It’s very unlikely she is leasing another car in the near future with a repo on her credit, so she should start thinking about a Plan-B. Good she’s thinking about her budget, but very few vehicles are leasing well these days.
I see you tagged NY and ME, which state is she actually living in? Trying to get a sense of both the sales tax and any trade-in credit for sales tax (in her situation, e.g. if I lived in a state that taxed the whole lease but also offered a trade-in credit on the sales tax, I would definitely do the math on spending $3k to resuscitate this, only to trade it in on a purchase).
One other thing she should check: current payoff and what a third party would buy it for.
We haven’t mentioned what kind of BMW it is, I suspect it doesn’t have any equity, but if it does that’s worth considering.
I’m treating this more like “a friend…” post, so I’ll gently suggest that she register here on LH and engage herself. These sorts of things happen, everyone here is rooting for a positive outcome, but in our experience talking through a third party is always less engaging/impactful than if the actual person having the issue is involved in the conversation. She is cordially invited to jump in here so we can help her find a solution, and it’s not all on you.
Hello I’m his GF thank you everyone for all the advice given to us. BMW is 2021 white x228i. I don’t have much knowledge on what to do with this situation. I’m stressed because my lease was up in March and don’t want my credit being messed up. So not sure if I pay 3,082 which is mostly fees they’re charging me for being 60 days late or mess my credit up and leave the involuntary repossession.
Again thank you for all the help it’s much appreciated
If this has been reported to credit agencies, it’s probably too far gone. Unless you can get in writing and confirmed again in writing by someone else that paying the fee it won’t go on your record, it’s probably a lost cause. Sorry to hear about your situation.
Welcome! Take some time to read through what was shared here, and feel free to ask any questions.
Now that we know what the car is, I’d suggest:
You can plug-in the VIN, mileage, and condition. With less than an hour of effort, you should be able to get a half-dozen actual estimates to see what this car is worth.
There already is (and will be) a ding a your credit report, but you’re asking the right question: do I spend the money to recover this, or eject and deal with the replacement 6 months early. To my point above, having an idea what the replacement would be (consider buying, not leasing, something Asian with a warranty until the loan is paid-off), and what the impact will be.
On the impact, this is a very useful thread:
You will want to spend some time reading through, but while you are doing there you should pull your 3 credit bureaus to see what is actually on which, and get your current FICO scores. You are eligible for a free credit report every year, and often your Bank or Credit Card might give you your current FICO (not Credit Karma) score for free - 2 of my credit cards offer it right inside their app. If not, you can pay for a FICO subscription and get it - I’d recommend paying $30 for the Advanced and cancelling after 1 month:
Also check out the tips here:
Did BMW give you any kind of deadline by which to respond to them, before they close the repossession and send your car to auction? How long do you have to make a decision?
I hate to add further complication to the situation but you probably want to look into your State’s law on deficiency judgements. If you don’t pay to get the car out and the bank sells it at auction, there is a chance the car sells for less than what you owe at auction. In that case, the bank may have the right (state laws differ - not legal advice) to go after you for the difference. BMW financial services won’t sue you but they may sell your debt to a collection agency.
Lot of mays and possiblies there but you might want to be aware that the harm in not redeeming the car goes beyond a ding to your credit.
It’s hard to say what, if anything, can be done in this situation. Repos are bad, they stay on credit report and will prevent her from getting a car in future, or will subject her to subprime, punitive interest rates. That’s why it’s best not to let this happen. There are few things you must absolutely do your best not to fall behind, your mortgage and car payments are one of them.
Now that the car has been repossessed you can try to contact the financial institution and offer them (in writing) to pay the amount due in exchange for not reporting the incident to credit bureaus. Unfortunately for your GF, the staff that answers the phones and deals with customer issues usually takes things personally and wants to prove a moral point (“you did something wrong, you didn’t pay your dues, you knew you had to but you chose not to, now you must face consequences, be punished/reported to credit bureaus, even if you want to pay up whatever amount you owe and be done with it. No, it’s too late”).
Sometimes, if you send them a copy of the written complaint (ready to be filed in court of law), they will pass it to their attorneys, and attorneys are the easiest people to deal with. They always think in business terms (couldn’t care less about teaching your GF life lessons), will calculate the cost of responding to your complaint and filing a motion to dismiss, and may advise client to just take money and close the matter with no fuss. Even settle for less than she owes. But, nothing should be taken for granted, and chances are none of this will work. If car payment defaults are recurrent and a big problem for the bank, they may dedicate resources to teach bad debtors a lesson , to make others aware that they mean business.
In any event that’s not the end of the world. It’s not a deadly disease. She will get over it eventually and hopefully will not make the same mistake again.
Does she not have a credit card to pay it off on them slowly make those payments, foregoing entertainment and other excesses in the meantime? Short term punishment for the situation but better then losing her job potentially and being in an even bigger world of hurt.
Too late now but 3 years ago she should have been leasing or bought something with a lower payment. Not too late to learn from the mistake to always consider future financial earning potential before leasing the “luxury” car over the cheaper practical one.
Sorry if this was discussed just briefly skimmed the thread.
Are you able to pay most of it and stay current for the remainder of the term? Have you tried negotiating the late fees down? Would probably need to escalate this and be ready, willing and able to pay over the phone if they give you a break.
I’m sure that ship has sailed… The repossession has taken place, BMW FS will auction off the car and bill her for the remaining deficiency balance and may or may not get a judgement to collect it.
Just wanted jump here again and say thank you guys for all the helpful advice shared to us. We decided to just pay whatever is needed to get the car back. That way she’s able to go back and forth to work. Then come March she will have to figure out what to do regarding a new lease, possibly will need a co-signer but it is what it is at this point.
Set backs happen, just super appreciative of all the help from this community.
How about a second job or weekend job. Even at $20 an hr, 4 weekends every month will make those payments. It sucks to work at Amazon to pay off a bmw but guess who did it and came out better for it
Consider ending the relationship, this is a major financial red flag. You do not want to risk losing a future home, that your family and children would depend on with a partner who’s demonstrated consistent poor judgement.
No offense (since this is your first post), but I don’t think their relationship (beyond the concrete questions that were posed by them) is any of our business.
Partnerships don’t have to always be financial arrangements. She made a mistake, he’s helping her, seems like they have it figured out and are moving forward with a plan. One mistake isn’t a red flag, they’re human too and we don’t know their circumstances.
If you can have BMWFS just put everything on credit card or take a small loan out to pay it off. Paying fees is better than a repossession on your credit.
