HI went bankrupt 2 years ago. I got to keep my old truck as my vehicle. I did owe a bank money on the truck, i had a loan.

This happens a lot in Bankruptcy and can be quite frustrating. Even though your creditor states you owe know no money that is due to the discharge in Bankruptcy which eliminates personal liability. The Bankruptcy does not eliminate the lien on the vehicle. The creditor is not obligated to release the lien if there is a balance owed. You can make an offer to the car lender to pay a lower amount that you owe in exchange for releasing title this may be the quickest and least expensive option. The other option is to seek a declaratory judgment to quiet title in a local court. Finally, depending on the facts of the case this could be a violation of the discharge. You should contact the attorney that filed your original case as that person would be familiar with your case and the laws in your state.

Did you reaffirm the debt on the vehicle? Or was the debt discharged in your Chapter 7 case? If you did not reaffirm the debt on the vehicle, it was discharged. The lien on the vehicle survived, because this was a secured debt, and the lien was recorded on the title. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. You cannot walk away from the debt on the truck, and expect the lien to be satisfied as well. You need to approach the banker, and agree to pay the bank a sum of money to obtain a release on the certificate of title. Offer them around 45 or 50 cents on the dollar in a lump sum to get rid of their lien. You have no other way of resolving this problem in Michigan. If you were to file suit to have the lien voided by a court, the bank would show that their lien was legitimately recorded on the title to the vehicle.

Eventhough you are no longer personally responsible for the loan, the lender has no legal obligation to release the lien on the vehicle until you have actually paid off the loan. So, in order to get a clean title to the vehicle, you must pay the outstanding balance on the loan.

Your bankruptcy did not end the debt or the lien on your truck. The discharge order forbids the bank from taking any action to collect on the DEBT, however, it does not forbid the bank from taking action on the lien- the attachment to the truck. So, even though the debt itself is barred, the bank could repo the truck if the terms of the loan are not met. Most banks will repo even if the terms of the loan are met, i.e. payments current, insurance on the truck unless you "reaffirmed" the debt during the bankruptcy. Whether or not you formally reaffirmed the debt the bank is not required to release it's lien until the debt associated with the lien is satisfied. You could surrender the truck and the bank cannot go after you for a deficiency, but release of the lien is a separate issue.