First time with repossession. Help is greatly appreciated.

[NY_BMW]

Hello,

I had a quick question.
So I had an lease extension that was coming to an end and I had backed up on the lease payments for about 6 months or so due to COVID, but I had gotten off the agent today on the phone and they said that they postponed repossessions and then reinstated them beginning of 2021.

I had informed BMW prior to the 6 months that I do intend of making the payments off on the backed up lease payments and the lease extensions which was additional 3 months.

In total, I have about 9-10 months of backed up payments and now that the vehicle was repossessed, which I never had experience with, they had informed me to send a letter out to management in Dublin, OH, which I had done and their response was that they are going to auction the car off and the remainder balance, if there is, would be a deficiency on my end and I would be responsible for the remaining balance.

I was paying about $600~ a month on my M3, which puts me at about $6,000~ balance that I need to pay off, now my pay off balance is 59,900~ and I'm responsible for the remaining balance after it's been auctioned off?

Thing is, I never received a written correspondence that my car was repossessed and nor was it being auctioned off, until I had to write a letter to them requesting for a response back.

Is there anything I can do at this point or am I just screwed?

Thank you for all your help.

[evoix]

First off how did you get a payment off 600?
Second why is your residual so high for a 2018?
Third did they physically repossess the car or just put in a repossession status ?


Depending on the mileage a 2018 with around 30k miles will get around 53-55 so like they said the difference I think you willl be responsible as per the lease agreement.

[Tecnniqe]

New York law states that a lender or seller may take possession of the secured goods, on default, without going to court. The secured creditor also may, without removing the goods, render such goods unusable and the creditor does not have to give you any notice before coming to take away the goods.

New York law requires a creditor who repossesses your motor vehicle or motorcycle to notify you personally, or by special delivery first class mail, within 24 hours of such repossession. Such notice must also be given to the nearest motor vehicle district office and must include the name and address of the person, firm, or corporation repossessing the vehicle.

https://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/ge...ew-york-state/

[NY_BMW]

Originally Posted by Tecnniqe

New York law states that a lender or seller may take possession of the secured goods, on default, without going to court. The secured creditor also may, without removing the goods, render such goods unusable and the creditor does not have to give you any notice before coming to take away the goods.

New York law requires a creditor who repossesses your motor vehicle or motorcycle to notify you personally, or by special delivery first class mail, within 24 hours of such repossession. Such notice must also be given to the nearest motor vehicle district office and must include the name and address of the person, firm, or corporation repossessing the vehicle.

https://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/ge...ew-york-state/

I did not receive any form of correspondence within' 24 hours of repossession.

But my main concern here is, they said that with the vehicle under their possession, they do intend on auctioning off and then billing me for the remainder of the pay off amount.

Is there a way I can go about it to just pay the backed up months (6-7k) as opposed to paying what'll most likely seem to be 25-30k+?

[CalinSez]

Originally Posted by evoix

First off how did you get a payment off 600?

Does that seem low or high for a lease??

[evoix]

Originally Posted by NY_BMW

I did not receive any form of correspondence within' 24 hours of repossession.

But my main concern here is, they said that with the vehicle under their possession, they do intend on auctioning off and then billing me for the remainder of the pay off amount.

Is there a way I can go about it to just pay the backed up months (6-7k) as opposed to paying what'll most likely seem to be 25-30k+?

You’re not going to pay 25k. If your residual as you stated is 59k then they will sell the car at auction for about 50k at the lowest right now. 59 what you owe minus the 50 they sell the car for is what you will be responsible for

[Tecnniqe]

Originally Posted by NY_BMW

I did not receive any form of correspondence within' 24 hours of repossession.

But my main concern here is, they said that with the vehicle under their possession, they do intend on auctioning off and then billing me for the remainder of the pay off amount.

Is there a way I can go about it to just pay the backed up months (6-7k) as opposed to paying what'll most likely seem to be 25-30k+?

Not sure, might need to consider legal aid for that.

I buy my cars and never lease so I've never had these issues and I'm not in NY either so if I did know something it wouldn't be applicable.

[evoix]

Originally Posted by CalinSez

Does that seem low or high for a lease??

That’s low imo

[NickyC]

Ouch, sorry to hear OP I hope things improve for you.

In your position, I would have sold the car off in this environment. F80s are red hot right now resale, you likely wouldn’t have been out anything (you might have made money).

You better hope and pray that auction gets a good price, you’re at their mercy which is where you never want to be. Good luck.

[RickFLM4]

Unless you find an attorney who tells you they can help, or find someone at BMWFS willing and able to negotiate with you, I think the short answer is "no" there is nothing you can do to force them to just accept the unpaid lease payments at this point. They have the car and the right under terms of the lease to do what they said they will do.

My quick read of the default provision in my lease leads me to believe you lose the right to just treat it as if you returned the car at lease end once in default and they have the right to charge the missing lease payments and any shortfall in value, along with their costs of repossession / legal. Sorry.

