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Illinois man totals his Dodge Hellcat, stops payments, and after debt forgiveness, the bank never repossesses it, leaving the wreck stuck in his driveway for two years

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  • Bearded man wearing a black beanie driving a car at night, gripping the steering wheel and looking intently out the side window in dim city lighting.
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  • Haven’t made a payment on this car in 2 years and it’s still in my driveway

    Location: Illinois Not sure where else to post this but I feel like there may be people here who know better or more than I do that can point me in the right direction.
  • I have a car that I financed in 2020. Everything went well until I totaled the car in early 2024.
  • The car was undriveable and I was at fault due to driving in the rain (hit a guard rail because it's a Hellcat with slicks/illegal tires on a wet road) so I couldn't get my insurance to fully cover it.
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  • Stupid decision and overall this is a self inflicted problem, I know. Previously in late 2023, I filed bankruptcy because my mother had gotten cancer and the medical bills had become too costly so I ended up being -$15k in the hole with credit card debt.
  • I was no longer able to make payments for my car and it seemed extremely pointless to pay anyways since the car became unusable.
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  • this is probably how he imagined the future like, less of the wreck stuck in the driveway reality...

    Aerial view of a child riding a bicycle along a quiet suburban street with a red heart-shaped balloon tied to the bike near a driveway and parked car.
  • Apparently my bankruptcy had gotten in the way of the bank repoing my car and the judge denied their request to repossess it for some unknown reason.
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  • The reason is unknown because my bankruptcy lawyer told me the opposite and that they WERE able to repo it at any time (he said this before the judge gave his answer).
  • So i'm not fully sure what actually happened when they asked the judge for permission to repo and why he denied
  • So the car has been sitting in my driveway since late 2023. In September 2025, the bank sent me a letter stating they have decided to forgive my debt and let me off the hook due to me not owing much anymore. on the car.
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  • November 2025 I received a check in the mail from my leftover GAP insurance since my car loan was forgiven.
  • His cat has seen better days

