Buy Here Pay Here Car Lot – Judgment

In 2005, I purchased a car from a buy here pay here lot.  After about six months while recovering from a devastating house fire, the car’s transmission went out of the car.  At this point, I am staying at a hotel because I have no place to live.  The car was repossesed at the hotel i was staying at thanks to the Red Cross. 

So, this morning I check my bank account and my paycheck of 650.00 had been deposited as usual.  A couple of hours passed and I went to pay my electric bill and all of my money was gone from my checking account. 

These collectors from an attorney’s office told me that they had every right due to a judgement against me. They did not garnish my wages, they took it directly from my account. 

I made payment arrangements, and they asssured me this would not happen again, as long as my monthly payments were payed on time. 

I guess my question is, can they do this??  Can they take everything I have from my checking account, and leave me without any money for anything at all???

I don’t even know how I am getting to work for the next two weeks.  Please help!!!

Bethany – Hopeless in Kentucky

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Hi Bethany,

It sounds like a default judgment was entered against you.  It appears Kentucky CR 60.02 permits a default judgment to be challenged for a period of one-year after entry of judgment by debtor filing a motion for reasons including (among others) “mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect”.

If the motion is granted then the case would be reheard.  There are rules of repo that a creditor must follow and if your case is reheard then it may be possible to challenge on that basis.  For example, for a deficiency judgment to be entered, the sale must have been completed in a ‘commercially reasonable’ manner.  If the consumer challenges on that basis then the burden of proof is on the debt collector to prove.  This would involve producing required notices to the consumer, evidence the sale was publically advertised, timing of the sale and the actual method of disposition.

In the meantime, you may want to look into prepaid debit cards.

Thanks for the questions and hope this helps.

Paul

This author is not an attorney and this information should not be considered legal advice.  Please consult an attorney for legal advice.