Wow 2015. I have actually just spent the first week of the New Year trying to take in all the progress I have made and all the goals I have set for myself. As mentioned in the sidebar, my goals are in no particular order largely because it was too exhausting trying to decide what should come first. I have had enough stress the last few years and do not want to continue that way going forward. Once I felt centered I figured I would just be guided to handle each goal in whatever order I was meant to and that would be ok.
So here I am having a loungey TV binge day at home (I just discovered Switched at Birth and am almost done with season 1) and there is a knock on my door. I am not the type to have guests so knocks are usually the landlord, someone needing directions, or well meaning religious types. Turns out it was one of my neighbors that I have seen around a few times. I have lived in this complex for a few years, but I pretty much keep to myself or am gone a lot so I do not really know any of the other tenants. She came by to inquire about my old car (the one I still need to deal with) that I have parked here and registered in non-operational status. I just told her that it is a hunk of junk that no longer runs (which is true), I am still making payments on it (not exactly true), and when it is paid off I am dumping it at the nearest junkyard.
Well funny thing is she loves it and does not care how much work it needs. She thinks it is adorable, is mechanically inclined, and sees it as a fun project for herself. She said when I am done paying on it she would love to take it off my hands. Visually it is cute so I kind of get that, but why on earth would she want to waste the time and money fixing it up? I rattled off all the repairs I had to do over the years because of its poor design, the high cost of insurance (I do not currently have it insured to save money), and just what a huge pain in the ass it turned out to be despite its cuteness lol. And after all that she is still interested! Weird right? I guess this is the universe telling me that I should begin working on this goal now.
I actually do not know the current status of the vehicle and was thinking of using that EAP service through my employer to talk with a lawyer about it. When things got bad (as detailed in my post The Indebted and the Irresponsible) I was not able to keep up with the payment and the lender would not work with me, surprise surprise. I figured they would eventually just pick up the car, but that did not happen. Then a couple of years ago I got some tax forms (which I filed as part of my return) in the mail related to the loan because I assume they were writing it off their books. They still did not pick up the car, I still do not have the title, and I have not heard from them since those tax forms so the status is unclear to me.
At this point it is not really worth anything so taking it back would not do them any good, but I am thinking there is room to reach some kind of settlement on whatever amount they were not able to write off in exchange for the title. That is why I figured talking to a lawyer might be a good idea and then they could handle that kind of negotiation and explain all the fine print to me. If that is indeed possible and my neighbor is still interested then I have no problem letting her have it as I am ready to let it go.
Out with the Old?
January 11th, 2015 at 02:27 am
January 11th, 2015 at 03:06 am 1420945609
January 11th, 2015 at 04:01 am 1420948884
January 11th, 2015 at 04:45 am 1420951541
You might try requesting a duplicate title; it may or may not work, depending on how the title was issued -- on my last financed car, I was on the title but the financing company was on as a lienholder. Sometimes the financing company is the only one on the title. In that case you could run a Carfax report, it won't tell you exactly whose name is on the title, but it will give you the type of owner, year the title was issued/transferred, state(s) in which the car was registered, etc., which would at least tell you if they still hold the title.
January 11th, 2015 at 07:48 pm 1421005736