    Close-up of the front grille and headlights of a red Dodge Challenger SRT with the SRT Hellcat logo visible on the grille.
  • I figured the next step would be to ask for a lien release so I can get the title for the car and finally get rid of it.
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  • I call the bank's bankruptcy department immediately and submit a request for lien release paperwork to get the title from the DMV.
  • The bank tells me they will be mailing me my lien release in 10 business days.
  • 10 business days pass, nothing comes in. So I call again, they state the request wasn't properly submitted and that they are going to send it in correctly this time and that I need to wait another 10 business days.
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  • 10 business days pass, still nothing in the mail. At this point I'm extremely confused and call again.
  • Now they're telling me that it's actually a lengthy process, but I should be receiving it in the mail the second week of January.
  • So I wait until the second week of January and still nothing comes in the mail.
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  • After this I figured calling them again would be pointless. I now feel like I have no way to get this d in car out of my driveway lol.
  • I'm currently in a house that i'm renting and my lease expires in 8 months. I'm going to need this lien release before then because I obviously can't just leave this car on my landlord's property.
  • My landlord is a super nice guy but he's starting to get somewhat annoyed from the busted up car sitting in his driveway since 2023 and I feel extremely bad because it definitely comes off as me taking advantage of his kindness when that really isn't the case... because the car is just legally stuck here and I feel like I can't do anything about it but he doesn't care for my explanation lol.
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  • Can anyone give me some advice on what I can even do? Or am I just screwed and completely at the bank's mercy here?
  • Lmao
  • Big_Eye_3908 They probably sent a chaser to locate and photograph the car, and then after seeing the damage decided that they didn't want it. I would keep on them about getting the release. It's probably a process that is a pain for whatever department is responsible for and someone is shuffling the paperwork to the bottom of the stack. If you keep calling the same people, eventually you become a bigger pain than just going ahead and finishing the paperwork.
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  • RegisterOdd2465 Original Poster's Reply On my ring camera I saw that a guy did come and take photos of the car (I wanna say around April of last year) while I was at work. Always wondered who he was or what he was doing. You probably hit the nail on the head here. I will continue to press them, thank you for the advice
  • CatPesematologist The lien and the debt are 2 separate issues. You filed bankruptcy so are no longer responsible for the debt. You likely could have continued payments to satisfy the lien, while not technically being responsible for the debt. The bank has a lien on the collateral. All they did was basically advise you they aren't pursuing the collateral, likely due to the condition. it's not worth it to them to do the legal process and pick it up. That doesn't mean they owe you a lien release. I
  • RegisterOdd2465 Original Poster's Reply It's just so confusing that they told me they were releasing the lien. I wanna continue to try and get it for free, but now i'm curious about the settlement option. I didn't know about this. I would say the car would go for no more than $8k at an auction. Would you happen to know how much they would expect from a settlement for a totaled non usable car worth $8k max? Or is estimating something like this outside of your job title/experience?
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  • mrbuenosdiaz1 If you, or your landlord just want it out of the driveway, he can just call in a private property/unauthorized vehicle tow. Shouldn't cost him anything, and would only cost you, should you want to get it out of the lot, which you wouldn't. After whatever amount of time your area is required, the storage lot will just end up auctioning it off for the storage fees owed.
  • RegisterOdd2465 Original Poster's Reply I would like to prioritize getting the title as I can still get a good $7-$8k if i were to sell the POS (wishful thinking that they release the lien), but I did not know about this and I will definitely take advantage of this advice if all else fails. Thank you so much!
  • Chilly-Down I had a similar situation in BK re: a car. Mine wasn't totaled but was inoperable. The bank wouldn't take it but also wouldn't release the lien. They said something to the effect of, "There's $3000 due on this car, and we won't come after you for it because of the BK, but we won't release the lien either." We ended up going back to the BK attorney, and we paid him to write a letter offering a settlement. This was a long time ago, but he charged us $100 for the letter. At his suggesti
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  • RegisterOdd2465 Original Poster's Reply I'm gonna try and get in contact with them a few more times. If all else fails I think I will find a new lawyer to write them a letter. Amazing suggestion, thank you!
  • gordner911 I think you could get that just selling the drivetrain then tow the rest to a junker
  • RegisterOdd2465 Original Poster's Reply I was thinking I'd at least take out the supercharger, engine, and intake and then tow the rest. I could definitely get way more from totally parting it out as well. Can't imagine how many hours that would take though. I think i'll try writing the bank a letter and escalating the case when I call again monday. Don't know if I'm not annoying enough to them or what... I'd at least just like to know a definitive answer for what they want to do with the car.
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  • WillmanRacingv2 If its a 2020 Hellcat, its not wishful thinking. If it wasnt totalled, it would be a $45-60k car. This 2022 on Copart is already at $10k in bids. https://www.copart.com/lot/98307795/2022- dodge-challenger-srt-hellcat-il-peoria
  • RegisterOdd2465 Original Poster's Reply It was a 2020 redeye, yes this is the reason Im fighting so hard to get the title for the car instead of just getting rid of the car. It still holds a decent amount of value even though it is totaled.
  • monkeyman80 It really depends on the detail of your bankruptcy. Assuming there's nothing there, they don't have to release the lien because they forgive the debt. They can still hold onto it and make you deal with the car you can't register/drive. They don't have to repo the car/hold you to the loan.
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  • RegisterOdd2465 Original Poster's Reply Oh yes i'm totally aware i'm not entitled to anything and that they aren't technically required to do anything. Im really only confused about the bank stating they are releasing the lien and then nothing happening afterwards. You'd expect them to at least come and repo it or release the lien after forgiving the loan almost 7 months ago. Wouldn't the bank communicate that they aren't planning on releasing the lien if they didn't want to? I have no clue real
  • DayTrayder Be on the look out for tax forms that counts the forgiven amount as income as well. They're going to make you pay taxes on this.
  • RegisterOdd2465 Original Poster's Reply Oooh thank you for the heads up!!!
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  • monkeyman80 What does your lawyer say about this?
  • RegisterOdd2465 Original Poster's Reply The other inconvenient part is he retired early 2025 so I don't officially have a lawyer on retainer any longer. Forgot to mention this lol
  • iceloverthree That's assuming the engine is even good.
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  • RegisterOdd2465 Original Poster's Reply Engines fully functioning and has only 60k miles. I have no clue what's going on with the bank's decision making process, the whole situation is confusing... Which is why I'm here.

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