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I think Footloose and I answered a similar question on this last year. Footloose's explanation is on the thread above.

BC is a "Seize or Sue" province as per their Personal Property Act which would include your vehicle, unless it was a vehicle used primarily for business. It means the secured creditor can seize or sue, but not both if there is a deficiency. Certain types of leases are not included, but irrelevant since your car was purchased.

Perhaps the credit counsellor thinks that if you surrendered the car, it wouldn't be a repossession. However, the law allows you to voluntarily surrender it if the lender agrees. Just make sure that the surrender extinguishes their right to sue, which it should by law. Perhaps, have the terms quickly reviewed by a lawyer before you sign it. If you let them come to take it, the problem is sometimes they won't and elect to sue. That's, a route you don't want to go because the amount would exceed the $25K BC Small Claims Court limit. Anyhow, I don't think there will be a problem.

If there is a problem, perhaps you could get Stephen Hoddinott to take over the payments. I hear he's looking for something to tow his tear drop trailer.

Here's my situation:

I was involved in a multi level marketing company which when you reach a certain level you get a certain amount of money to use towards a certain car payment. I reached that level and so then went out and bought a car (38,000 after tax) my team all dropped off and I was stuck making the $608 payment for 9 months before going on mat leave. I tried selling it for 5 months with no luck so was forced to close bank account where payments were coming through as my mortgage is more important to pay. When talking with BMW finance they said that because I live in bc that I cannot /will not be sued for the remaining balance after auction if I voluntarily give them back the car and sign the paper. Although when I talked to a credit councillor about this he said to not sign anything and to let them just repossess the car so that my chances of being sued are smaller than if I signed a voluntary repossession form. They call me everyday and so I'm lost as to which option to go. I really don't want to have to pay $10,000 and have a horrible credit score. Please help!

Lol

Thank you so very much for the links they are very helpful.

http://www.canlaw.com/credit/creditors.PDF

See Page 3 for the "seize OR sue" consequences of Conditional Sales Contracts in Alberta. Notice it's not "seize AND sue" (for the outstanding shortfall) as in some other provinces, nor is there a 2/3 payment exemption from seizure for autos as in Ontario.

A couple of other sites:

http://www.bankruptcy-canada.ca/money-management-and-problems/2009/03/what-provinces-in-canada-have-seize-or-sue-legislation-with-regards-to-motor-vehicles.html

http://www.slsedmonton.com/civil/the-law-of-credit/

Back in Dec of 2010 my car was repo'd. The Bailiff called and told me before hand what was going to happen. I missed two payments in 3 years and the bank went straight to repo. I was struggling at the time and was told by the bailiff that if i gave him the car and it was sold at auction. The law in Alberta is such that I won't have to pay the deficiency balance. Now its July 2011 and the bank is now after me for the deficiency balance. I have been looking everywhere online to find out if the info given to me by the bailiff is actually true. So far I haven't been able to find anything about Alberta and its laws regarding this issue. Can someone out there help me?

I would say the ex is being boned by a customs agent.....the issue becomes misuse of personal information by a customs agent who is doing a security search of his girlfriends ex.

Not sure that I understand what the problem is that you are trying to explain.

I fail to see the connection between a vehicle that was repossessed and your ex knowing about the repossession. So like, what's the big deal? You stated that you had gone through a nasty divorce, therefore, what does it matter whether your ex knows that your car was repossessed?

Many vehicle repossessions occur when the owner of the vehicle is not present when the repo man ( bailiff ) picks up the vehicle. It is then customary procedure for the bailiff to contact the local police to inform them of the repossession and where the vehicle can be located ( storage compound or sometimes a dealer's lot ).

When the owner of the vehicle returns to where it was last parked only to find that it is missing, the first instinct is that the vehicle has been stolen. The owner will then immediately contact the local police to report an allegedly stolen vehicle only to be informed that the vehicle was repossessed, who repossessed the vehicle and where it is currently located.

Now, was this vehicle towed to the United States? If so, U.S. Customs would have to have the full paperwork and details on this vehicle.

Where was this vehicle originally purchased and who was doing the financing? To whom were you making your payments and was the ownership of this vehicle in your name or your ex's name?

Perhaps you can shed some light on these questions.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

I had my car repossessed the other day. Unfortunately I could not make the payments as a result of a nasty divorce and wasting money on lawyers.

I am trying to come up with the funds but I am currently looking for work so we will see.
Here is what has happened. My ex wife had a affair with a married guy and his wife knows all about it and the best part is she is ok with it. The ex's boyfriend and wife still live together. Jerry Springer stuff I know.
Anyhow since the divorce had been nasty somehow my ex found out about the repo.
The vehicle repo does get reported to the police. That is what I am told.
Now does a customs agent have the access to the same information?
My belief is that he informed my ex and therefore I feel violated in terms of my privacy
Can any validate if the vehicle repo is accessible by a customs agent?

I agree with footloose...

years back my business crashed... I took my car into the dealership with the intention to voluntarily have it repossessed.

After thinking about the damage it would do to my credit , I decided not to... (I actually paid the rest of the car off with my credit card, and then made payments on my credit card) After we sold off our real estate I was able to clear up the credit card... after all of that my credit score was around 800..

I think the effects of voluntary repossession and having the repo man pick up your car are the same on your credit report... you'll get R9 on your report...