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Can i be arrested for not having stuff for secured loan?
Anonymous2 views4 answers
i have a secured loan..i lost my job yr and a half ago the stuff used to secure the loan was lost to pawn shops or sold to pay rent ..i am 4 months behind on payments they are now telling me they are going to have me arrested if i dont have the stuff on the loan..can they do that?
Yes they can do that. It appears you have already told them what you have done. In Newnan, First Franklin has pursued the debt in bankruptcy by alleging nondischargability through fraud. A motion to avoid lien on household goods may not work if a creditor challenges the motion by asserting there is no lien to avoid because the property no longer exists. Also, sale of the items doesn't actually extinguish the lien so it may possibly be avoided by identifying the property in your schedule of assets or in your statement of affairs, who the items were sold to and their address. On the other hand, some creditors never file the UCC financing statements at the courthouse and the debt may not be secured at all. All this is fun for attorneys but not to clients. Get an attorney who wants to have some fun or find out how to search UCC filings yourself.
It may be a crime in your state to dispose of the collateral for a secured loan -- it's a misdemeanor in Massachusetts, where I practice. If so, the lender can certainly file a criminal complaint against you. It would be up to the police whether they would arrest you. You need to contact a local criminal defense attorney to learn how serious a threat this really is.
Technically, disposing of an asset you pledged as collateral for a loan could be considered Theft by Conversion under Georgia law, and I am seeing a few finance companies take this road. Instead of suing you on the loan, they file for a writ of possession, allowing them to come and take the property listed as collateral. If you admit to them that you no longer have it, or they come out and you don't have it, they file for a warrant application. Some magistrates will read the law and give them a warrant after a hearing. I have had several people come in to see us after being arrested for this, and none of them have actually been prosecuted by the DA's office. However, being arrested is not fun, and you have to bond out to boot. We have been successful in avoiding this for all of the clients who have come to us before the writ of possession or warrant hearing, but those who go in alone can run into trouble. A bankruptcy puts this to bed, eliminates the debt, and will force the magistrate judge to stop any pending cases like this. The amount you owe many not be enough to warrant filing a bankruptcy, but should at least consult with an attorney about defending you from the finance company's tactics.
Under Georgia law you can be charged with a crime, and I have seen some creditors pursue it.
As a double whammy, if you file bankruptcy, some creditors might allege fraud and try to bat discharge.
This is a fact dependent question where you need to stop talking to the creditor as what you have been saying may hang you, and you need to treat this an emergency and speak to a bankruptcy lawyer about your options before you get arrested or sued.
Call me at 404-768-3509 if you wish to explore your options.
