I brought a car from a dealership garage and they sorted the finance
out for me. I paid the first 5 months payments, then I stoped as I
heard nothing from the Finance company. I got a phone call last week,
10 months later requesting that I either surrender the car or pay the
total arias.

Surrending the car will mean that they sell the car at auction and I
will have to pay the out-standing balance. I am told that I can't sell
the car private via myself as they own the car and that I've not paid
the out-standing balance.

Things are abit slow at my end and am going to find raising the funds
very difficult. But if I surrender the car I will only get 25% of what
I brought it for!

What are my other options, if any!?
What legal rights do I have regarding this?

*how can I give the car up with out paying as much?"

I know I am asking alot but, I thought it's worth a try!

Hello ozmandos-ga,

I'm going to try to outline this issue for you so that you know the
options that are available to you.

I am to assume from the first paragraph of your question, that you are
10 to 11 months delinquent on your payments. Being that you are this
far in debt to them, they do have every legal right to repossess the
car and sell it auction or demand that everything in arrears is paid
completely. When you agreed to finance this car, you agree to make
timely payments on a schedule and when this contact is violated, they
have the options they presented to you.

However, do not fear, as there are some steps you can take to try and
fix this situation.

First of all, I would recommend calling the finance company and
speaking with them calmly and honestly. Being that you're the one who
has defaulted on the financing agreement, they do NOT have to work
with you. However, a bit of kindness and honesty can go a long way.
Talk to them about payment arrangements.  If there is a way you could
split the amount in arrears into three or five payments instead of due
immediately. They may be willing to work with you if you work with
them.

However, due to the amount of time you have been delinquent, they may
not be willing to offer you the trust payment arrangements would
require. If you have to, ask to speak with a manager as they can do
more then first tier representatives at the finance companies
sometimes.

Secondly, you cannot sell the car, that is correct. Since it has been
financed, the finance company holds the title as the lessor* until the
financed amount is paid off. You can?t sell a car to anyone without
signing over the title, which is not in your name, nor do you have
access to it. The only place that can legally sell that vehicle is the
finance company, who typically does that by auction, but since they
won?t make back all the financed money, you will still be legally
obligated to pay off the rest of your debt to them. However, in this
situation, since you no longer have the vehicle, they may be more
willing to make payment arrangements with you to pay off the amount
you ?upside down? on, or still owe after the finance company auctions
off the vehicle.

Lessor* 
Under the finance agreement, the finance company that is the legal
owner of the asset is known as the lessor. The Motor Vehicles Act,
1988 - Section 51 contains special provisions regarding motor vehicle
subject to hire-purchase agreement, etc. In case of vehicles financed
under hire-purchase, lease or loan agreement, the name of the lessor
is mentioned as a financier.


I?m sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news, but the only way you
can give up the car legally is to the finance company, and you are not
going to get out of owing what is left of the financed balance. This
is part of the worry with financing, should something like this
happen, so that the companies can be sure they get their money that is
due to them for giving you a loan to buy a vehicle on credit.

I recommend if you have any further questions about what you may be
able to do in this situation, you contact a lawyer in your area to
help you review your specific finance contract and see if there are
any loopholes that you may be able to work with in keeping the vehicle
and resuming payments

Find a lawyer:
http://lsbr.respond.com/shopping/showcategories.jsp?&bd=11017&src=11017&db=1&cat=1700000010

http://www.legalmatch.com/bd/intro1.html?keyword=find+a+lawyer&engine=adwords


Google search
How financing works
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=how%20financing%20works&btnG=Google+Search

How Stuff Works: Car financing
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-financing.htm

Articles on defaulting and repossession
http://www.cccsintl.org/susan/rep.htm

FTC information on defaulted loans and repossession and some tips to
help you work the situation out
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/autos/carrepo.htm

?Lectric Law article on repossession and rights
http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cos18.htm

Repossession
http://www.rlc.org.au/factsheets/credit/cd06.html

Debt problems and solutions to repossession
http://www.doney.net/dp&s_car.htm

If this answer requires further explanation, please request
clarification before rating it, and I'll be happy to look into this
further.
Nenna-GA
Google Answers Researcher

Your options are limited. 
1. Let them take it to auction.  By far the worst thing to do and
should be avoided at ALL costs.
2. Determine what you can reasonably sell the car for and check with
your financial institution about a personal loan to cover the
difference.  The creditor will allow you to sell the car, you just
will not be able to get the title until full payment is received.
3. It's a long shot, but attempt to work out a payment plan with the
creditor.  Explain the situation, be persistant but not forceful. 
They are well within their rights.

Find a buyer to front you the money to pay off the car -- assuming you
can cover the difference. You will have to sell at a significant
discount to though. Letting it go to auction may be your best
alternative. Check up on the auction to make sure no double dealing is
going on. You would have legal recourse if you can show the company is
committing fraud during the auction process.

First of all, do you have the original paperwork from when you bought the car? 
If so, did you recieve any paperwork that said you agreed to pay a set
amount a month? If you do, then there is no way out, and I would
suggest that you take out a personal loan.
If there is no paperwork that determines a set amount, then you have
to ask the financial institution for proof that you agreed to certain
amount a month. If they do no provide a document with your signature
and/or initials on it, and if they can not prove they sent you a month
statement, then you have some leverage. If that is the case, tell them
that since they don't have proof and failed to send out their monthly
statements, you wish to resume payments without penalty. You can
always argue that they had your address and number, and if there was a
problem in the first place,they should have sent you a letter
confirming it.