Can you legally hide your car to stop a repossession?

On Behalf of | Mar 24, 2017 | Asset Forfeiture

You miss a number of car payments, and your creditors start calling. You keep missing, and they finally decide to repossess your car. You know it’s coming, but you don’t want to lose the vehicle, so you think you’ll just hide the car. They can only take back a vehicle they can find, right?

While some people do believe that this is a viable strategy, it isn’t legal. It’s seen as attempted fraud. The lender gave you the money with the idea that you’d either pay back the money or give back the car. By refusing to do either, you’re defrauding the lender. If you do this intentionally, you’re breaking the law.

It’s also impractical. Remember, the repo team doesn’t have to let you know they’re coming. They don’t have to take the car from your house. If you’re in a public place, they can swing by and grab the car before you realize what’s happened. A Sunday morning at church or a Saturday afternoon trip to the grocery store could leave your car exposed and it could be taken away.

So, the only real way to hide the car and actually keep it from being repossessed is to lock it up and never drive it. At that point, you’re no better off than if they’d taken it back. You’re far worse off because you can’t drive the car either way, and hiding it leaves you with substantial debt and potentially facing fraud charges.

There are legal ways to stop the repossession of your assets and deal with your debt. Make sure that you know what they are so you understand how to protect what is yours in a way that is both legal and viable.

Source: The Balance, “Does Hiding a Car to Avoid Repossession Actually Work?,” Emily Delbridge, accessed March 24, 2017

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