“My son just called to let me know that both his vehicles were repossessed today. He is panicked and not sure what his rights are. The Nissan Corp. has told him that his only options are a) pay total remainder due on each vehicle or b) forget it. They’ve told him he cannot catch up on the amounts in arrears and regain possession of the vehicles. Somehow it doesn’t seem right that they would want to take a loss on the vehicles. Is gamesmanship afoot here or is my son completely screwed?”

It is unlikely that there is gamesmanship afoot here. Your son undoubtedly got several notices of his being behind, and then defaulting, on the loans against his vehicles. Put yourself in the place of the creditor. After months of not receiving any payments, it took a repo for your son to step up to the plate and offer to make some payments on his (two?) vehicles. To the creditor, it’s obvious that your son overextended himself; why would they give him the vehicles back, only to have the same scenario repeat itself? From where they stand, it’s financially much better to cut their losses (if any), and be done with it.

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