Divorce judgement and repossesion?

Question

I was divorced 3 years ago. my husband was awarded the family vehicle (which was a joint account at the time), because he is disable and the judge felt I could get a vehicle faster then he coud and plus i was working and he wasn't. The judgement also said he is responsible fo the payments. but the vehicle was repossed that same year because he never made the payments. this is on my credit report as a joint account. What can I do to resolve this?

Answer 1

Write to the financing company and include a copy of the relevant parts of the divorce decree. Request that they remove the item from your credit file. It won't happen immediately, and you will probably have to go a few steps up the ladder to get any action. In fact, they may refuse to do it at all, but it is your best chance. By simply disputing the item with the credit agencies, they will contact the finance company to verify the debt, and of course the company will verify it. Ideally, you should have sent a copy of the decree as soon as it was final, but that is water under the bridge now.

Answer 2

At this point, not much. When your husband was awarded the vehicle, your attorney should have insisted that he be forced to refinance in his name only.

Since it wasn't refinanced in his name, you were still legally liable for the debt at the time the car was repossessed.

If there was a deficiency when the car was resold, and you have the money to pay that deficiency, you may be able to negotiate with the lender to pay it in exchange for them removing it from your credit report.

If you do pay any deficiency, you may also prevent future credit issues, such as having a judgement placed against you for the amount of the deficiency.

If the lender takes no further action, then time will cure your credit report - this should drop off in about 5 years. If the lender does take further action, you could be living with issues from the repossession for many more years, so it would be best to at least find out if there was a deficiency, and if the lender is going to try to collect the deficiency.

Answer 3

Lenders do not care about divorce decrees they care about getting their money.

Since this was a joint account and your ex-husband did not refinance the vehicle in his name only, you are responsible for the debt if he doe's not pay no matter what the divorce decree says.

So now you have a repossession on your credit and there really is not a whole lot you can do about it. You can try contacting the lender and sending them copies of your divorce decree but do not be surprised if they don't care.

If your lucky, they will not come after you for the balance due. If you not, they will.

Needless to say, you should have insisted that your ex-husband refinance the vehicle in his name only as a condition of the divorce.