Reports of Violence to Stop a Repossession
It would probably surprise most people how often things escalate around car repos. Every day across America, people resort to violence to stop a repossession. Not only does violence not protect your property—it only hurts everyone involved, including you. Here’s why it happens, and what to do instead if you really want to keep your car.
Your Car Is Too Important
It really shouldn’t shock anyone that someone would put themselves or other people in harm’s way to protect their car. Unless you live in a few very specific places, a person’s car is their lifeline. It connects us to our children, churches, and doctors’ offices. It’s often the only way to get groceries. Cars are, for better or worse, critical.
In addition, our cars connect us to our jobs. This can’t be overstated: losing your car because of debts you can’t pay is doubly awful, because your car is how you get to work to pay those debts back.
You May Have Property Inside
Without thinking, people leave their laptops in the car, or their child’s carseat, or other valuable things. The repo agent has been known to take these items, or they may otherwise go missing somewhere in the repossession process. And even if not, you may be afraid the agent could take them. Or you may just need whatever’s inside your car.
As a result, sometimes people will start a physical fight or jump inside the car while it’s being repossessed in order to save those items. It’s dangerous and probably won’t even protect your property, so don’t fight a repossession in this way. See below for a better option that actually works.
They Come Without Warning
Tennessee has something called “self-help repossession,” which means you don’t need a court order to take a person’s car back. If the person is behind on their payments, you can just come and grab the car in the middle of the night if you’d like.
This leads to a world of problems.
First, the person with the outstanding debt may have no idea who is taking their car. Are they a robber? The cops? Are they dangerous? Are they armed? This confusion makes everyone less safe, especially the repo agent.
Second, under Tennessee law, while the car company can come any time, they have to “keep the peace.” As one example, this includes not being able to physically remove you from your car. So a lot of people will resort to climbing into their vehicle in protest, putting themselves in danger and escalating the problem further.
How to Stop a Repossession for Good
The best way to stop a repossession is to call an attorney the second you can’t pay your car note any longer.
Our attorneys work with you to stop the repossession, clear your debts, and end all the threats for good. Unlike other debt consolidation programs, ours is backed up by the courts. That means the car company can’t change their minds about it down the road and suddenly try to repossess your car again.
It’s permanent, powerful, and available to you today.
Don’t resort to violence to stop a repossession. It hurts everyone and doesn’t even work. Instead, let us help. The conversation is completely free. To get started, call me at 901-327-2100 or use the contact form below.