Repossessed Car Auction Advice 

Many consumers simply can’t afford to purchase their vehicles without the assistance of a bank or finance institution loan. You’ll therefore find a large number of cars on the road that are partly financed with borrowed money.

Car owners need to be careful not to fall behind on their car payments as this could cause the financier to take their vehicle away and be sold at a repossessed car auction. In order to successfully ‘find your way’ at car auctions, it’s worth knowing the background of the industry and the laws that regulate the conduct of debtors and creditors.  

Creditors have repossession rights that are normally in effect till the loan has been fully repaid. The exact terms are determined by the original signed agreement (between both parties) and in accordance with each respective State’s laws. The holder of the lien will place the lien at the relevant Department of Motor vehicles for record. Some of these rights on the document include: 

Click here for bargain repo vehicle auctions

• A Creditor’s entitlement to repossess a vehicle without having to apply for court indictment; the creditor also do not need to give advance notice to repossess a vehicle. This needs to be in accordance with the ‘breach of peace” clause which basically means that a vehicle cannot be seized with extreme methods and using forceful tactics. This relates to activities before the repossessed car auction.  

• The right to put up for sale the loan agreement to an unrelated third party, upon which the creditor’s original rights are transferable to the new beneficiary of the agreement.   

As with many other laws that regulate other repossessions and asset seizures, laws regarding vehicle repossessions are different from one state to another. There are various resources to consult on the specifics, but it should normally be read in conjunction with each individual contract.     

No auction can take place before the vehicle has been legally taken into custody by the creditor. This can only happen once the debtor has defaulted in loan payments. ‘Default’ is defined differently with various contracts, but mostly is understood to be missing a payment. These terms can change from time to time, but generally needs to be in writing.    

So once the creditor has followed all the rules by the book in seizing a vehicle, it may be put up for sale. Specific laws also regulate the conduct of creditors on how they’re allowed to dispose of the vehicle. Sometimes they may wish to retain the car as reward, or rather opt to sell it. Generally speaking these financial institutions will either use a public or private platform. If public, the opportunity arises for civilians to participate in the repossessed car auction. 

To read about some bidding strategies and tips, read Part 2 of the article on buy repo cars. 

Are you struggling to find worthwhile repossessed cars?    This may be you. If this is the case I suggest you take a look at SeizeCars.   They have an unbeatable resource of up to date car auctions in an area close to you. They bring an end to fruitless searches for no-good auctions. Click here to take a look!