WHat rights a company has to collect collateral after a bancruptcy?

In November 2010 I filed for a full BK. In January 2011 the BK discharged. In March I was contacted by a lender stating the loan was secured and they had rights to collect the merchandise. They offered me the option of paying the loan but I chose to surrender the merchandise, as it鈥檚 not worth anything close to what they want me to pay. Here are my questions.



1. Do they even have a right at this point? They had an opportunity to collect and fight a lift stay when I filed in November. Are they not now barred to collect? That is why a debtor who intends to continue to use the collateral in its bankruptcy estate cannot afford to ignore a lift stay motion.

a. I am considering ignoring them and then dispute it on my credit since they

are listed in the schedule and no reaffirmation was signed.

2. How long do they have to collect? There has to be a limit that the courts would consider reasonable. Such as I told them to collect and 90 (or 180 or whatever) days they still did not collect therefore they no longer have legal rights.

3.Can they still come after me for the difference in the value compared to what I owe on the loan despite the fact it was claimed in my BK papers?



After dealing with this company (Jayco Acceptance) I know they are very shady and I am confident they will stop at nothing to make this difficult. Even to the point of breaking the law since as a consumer we are have limited resources to fight, and often don鈥檛 know what the law is.WHat rights a company has to collect collateral after a bancruptcy?
you paid your bk attorney to answer exactly these questions.



i'm not an attorney -- just a businessman. my understanding of bk situations was [and the law may have changed since the last time i fought such an action]:



1. the bk did not extinguish their right to repossess the collateral, unless you actually delivered it as part of the process.



2. no limit on the collateral. their right exists as long as the collateral does, or until you surrender it.



3. no. the excess amount owed over and above the collateral's value was, afaik from the description, extinguished in the bk filing.



4. they can report the fact of the repossession to credit reporting agencies, yes. however, since the excess amount isn't legally due, they can't report it as a debt after seizing the collateral.



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the way to think of this is in terms of a car. the purchase money lender's lien on the car is not extinguished in bankruptcy and they can repo the car if you fail to keep up the payments. What they can't do is take any actions to recover the amount by which the loan exceeds the value of the car if they repo the car.

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