Thinking of Hiding Your Car From the Repo Man?
If you are behind on your car payments, and have been for a while, there is a very good chance that your creditor is going to repossess your vehicle. At least they will try. Car owners, especially in the United States, become extremely attached to their vehicles for all sorts of reasons. And for many the thought of losing their precious ride is almost unbearable. If you are on the verge of repossession, your first instinct is likely to be to hide your car from the repo man.
The reasoning is pretty simple: If they can't find it, they can't repossess it. But does hiding a car to avoid repossession actually work? Here are a few factors to consider:
Where You Live
We're talking about jurisdiction here. Every state has its own laws concerning vehicle repossession, more specifically, what can and can't legally be done to accomplish it. Whatever actions you are considering to avoid repossession, knowing the laws of your jurisdiction is crucial before you do anything. You can be certain that your repo man does.
Timing
In most states, your vehicle can be repossessed the moment you default on your loan or lease (check your agreement to see exactly what triggers default). That doesn't mean that your credit agency will be right over, but they might. The point here is that by the time default has happened, both you and your creditor have probably already been in communication about your late payments and have not been able to work something out. So, for your creditor repossession is likely the next logical, and immediate, step.
Vehicle Location
Where do you usually keep your vehicle? This is important because in most states a creditor may legally enter your property to repossess the vehicle in question as long as it does not in the process "breach the peace." As you might expect, what constitutes a "breach of the peace" varies by jurisdiction, but may include causing physical damage (like breaking a lock or door) or other physical force, threatening the use of force, or even removing the vehicle from a garage without the use of force. So, notwithstanding a breach of the peace, a creditor can go just about anywhere on your property to get your car, including your yard, behind your house, in the woods surrounding your house, etc. Additionally, in most jurisdictions, it can go onto the property of a relative or neighbor to affect repossession. So if you think you are safe parking your car in your next-door-neighbor's driveway, think again.
Remember, also, that your creditor can repossess your vehicle from almost any public location including the parking lot where you work or shop. Don't think that repo men won't keep an eye on your comings and goings to facilitate a repossession. As a result, if you intend to "hide" your car, that's going to include not using it.
What this all means is that if you have a garage in which you normally keep your car locked, then you can probably effectively "hide" your car to avoid repossession. That is, with a few caveats.
One Big Legal Wrinkle
You knew there had to be one, didn't you? Here's the legal catch to "hiding" your vehicle: It is a crime to intentionally hide your car to avoid repossession. Put another way, it is against the law to hide your vehicle with the intent of defrauding your creditor. So, if you are in default on your car loan and you lock up your car in your garage or otherwise purposely make it unavailable for repossession, you are breaking the law. And in doing so, you likely leave yourself open to both civil and criminal penalties. Now, proving intent can be very difficult to do, which is why we mentioned that, in practical terms, locking your vehicle in the garage can be effective. But remember, that's only if locking it in the garage is what you normally do.
A Temporary Fix, At Best
The reality is that hiding your vehicle will only help you avoid repossession in the short term. First of all, you really don't intend to keep your car locked up without using it forever, do you? Second, once your car loan is in default, your creditor is going to let the DMV and your insurance carrier know, and when they do, it will be next to impossible to keep your plates and insurance coverage. Third, there's a legal action known as replevin. Replevin is an alternative to repossession that a creditor can use to collect the money a debtor owes. With replevin, the creditor files with the court seeking an order requiring the debtor to pay what he or she owes on the car loan (plus costs and other charges) in the form of a money judgment. If the creditor is successful in obtaining the money judgment and the debtor still does not pay up, then the debtor is exposed to further civil and criminal penalties.
A Better Idea
Since hiding your car is fraught with potential problems and only a temporary fix at best, maybe a better idea is to come up with a different solution altogether. The best one is to communicate with your creditor. They already know you're having a problem making your payments. And they, like you, would prefer a solution that doesn't require sending a tow-truck out to locate your car and physically haul it away. It's a big time and money hassle for them, too. So it's likely that they are willing to try to work something out. This will only happen, however, if you are willing to talk. And let's face it, if you don't work out a better solution, they are going to come out and take your car anyway, probably sooner than later.
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