Can I sue for wrongful repossession?

If your car has been repossessed, it has to be done legally. But many repo companies or their employees don’t follow the law. It’s common to have errors, such as the wrong car being repossessed. And even major car companies we’ve all heard of do this on a regular basis.

If your car or other vehicle has been wrongfully repossessed, you may have a legal claim against whoever did it, and the company who directed it. That’s especially true if you’ve been physically injured somehow by an overly-aggressive “repo man.” And if you’ve been injured by a wrongful repossession, fill out our form or give us a call and we may be able to help.

What is wrongful repossession of a vehicle?

“Wrongful repossession” is a legal theory that lets you sue someone who does something improper while repossessing a vehicle or other property. Usually this comes up when someone’s car gets repossessed. The law can be very different across states, and our attorneys practice in a number of different states, but we can give examples.

In Georgia for example, where we have several attorneys, a car can only be repossessed if whoever is repossessing it “can do so without breach of the peace.” Corbin v. Regions Bank, 258 Ga. App. 490, 574 S.E.2d 616 (2002). So what’s a “breach of the peace?”

Georgia requires “oral protest” about the repossession if you’re the one who has the car. The law says that: “If collateral, such as a car, is on the streets or in a parking lot, no breach of peace will occur if the secured party takes it without protest or out of the presence of the debtor.” Fulton v. Anchor Sav. Bank, 215 Ga. App. 456, 452 S.E.2d 208 (1994). That’s legalese that basically means that if they can find the car out in the open and you’re not there, there isn’t a breach of peace. But if you’re there orally tell them not to repossess the car, or protest against it, it’s a “breach of the peace” to go ahead and do it. You don’t really have to do anything else other than record yourself politely protesting against the repossession, and you would have a legal claim.

Sometimes a breach of the peace is more serious. “Repo men” don’t have a great reputation for following the law. Sometimes they break into private property, or even fight with or use physical force against people who are peacefully telling them that the repossession is improper. Sometimes they trespass or do other illegal things to get the car and get their money.

None of that is okay. Repossessing a car can be legal, but not if it’s unsafe or done improperly. And doing it improperly creates risks that people will get hurt, which is exactly why you can sue over it.

What if a company repossesses the wrong car?

We’ve seen multiple situations in which major car companies whose names you’ve definitely heard of just take someone’s car out of nowhere. That sounds crazy, but it happens more than you’d think. They have some error in their system, and nobody catches it, and then they hire a repossession company to go take a car or truck that you have full ownership over. Or the company they hire to do the repossession messes up something basic and just takes the wrong car because it has a similar color or is in a similar location.

In this case, it’s not a whole lot different than straight car theft. It’s not their car, they have no legal rights to it at all, but they towed it and hauled it off to auction.

That’s textbook wrongful repossession. You can’t just repossess some random car. And if you do, there are legal consequences.

What if my car is repossessed with someone inside it?

This is another scenario that’s happened before: the repo company taking a car with someone sitting in it. One Georgia case had that happen with the owner inside it. Roach v. Barclays Am./Credit, Inc., 164 Ga. App. 616, 298 S.E.2d 304 (1982). An even crazier case happened in Texas, a state our attorneys also practice in. Here’s how the Texas Supreme Court described it:

“Two men dispatched to Sanchez’s home found the car parked in the driveway, and hooked it to a tow truck. Sanchez demanded that they cease their efforts and leave the premises; but the men nonetheless continued with the repossession. Before the men could tow the automobile into the street, Sanchez jumped into the car, locked the doors, and refused to leave. The men then towed the car at a high rate of speed, with Sanchez inside, to the repossession yard. They parked the car in the fenced repossession yard and padlocked the gate. Sanchez was left in the repossession lot, with a Doberman pinscher guard dog loose in the yard, until later rescued by her husband and police.”

Mbank El Paso, N.A. v. Sanchez, 836 S.W.2d 151 (Tex. 1992).

To be clear, you definitely shouldn’t do what Mrs. Sanchez did in that case. It’s okay to verbally tell them the repossession is improper, and it’s okay (and a good idea) to videotape yourself protesting. But Mrs. Sanchez still won her lawsuit before the Texas Supreme Court. They held that when a company decides to go outside the court system and repossess a car themselves, they’re taking on certain risks. And they certainly can’t leave someone locked in a car alone in a scrap yard with a Doberman on patrol.

What if my car is repossessed with property inside it?

You may have a claim there, too. In California, a lawsuit happened when a boxer sued his manager after the manager had his car repossessed. The boxer said there was $300 in cash and valuable tickets to one of his boxing matches in the car. The judge held that he could sue over the loss of that property because it wasn’t returned to him. Diaz v. Heredia, No. 5:20-cv-02332-JWH-KKx, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 213069 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 15, 2022).

What if the repo company injures me somehow?

Any kind of physical injury would be something the repossession company (and whoever sent them there) may be responsible for. In most states, they’re not supposed to continue with the repossession if there’s any chance of a “breach of the peace” or any physical injury or confrontation. If that’s happening, it’s probably because they went ahead with it. And if they used physical force against you as part of the repossession, it’s not okay, and you may have a valid lawsuit.

If you think your vehicle may have been wrongfully repossessed, fill out our form and our attorneys will contact you to evaluate whether you have a claim.