Q: Me and my husband filled Ch.7 bankruptcy and my husbands check is being garnished for a car that was discharged.
Me and my husband filled ch.7 bankruptcy and was discharged in 2021. Our car was discharged through the bankruptcy. Long story short we have called the credit company multiple times to come ger the car. We live on a military base and have no where to store it and we already each have a car ourselves. In November 2021 the car was towed by the military tow company because they thought it was abandoned since we cancelled registration and insurance. We called the tow company and explained our situation. We also called the bank and asked them why they wont come get it. Their answer was that they tried to come get it , they could not find it and they just didn't try to call us. The whole time the car was by our house. We told them to come get it from the tow company and they never did now my husbands check is being garnished for towing fees/storage. We need to know what we can legally do in this situation and what to do with the bank since they have been told multiple times to come get it.
A: The tow bill is post-petition debt so it can’t be included in the bankruptcy. You will have to have your bankruptcy lawyer try and settle the tow bill debt for you and get the car to the lender to get this situation resolved.
A: Unfortunately, there is usually no way to force a lender to repossess a vehicle. In most cases the lender has the option to NOT repossess the vehicle. However, it sounds like the lender in your case wants to take possession of the vehicle given that they told you they just could not find it. It might help to contact the lender (or have your bankruptcy attorney do so) to try and make arrangements to drop the vehicle off at a place of their choosing (such as at a tow company they work with) because, as Mr. Denison stated, the tow fees are a postpetition debt, so your husband will continue to be responsible for those fees.
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