[maddmatth]

Yeah smart option would have been to sell the car earlier but now that you in this situation... best get some real legal advice.

I take it you're not in a position to pay the $6000 or so since otherwise you would have done so.

But maybe you can negotiate with BMW to try to find a buyer for the car and advertise it online to ensure it sells for a decent price.

Quite baffled that you held onto an expensive sports car that you couldn't pay off though

[PhatLyfe]

You lost when you missed payments, not one or two payments but 8 months plus. Sorry but you lost and you still own the money. Why would you lease or get a car that expensive if you can't afford the payments?

[NY_BMW]

For those who thinks I couldn't afford the payments, that's not the case.

It was until the pandemic that I faced new challenges that wasn't as easy as I'd had expected.

[Tecnniqe]

Originally Posted by NY_BMW

For those who thinks I couldn't afford the payments, that's not the case.

It was until the pandemic that I faced new challenges that wasn't as easy as I'd had expected.

If you saw the writing on the wall you should've sold it since covid prices have been insane and so have the demand, you could've probably made more than you owed.

I know quite the few who did.

Then when things settle after covid and you're back on track you could get another one.

[deeldoo]

Shit happens, why are people judging OP?

Everyones a "Hero" until they aren't. Most of life is luck and OP got unlucky.

In regards to solving that situation, you are screwed OP, i would look to make more money now.

[agentrnge]

I'm a little confused how a lease would be repo'd for auction. Wouldnt you have only been on the hook for the payments you missed, then BMW would get the leased car back, for them to resell. And then you would be in collection for that $6k or whatever it worked out to?

Edit: good luck OP.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by agentrnge

I'm a little confused how a lease would be repo'd for auction. Wouldnt you have only been on the hook for the payments you missed, then BMW would get the leased car back, for them to resell. And then you would be in collection for that $6k or whatever it worked out to?

Edit: good luck OP.

It’s a lessee default provision in the lease contract.

[NY_BMW]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

It’s a lessee default provision in the lease contract.

That's what I had originally assumed.

The rep said that there isn't at time or place listed for the auction that they can tell me, and that I'd have to wait for the car to be sold.

He did tell me to stay optimistic and hopefully they can sell the car for north of 50k since it isn't damaged or anything, and that they will try to recoup the full pay off amount at the auction.

[jlee403]

Originally Posted by Tecnniqe

Not sure, might need to consider legal aid for that.

I buy my cars and never lease so I've never had these issues and I'm not in NY either so if I did know something it wouldn't be applicable.

Not true, the bank will auction the car based on the kbb/nada value of the car... not sure if the current inflation on used cars will apply, but i pretty sure it will drive any auction price higher which is better for you. Those numbers seem strange, 600/month 59k residual, but based on those figures and the fact that youre 9k in the hole i cant see any way of you coming out of this situation without paying a good amount of money out of pocket.

Your best bet if you have the ability to, would be to find the money and pay off the entirety of the vehicle and then sell it yourself to recover funds. The only reason why i know this is my good buddy went through something similar and i had to lend him the total remaining balance of his car to pay it off.

Best of luck to you, but if the state allowed them to repo your car I dont think you have very many options here.

[jlee403]

oops quoted the wrong person above.

On another note, it cant hurt to contact some attorneys to see your options but my buddy and i did the same thing when his car got repod. Basically every single attorney we spoke to said he was screwed and best and only option was paying off the car and selling it himself. Especially when you're looking at a BMW which is a luxury to own vs necessity.

***Another side note if you don't go this route and go through the auction process your credit will be screwed. Chances of buying a home/refinance if you dont already own one are gone for the next 5 years. If theres a housing market crash and you live in a highly affected area increase that to 10 years.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by jlee403

Not true, the bank will auction the car based on the kbb/nada value of the car... not sure if the current inflation on used cars will apply, but i pretty sure it will drive any auction price higher which is better for you. Those numbers seem strange, 600/month 59k residual, but based on those figures and the fact that youre 9k in the hole i cant see any way of you coming out of this situation without paying a good amount of money out of pocket.

Your best bet if you have the ability to, would be to find the money and pay off the entirety of the vehicle and then sell it yourself to recover funds. The only reason why i know this is my good buddy went through something similar and i had to lend him the total remaining balance of his car to pay it off.

Best of luck to you, but if the state allowed them to repo your car I dont think you have very many options here.

I think OP’s car was already repossessed so selling it himself isn’t an option any longer.

[Nativetexan]

OP,

I believe that persistence, patience and kindness will get you through a lot in life.

I would try making more phone calls and see how far further you can get up a chain. Everyone has a boss/manager and you can try appealing to them. You've got nothing to lose at this moment.

Also I wonder if a finance person at your local dealer could help with one of their contacts…surely they could help direct to someone that you could talk to.

I would though also learn when to throw in the towel too. Mental health and moving forward will serve you better & much more if you find you're dwelling.