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"How To Get Out Of A Car Lease" Discussion

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Professional Q&As for "How To Get Out Of A Car Lease"

Upsolve Community Member
2022-01-19

My car was repossessed and sold at auction by the leasing company. However, they received more money that what I owed, about $3,900. This is because I traded my old car to get the lease. The value of the car I traded was $6,000. The leasing company says that they'll keep the money. I sthis legal?

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Community Replies:

Upsolve Community Member
Hi Christian, it depends on the contracts and the fees and costs. I think the article https://upsolve.org/learn/owe-after-repossession/ will help answer your question. If after reading the article you think you are owed money, you might want to consider talking to a https://upsolve.org/learn/what-is-a-consumer-protection-attorney/. 

Upsolve Community Member
Generally speaking, if there truly is a surplus, it would be yours- but there are often fees and costs associated with repossession that make this unlikely 

Upsolve Community Member
You'll probably need to review the documents carefully to see what happened in this case- it might be that there were fees for storing the vehicle, costs for the auction, or other fees 

Upsolve Community Member
2022-01-17

Are you able to keep you car, I just barely leased a new car so I may get back and forth to work?

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Community Replies:

Upsolve Community Member
Hello Cordelia, Most people can keep their car and get debt relief by filing bankruptcy. Here is an Upsolve Article that covers this topic: https://upsolve.org/learn/can-keep-car-file-bankruptcy/

Upsolve Community Member
It depends, but for most people the answer is yes! 

Upsolve Community Member
There's a number of options for keeping the vehicle- check out that article to learn more 

Upsolve Community Member
Hi Cordelia, you might also be interested in learning more about https://upsolve.org/learn/reaffirmation-agreements/, a type of agreement that is signed to keep your car during bankruptcy. Let us know if you have any more questions and we'll do our best to help! 

Upsolve Community Member
2022-01-14

Hi! I am aware that the trustee will ask for bank statements. I have 2 car loans currently. My sons car buying & mine is a lease. If you look at the car payments with my income it doesn’t look possible. However my son’s car his dad pays for it every month & on mine my fiancée pays 1/2 the lease payment for me & I pay the other 1/2. How can this effect a Chapter 7 case with the trustee? I should also mention my ex-husband generally just transfers me the car payment and then I pay it out of my account. Thank you!

Community Replies:

Upsolve Community Member
Hi Charity! I am a discharged Upsolver and used Upsolve's Learning Center a lot while filing. This is a common scenario. Perhaps this HELP article on https://help.upsolve.org/hc/en-us/articles/360056759173-Income-from-Contributions might help you in seeing how shared expenses are treated. I'm also including an article from the Upsolve Learning Center on https://upsolve.org/learn/how-to-file-bankruptcy-after-divorce/ I hope these articles help! :-)

Upsolve Community Member
I just was able to get discharged after filing a ch 7 that included a reaffirmation agreement for one car. Explain to the the car lender in agreement form (the 403b, i think?) exactly how you pay for the car and lease. Once you put that in you may have to wait depending on how the courts backlogs are. I had to wait about 4 months more than usual. 

Upsolve Community Member
Charity, thanks so much for asking! Generally speaking, it's possible to explain certain confusing situations to the trustee.

Upsolve Community Member
If they ask, you can explain the situation! This might also help: https://upsolve.org/learn/trustee-review-bank-statements/ 

Upsolve Community Member
2021-12-01

If I am actually in Florida but live in Indiana which state do I use??? They just repoed my car and now I am stuck, can filing get my car back so I can get back home???

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Community Replies:

Upsolve Community Member
Have you been in Florida at least 91 days? 

Upsolve Community Member
This article explains what's important to consider when https://upsolve.org/learn/bankruptcy-after-moving/. 

Upsolve Community Member
This might help too! https://upsolve.org/learn/car-repossession-101/ Thanks for asking! 

Upsolve Community Member
2022-01-04

Medical emergency had a stroke and heart attack November 2020 been awaiting SSDI approval since February 2021 they are backed up had no income since March 2021 completely broke brain damage very sick paid 5 years and 10 months at 22% interest on my 2014 Corolla through Santander got it in 2016, it was a 2014, due to interest paid almost 6 years still have over 10k left and am 80 days past due and up for reposession and they won’t work with me, credit shot from the last year, no one to help all alone need help please I won’t be able to get another car with amount of SSDI monthly payments and only 80k miles on my car I need to pay it off then drive it for remainder of my life please help also my credit score plummeted from 770 to 510 in the last year due to medical emergency and SSDI holdup medical bills charged off small credit cards and loans screwed me up brain damage please help 2144047715 Rachel flock have no money negative overdrawn in my bank please help

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Community Replies:

Upsolve Community Member
OK, Rachel... the first thing you need to do is take three deep breaths so you can focus. Nobody is going to call you from Upsolve --- but if you are under such stress that you need some mental health help ---- 1-800-273-TALK (8255).  This is a "Do It Yourself" service for filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy. If you would like info as to how you get started with Upsolve, where you are doing the work yourself, let me know. Please respond to this message. Thank you! :-)

Upsolve Community Member
Hi Rachel, disability is a tough road and my heart goes out to you. Medical problems can really turn a person's life upside down, and SSDI can be a slow process. Bankruptcy can help with medical bills. The article https://upsolve.org/learn/get-rid-of-medical-bills-in-bankruptcy/ has more information. It sounds like you're very worried about keeping your car. That will depend on different factors, but I recommend reading https://upsolve.org/learn/can-keep-car-file-bankruptcy/ to learn more about your options. If it's difficult for you to read or reading makes you tired, check out what accessibility options your phone or computer has to read aloud or narrate text. There are also extensions and apps that can help.  Sometimes it's hard to find community services to help, but you can call 211 to find out if the United Way has any community services available in your area to help you with your health care and financial needs. 


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