Is it legal for car company to keep your personal property after it has been repossessed?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Is it legal for car company to keep your personal property after it has been repossessed?
Asked on April 13, 2011 under General Practice, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
No; this is not even remotely legal. Your personal property is your personal property; except in the highly unlikely event that you had provided them an additional security interest in some other item of property that was in the car, it all has to be returned to you. You may sue the company for the current value (which is not necessarily the original cost; e.g. a 3-year laptop computer would be worth less now than the price you originally paid for it) in the event they do not voluntarily return the property. Note that you can only seek the economic value--there is no recovery, for example, for the sentimental value of lost photographs. You may also need to be able to establish the value of the items.
In addition, if you have homeowner's insurnace, you might have the option of filing a "theft" claim under it.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.