail ends up in spam (looking at you, Google), a pin code is lost, meaning you need time to identify yourself or etc etc etc and you're basically lucky or not as to you you're dealing with as to how it gets resolved.
- dev_tty01 5y ago
  I agree that I should not have used the word "never" in my comment. Thanks for pointing that out. Perhaps "unlikely" would be better. You are correct that sometimes stuff just happens, but after volunteering with a financial counseling program, I do think most people know when they have stopped making payments and most banks make lots of calls and send several letters before they go grab the property. There are exceptions of course, such as third tier used car dealerships which push the laws to the limit to make the repossession happen as quickly as possible. Sadly, people with the most fragile financial situations are much more likely to deal with the most predatory lenders. Many people living on the edge financially are so stressed that they have trouble prioritizing things in what would seem to be a logical choice to someone on the outside. What is often not understood is that honest (and early) conversations with lenders can frequently lead to adjusted terms to help people get through a difficult period. Without that conversation, they lose transportation access which leads to reduction in job opportunities, and then the whole thing starts to spiral. Very difficult.
  - LightG 5y ago
    Agree with most of that, but I'm not even thinking about those in fragile circumstances at this point (although that is clearly an issue). I mean, I wasn't even searching for this, but this appeared in my twitter feed this morning. For your consumption: https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1473187956022251523 https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1473187956022251523 I just don't trust companies generally in these situations.

LightG 5y ago

With respect, I've seen the suprise element happen too often for it to be considered rare (possibly different country, different legalities, but still, it's a global company. Mail goes to the wrong address, e-mail ends up in spam (looking at you, Google), a pin code is lost, meaning you need time to identify yourself or etc etc etc and you're basically lucky or not as to you you're dealing with as to how it gets resolved.

dev_tty01 5y ago
I agree that I should not have used the word "never" in my comment. Thanks for pointing that out. Perhaps "unlikely" would be better. You are correct that sometimes stuff just happens, but after volunteering with a financial counseling program, I do think most people know when they have stopped making payments and most banks make lots of calls and send several letters before they go grab the property. There are exceptions of course, such as third tier used car dealerships which push the laws to the limit to make the repossession happen as quickly as possible. Sadly, people with the most fragile financial situations are much more likely to deal with the most predatory lenders. Many people living on the edge financially are so stressed that they have trouble prioritizing things in what would seem to be a logical choice to someone on the outside. What is often not understood is that honest (and early) conversations with lenders can frequently lead to adjusted terms to help people get through a difficult period. Without that conversation, they lose transportation access which leads to reduction in job opportunities, and then the whole thing starts to spiral. Very difficult.
- LightG 5y ago
  Agree with most of that, but I'm not even thinking about those in fragile circumstances at this point (although that is clearly an issue). I mean, I wasn't even searching for this, but this appeared in my twitter feed this morning. For your consumption: https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1473187956022251523 https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1473187956022251523 I just don't trust companies generally in these situations.