Home > Research Legal Advice > Contracts / Agreements > Do I have the legal right to "repo" a car i co-own and co-signed a loan ...
Asked about 2 years ago - Buffalo, NY
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I co-signed a loan for an automobile about 2 years ago of which I am also the co-owner on the title. Over the past 10 months the primary borrower cut off all contact with the loan company requiring me to keep making payments to avoid damages on my credit. I reciently paid off the loan in full to be done with the harrassing phone calls. The primary borrower still has the car and says they do not have the money to pay me back right now. They also refuse to give me the car instead of the money. I consulted with the police and they informed me that I have every right to take the car, but because it is on the other party's property they may hit me with tresspassing charges if I try to go get it.
Do I have the legal right to "repo" the car considering I am listed as an owner?
Unless you have a contract with your co-borrower and co-owner that says you have a secured interest in the debt unless and until they pay your back as they promised, and unless you perfected that security interest by filing the requisite UCC forms so that you could foreclose, I think the police are wrong, and that you don't have every right to this "self-help" method of getting the car.
I think you should get a judgment against your co-borrower and co-owner, as my colleague suggested, and then execute on that judgment by attaching the car.
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