Expert: Terry Leeders - 4/29/2008

Question
I am in the middle of filing chapter 7, mostly due to an injury where I broke
my neck among other things, and am now partially disabled. It has been hard
to work so I fell behind on payments. My current attorney is being slow, he is
expecting about 2 more weeks until he can file. Unfortunately, I am 37 days
past due on my car payment and they have threatened me with immediate
repo many times, and have been unwilling to budge on a payment plan in any
form. My attorney tried calling them, but they were extremely rude to him and
it sort of escalated the speed of the repo, from my understanding, they have
already sent in the request to have the vehicle recovered.  I need the car to
get around due to my neck and I am getting a knee replacement in about a
few days so transportation is extremely critical.

So, I  have a few questions, the first, is under Illinois law (I am in Chicago), do
they have to notify me in writing that the vehicle will be repossessed, or can
they just get it?

Secondly, I do keep it in a locked garage in my townhome, how much does
the "disturbing the peace" law really get enforced? I have had 2 neighbors
lose their vehicles in the past while saving their homes, one place opened the
garage door by changing frequencies on another opener, and another used
police officers. So, can they up and take it at 2:00 A.M by just being sneaky?
And ignoring a firm no?

Third, they will not tell me if I have credit insurance, which I am pretty sure I
remember signing, are they required to tell me, and are they required to give
me time to get it if I am not covered due to my disability? I am disabled as far
as the DHS is concerned, but not Social Security (due to not enough credits).

FInally, fourth, can I speed up getting a BK stay until the entire thing is filed? I
understand I still need to make payments to keep the car after BK, but I just
need some time to recover from surgery so I can get back to work.

Thanks!

Answer
Illinois is a self help state, meaning the creditor can repo the car if you are in default, technically even if you were behind $1 they could.

If you are doing chapter 7, that will only delay a repossession until the lender brings a motion in bankruptcy court, which will usually be granted automatically, as you don't need a car to do chapter 7.

You need to get current on the loan if you wish to keep it, and then you would sign a reaffirmation agreement once your case is filed.

You would have to review your loan documents to see if you had the credit insurance.

The automatic stay is generated once your case is filed, so you need to get your case filed asap to obtain it.