Having a decent car is nothing short of essential for many families in the Louisville area. Some rely on their vehicles to make their living, and the vast majority of Kentucky residents at least need a car to commute to and from their jobs, to do errands and to help their kids and other family members to have an enjoyable life.
As such, the threat of having one’s car repossessed is a lot more than just an inconvenience or an embarrassment. It can mean the beginning of a rapid spiral downward into serious and irreversible financial and personal trouble.
Thankfully, as a previous post discussed, a bankruptcy filing, and in particular a Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing, can help a family protect their vehicle from a sudden and unplanned repossession. Not only does bankruptcy temporarily stop repossession efforts via an automatic stay, but, under the right circumstances, a debtor may even be able to discharge the car loan by paying off the balance that the car is worth at the time of the bankruptcy rather than the actual outstanding loan balance. This means the family can own the car outright.
Unfortunately, those who finance cars are not always so excited about the prospect of having to wait on car payments, particularly if they aren’t even going to get the balance of their loan. Moreover, there are some exceptions and other complications to the process described above.
Still, by providing Kentucky residents with quality advice and guidance with respect to bankruptcy, our law office is in the business of providing options to those who need to keep their vehicles safe from car repossession threats. In doing so, we have been able to help many Louisville residents keep and even pay off what is likely one of their most valuable and important assets.
