I was activated in Feb 2003 and sent to Iraq until March 2004. I am in the Georgia National Guard . While overseas the Military started collecting a Debt from a previous deployment which cut my pay in half . I have a wife and three kids at home . All they had enough for was food and utilities . The finance company that I was buying my vehile from knew I was activated because they lowered my intrest rate to 6%. Two weeks after I got back from Iraq (while I was still on active duty) they repo'd my vehicle . Am I protected under the SSRA and if so What do I need to do ?

You might start by asking where their court order to do so is. You might also give them a copy of the below which may indicate they may not be correct in their action. There are penalities for such. Also take this to the base legal officer and see what they will do to help you.


‘‘SEC. 302. PROTECTION UNDER INSTALLMENT CONTRACTS FOR PURCHASE
OR LEASE.
‘‘(a) PROTECTION UPON BREACH OF CONTRACT.—
‘‘(1) PROTECTION AFTER ENTERING MILITARY SERVICE.—After
a servicemember enters military service, a contract by the
servicemember for—
‘‘(A) the purchase of real or personal property
(including a motor vehicle); or
‘‘(B) the lease or bailment of such property,
may not be rescinded or terminated for a breach of terms
of the contract occurring before or during that person’s military service, nor may the property be repossessed for such breach without a court order.
50 USC app. 532.
Deadline.
Federal Register,
publication.
VerDate 11-MAY-2000 04:41 Jan 08, 2004 Jkt 029139 PO 00189 Frm 00012 Fmt 6580 Sfmt 6581 E:\PUBLAW\PUBL189.108 BILLW PsN: PUBL189

PUBLIC LAW 108–189—DEC. 19, 2003
‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies only to a contract for which a deposit or installment has been paid by the servicemember before the servicemember enters military service.
‘‘(b) PENALTIES.—
‘‘(1) MISDEMEANOR.—A person who knowingly resumes
possession of property in violation of subsection (a), or in violation of section 107 of this Act, or who knowingly attempts to do so, shall be fined as provided in title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
‘‘(2) PRESERVATION OF OTHER REMEDIES AND RIGHTS.—The
remedies and rights provided under this section are in addition to and do not preclude any remedy for wrongful conversion otherwise available under law to the person claiming relief under this section, including any award for consequential and punitive damages.
‘‘(c) AUTHORITY OF COURT.—In a hearing based on this section,
the court—
‘‘(1) may order repayment to the servicemember of all or
part of the prior installments or deposits as a condition of
terminating the contract and resuming possession of the property;
‘‘(2) may, on its own motion, and shall on application by
a servicemember when the servicemember’s ability to comply
with the contract is materially affected by military service, stay the proceedings for a period of time as, in the opinion of the court, justice and equity require; or
‘‘(3) may make other disposition as is equitable to preserve

May the bank take possession of a vehicle inwhich the loan is in default? The parents are to bring the vehicle to the bank for voluntary repossession. Possible without a court order?

I would consult counsel. I believe if it is the servicemembers intent to give up the car this is possible. You may need to get some specific documentation that allows you to take and sell it in order to recover some or all of your funds. Done improperly, I fear that your sale could be set aside months or years later and you'd have to make this customer whole. This would likely be at great expense in more ways than one. §302 of the SCRA provides protections and penalties, including "A person who knowingly resumes possession of property in violation of subsection (a), or in violation of section 107 of this Act, or who knowingly attempts to do so, shall be fined as provided in title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both."

Andy, thanks for your response. That was our thinking but we were unsure since it appears to be voluntary on the servicemembers part.

Thanks again for your quick response.

Could I please add another question to this topic. We have a customer that is currently active duty. We lowered the rate upon notice of active duty. The first payment was 29 days late and every payment since inception of the loan. This loan is very past due. While researching our options we determined that SSCRA was not available to this customer as a payment on the debt was not made when called to active duty. Is this where we get a court order to repo? Going Anon so people won't know that I actually made a mistake on give rate reduction in the first place!

You should be protected against this from happening to you. I am a Repo agent myself and a Marine Reservist. Under the Soldiers and Sailors relief act, they are required cut your mortgage and carpayments down to a affordable level to convienece your deployment hardship. I've had vehice orders to retrieve Marine owned vehicles before, and I wont go after them becasue I know they are protected. In most cased however, the finacnce company whom they are delinquent with, may not know they are a servicemeber or guardsman. But legally, if you show your lending agency your deployment orders, that would show that what they did is illegal. However it may be difficult to get the car back since its allready in their possession. The best thing to do to prevent this from occuring agian in the future is to make sure you inform all of your debtors and creditors that you are deploying and even submit to them a copy of your orders and that way you should be covered. I hope this helps.

Under the Soldiers and Sailors relief act, they are required cut your mortgage and carpayments down to a affordable level to convenience your deployment hardship.

Well actually no they are not required to create a payment at a level of convenience to the customer. Lenders are required to reduce the interest rate to 6% and to reduce payments to correspond to the 6% rate.

In some states like California, there are state laws that can require deferment of payments.