The creditor must have a current security interest in the vehicle. Sometimes the contract itself is not enough to put a valid security interest in your vehicle (or other property allegedly attached to the loan) and additional legal requirements must be met for them to properly attach your property to the loan agreement. The lender must also have a section for default in the contract covering the alleged wrong-doing (usually nonpayment of a bill), as well as a valid “acceleration clause” to bring the full loan amount due- otherwise they are only entitled to the payments currently past due. Without a valid security interest, a fair clause for default, and a valid acceleration clause in the contract, the creditor may not have a current security interest in the vehicle. If you believe that your contract does not cover the property a creditor is claiming, contact Attorney Tye A. Reiman and we may be able to help.

Even if the contract covers payment default, you must fully be behind on your payments before a self-help repossession can legally occur. Sometimes just through error a debt owner will claim a consumer is in default when they truly are not. Further, under Iowa law, you likely have 10 days before a payment can be in default for Consumer Credit Transactions. If your vehicle or other property was repossessed within 10 days of your payment due date, contact Attorney Tye A. Reiman and we may be able to help.

You have a right to proper accounting of your payments and interest of your loan, but creditors often don’t keep their records correctly because many consumers never question them. Once your vehicle is repossessed, any sale profits should go towards your remaining balance. If you believe your records are being incorrectly computed or that the creditor is not the holder of your account, contact Attorney Tye A. Reiman and we may be able to help.

A self-help repossession must not breach the peace. The law wants to promote peacefulness ahead of any private property dispute, so the debt owner has an absolute duty to make sure self-help repossessions do not breach the peace. That breach of peace can simply a clear resistance to the repossession that could threaten violence, and often takes the form of shouting matches and threats from repossession agents (though it doesn’t matter who breaches the peace because debt owners have the absolute duty to not let peace be breached in a self-help repossession). If you experience a confrontation during a repossession or it occurs over your clear objection, contact Attorney Tye A. Reiman and we may be able to help.

Unless a court order, signed by a judge, is issued, Iowa Law Enforcement must not assist in a self-help repossession. Law Enforcement may be present to “keep the peace” but if the police are called, there almost certainly is already a breach of the peace in progress, which should end the repossession attempt. A great way for the officer to keep the peace is to simply ask the repossession agent to leave. Self-help repossession is not an absolute right and if police tell you to give up your property against your objection, they may be “taking sides”, which may be against the law in Iowa. Do not argue with officers but state politely that the repossession is against your objection-Then contact Attorney Tye A. Reiman and we may be able to help.

Iowa consumers have a right to redeem their property before it is sold. To do so, you will likely be required to pay off the full remaining balance on your loan. However, this can be useful when you have made most of your payments and have a low amount left to pay (if you can find a way to pay all at once) or if you believe you can convince other people to participate in any sale to raise the price, resulting in a lower remaining balance that is owed or a higher profit you take home.

As a consumer, you have the right to notice of sales of your property and have a right to an accounting of the proceeds of such sales, so that you are able to determine that the property was sold in a fair way. If you believe the debt owner is unjustly keeping a surplus or charging for an unreasonable remaining loan balance, contact Attorney Tye A. Reiman and we may be able to help.

The vehicle must be sold in a commercially reasonable fashion. Often times this does not happen because the creditor knows that if they rush the sale, they still can come after consumers for any deficiency between the sale price and the value of your loan, or sometimes try to deny you the profit from the sale of your property. Too often, debt owners can get away with this because the every day person does not understand their rights in these situation. If you believe your vehicle was sold not sold in a commercially reasonable fashion, contact Attorney Tye A. Reiman and we may be able to help.

Please provide your information and a summary of your situation below, call us at 515-329-6603, or email Attorney Tye A. Reiman directly at TyeReiman@ConsumerLawOfficeLLC.com for a free consultation about your case to see if Tye is able to assist you.