Prior to meeting me my husband had a car repossessed while he was deployed. We now live in a different state. We are considering a lawsuit again the bank because they are required by law to sell the vehicle in a commercially reasonable manner. However it was sold at private sale for 1/2 the KBB value. Can we file suit in our current state of residence? Anyone have any experience with a similar situation?
Also we found out that it was a ‘private sale’ not a public auction.
2 Responses
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mercedes Says:
You can figure the car was sold the way the bank routinely sells repos at a wholesale auction in, what is in the trade, a commercially reasonable manner. You can sue anybody you want. You can also spit into the wind. Since you are in different states, you would have to sue in US District Court.(Normally you would sue in state court but because of diversity of domicile, you have access to federal court. Either way it will probably be a waste of time and money.
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rickinnocal Says:
You must sue in the state where the defendant is domiciled – i.e. where the bank has its registered office, or the State where the cause of action arose – i.e. where the repossession occurred.
Ignore the guy who said US District Court. THere is no Federal cause of action here, unless the repossession violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act – and even most actions under that must be brought in State court.
Richard
