Motor vehicles are essential to the livelihoods of many Californians. There may be no public transportation between your home and your work place. If you fall behind in your car payments, you face the prospect of your vehicle being repossessed without warning. At Gates Law Group, A Professional Corporation we have helped Californians stop the repossession of automobiles and other assets, such as RVs and boats, for the past four decades.
Filing for bankruptcy results in the imposition of an automatic stay that prevents your creditors from repossessing your car or other consumer goods that are subject to liens. The automatic stay takes effect when the creditor receives notice of the bankruptcy, but the court can take several days to mail out the notice. If you face the possibility of repossession before that, then we will notify the creditor of the stay immediately upon filing the bankruptcy petition.
If you have had a previous bankruptcy dismissed within the past year, the automatic stay will expire in 30 days, and if you have had two previous bankruptcies dismissed within the past year, it will not take effect at all. If you are in either of these positions, we can still ask the court to grant a stay, although our success will depend on proving that the dismissal or dismissals were not your fault.
The automatic stay can be challenged. The creditor can move for relief if it can prove that it has the right to repossess the property in question and that its interests will not be protected in the bankruptcy proceeding. If a creditor seeks relief, we can ask the court for time to solve the problem, and the court will likely grant it as long as the court believes that you are willing to work with the creditor in good faith.
There are several possible solutions that, separately or together, could allow you to keep the property:
We will analyze your circumstances and do our best to work out a solution that will let you keep the property.
Gates Law Group, A Professional Corporation helps California consumers stop repossessions through the bankruptcy process. Please call 559-432-9944 or contact us online to schedule a consultation. We serve clients from our main office in Fresno and locations in Paso Robles and Visalia.