own a car with outstanding finance from previous owner

[nic1612]

hi all

 

i have owned the car for the past 12 months , i am the registered keeper through dvla.

 

a family friends of ours had a bad accident and was no longer able to afford the car, as he was a trusted friend we took over the payments for him took the car.

 

this was in february last year.

 

however over recent months we have found out that he had run up arrears on the account previous to us taking over the payments and the finance agreement has been passed to external debt collectors. i spoke with them earlier on in the week and they confirmed it was not at repossession stage as all the interest had been paid off and now it was just straightforward capital for the car.

 

a few months ago the family friend confirmed he had received a payment from the solicitor and as a gesture of goodwill he was going to pay off the car. however now we find out that he has still not paid off the car.

 

the debt collectors have basically said now they are going to get a return of goods order. unless i surrender it !!

 

i was wondering if anyone had any advice on how i go about being able to keep this car, i no longer speak to the finance holder as he wont return any of my calls, however i spoke to his solicitor a few weeks ago and he stipulated that they had only ive him a payment as he had told them he was using it to pay off the car. so his solicitor also thinks he has paid it off

 

i need this car for my job and dont have funds to buy another vehicle.

 

any advice really apprecaited.

[the_freedom_trail]

To be clear, is this agreement now in your name or is it still in your friends name? This matters!

 

TFT

[nic1612]

hi

 

the agreement is still in the other persons name.

 

although now he wont answer the phone to me ever since he said he would pay it of and then didnt.

 

i dont seem to be getting anywhere at all, as the bank cant speak to me due to confidentiality, he wont answer the phone to me . the only thing i have found out is that it is not at repossession stage yet. but they will be applying for a return of goods order shortly.

[the_freedom_trail]

Ok, this is how it works out - the finance company are the legal owners of the vehicle, you are the registered keeper and the finance is in your friend's name.

 

Basically, you are in a very bad position because if he defaults (which he has) you essentially lose the use of the vehicle if they go for a repo order. Legally there is very little you can do to stop this.

 

May I ask, what is the financial status of your friend? Is he a man of straw e.g. no assets, little income, etc? The reason I ask is that if the finance company repo the car they will sell it at auction and then your friend will remain liable for the difference between the value of the finance and the value of the vehicle.

 

This is a long shot but the only thing you could hope to do is attempt to negotiate with the finance company. You could say to them that in light of your friends default on the agreement you would be happy to formally take on the agreement (that's if you are). However, that might mean that you inherit the liability for the arrears also :-?

 

I would present to the finance company that the solution you propose in taking on the agreement is the one that would ultimately cause them the least amount of loss on the agreement. If you need a vehicle then this might be your best option. It depends on how much you want the car and whether you want to formally commit to an agreement with the finance company?

 

What is the amount of the arrears?

 

Best Regards,

 

TFT

[nic1612]

hi tft

 

at the moment, he has nothing, but saying that in a matter of weeks he stands to get around £60,000 plus for an accident.

 

i have tried to make an arrangement with the finance company however , the wont discuss anythinng with me

[the_freedom_trail]

Well, to keep the car someone is going to have to cough up for the arrears and that will rely on your friend being straight with you and communicating with you - I don't know how likely that is given that he is not currently talking to you?

 

I am affraid to say that the only thing that will prevent the finance company going for a repo order is the arrears being paid - I doubt the fact that your friend is due this windfall in weeks will cut much ice with them, if any. Unfortunately, they hear every excuse in the book.

 

I really think that you need to consider carefully your position here - are you aware that if the arrears were cleared and that you carried on paying down the loan he would still become the legal owner of the vehicle in question.

 

I am half tempted to advise you to stop paying the agreement, let the car go to auction and then go and buy it outright.

 

It is really very difficult to know how to proceed with this, the finance company legally can't speak to you about the agreement without the consent of your friend. You cannot make a judgement about whether to continue paying the loan because your friend wont discuss the amount of arrears with you and can you really trust your friend after how he has acted in this matter?

 

The other option of course is to sue him for the value of the arrears; however, given the complexities of the situation I don't know how a judge would view this matter and more importantly, you wouldn't be able to recover the money in time to prevent repo, there is no guarantee of when your friend will recieve his money and you are currently unable to find out how much the arrears even are.

 

If you are using this car everyday then it is a matter of time before the repo men catch up with you. They use ANPR technology and all sorts.

 

Reflecting on this, the week link in this matter is your friend, are you not able to pay him a visit at all to make him see sense. Otherwise, it will result in you losing what you have already paid and the car and his credit being destroyed when it doesn't have to be that way.

 

Best Regards,

 

TFT

[nic1612]

hi

 

i have finally managed to have a discussion with the finance company.

 

basically, they finance agreement ends in 2 weeks time, which is when it all should have been paid up . there is currently £3305.23 outstanding.

 

i am so tempted to put the car in storage until he gets his funds through which should be a matter of weeks .

[the_freedom_trail]

It ends in two weeks and there is £3305 left to pay on it!!!

 

I am amazed that they haven't come for the car sooner!

 

Is this a standard HP agreement do you know or a passport agreement?

 

I will be honest, you can probably get away with storing the car and their repo guys never finding it; however, be careful you don't get yourself caught up in something nasty here. Remember that the vehicle in question belongs to the finance company till the very last penny is paid on the agreement - you don't want to have the Police involved in this matter which is a risk.

 

If you are going to store it make sure that it isn't near your address as the DVLA will have those details as you are the RK and the finance company will be able to get access to that info.

 

Regards,

 

TFT

[nic1612]

apparently they sent a 21 day letter back in november for him to clear the arrears otherwise the were coming for the car. but for some reason they have never come for it nor have they got a return of goods order yet.

 

its a hp agreement.

 

if they get a return of goods order is it possible for me to apply to the courts to get this stopped do you think to request time to pay

 

thanks