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In Utah can the Constable's office repo your car on a $500 judgement?
Anonymous3 views2 answers
I have a judgement for $500 for missing a court date due to being in the hospital. The constable handling this is very rude, yells and won't listen or work with you just demands. He knows he has power over me but I would like to know just how much power? I'm currently on SSI disability and use my car for getting to and from medical appointments. If I miss a payment the first thing he does is threatens to repo my car. Can he legally do that? I own the car free and clear but, I thought under certain hardships you are granted one vehicle.
As Mr. Abraham has identified, if your vehicle is valued at more than $3,000, the Constable is capable of seizing it and later (after selling the vehicle at auction), returning the first $3,000 to you. However, this means you will be without your car. Although I have represented Debtors in Bankruptcy for 29 years in the District of Utah, your case presents difficulty if you were considering filing a Bankruptcy. First, the filing fee for a Chapter 7 case is $335. If you had $335, you could pay it to the Creditor, and chances are they would not put that much pressure on you before you could pay the remaining $165 on the judgment. Secondly, if you were to file a Bankruptcy, the Trustee would be taking a similar position as the Constable if your car is worth substantially more than the $3,000 amount you have as an exemption. (I hate to admit it, but the Bankruptcy Trustee would probably be a little more understanding, since they would take into account the costs of sale, auctioneer, etc.) Third, it doesn't sound like you have exhausted all of your avenues in the State Court yet. If the $500 judgment was just recently entered, you should bring a Motion under Rule 60 of the Rules of Civil Procedure to have the Court review the judgment. You will need proof of the fact that you were in the hospital during the relevant time periods. I venture to say that no reasonable Judge will punish you for not being in Court if you were laying in a hospital bed. But, seeking relief under Rule 60 has time limitations, so do not delay any further. Once the Creditor is aware that you are seeking further Court review of the judgment, it is most likely that they will instruct the Constable to back off. They don't want to have to answer to the Judge if they take your car after they are aware of the pending motion, and the Judge ultimately rules in your favor. It would not look good for them. In summary: the Constable is not doing anything wrong based on your description, but you still have another option to get the Judge to review the case since you were hospitalized. I wish you the best of luck in getting this matter resolved.
Utah does grant an exemption of the first $3,000.00 of one motor vehicle. If the vehicle is worth more than $3,000.00, then it can be seized and sold, with the first $3,000.00 of the sale going to you. Regardless of how the judgment was obtained it remains legally enforceable, meaning legal means such as execution against non-exempt property is a possibility. The only way to avoid this is to either invalidate the judgment (by having it set aside or paying it off) or through bankruptcy protection.
