Reader question: Can a Thai finance company seize a car?

Dear Luke,

The contract undoubtedly states that the car remains the property of the financing company until all installments have been paid. So if her mother pays all installments on time, there is nothing to worry about. But oh woe if she pays too late, the finance company can confiscate the car. Often it also states that there will be no refund of the installments already paid. Car gone and all payments gone.

So the mother, just like everyone else, is obliged to pay on time until the last installment.

gr. Nico

PS It cannot be the case that other creditors seize the car, because it belongs to the financing company.

Yes, that is allowed and possible! A few years ago, an acquaintance asked me if I would like to go to the Carrefour supermarket with her in the Isuzu pickup and if I would like to drive. No problem. After shopping and all the groceries with us back to the parking lot. When boarding, the ignition key was taken from me by a man in a black suit from a group of 4. Of course I was shocked and immediately thought that there were drugs involved. The man said he was from the finance company and we were not allowed to drive further due to late payments. We were able to get in the back and the man drove us to the company's office. All kinds of pictures were taken of the car, even under the hood. There turned out to be a considerable payment arrears of about 120.000 baht. Because this could not be met on the spot, the car was taken back after signing an agreement. We were neatly dropped off at home. How did they find out so quickly that the car was in the Carrefour car park? Simple, the parking attendant at the entrance has a list of cars and receives tip money for this.

If read carefully, the question is whether the car can be seized (probably paid) due to the debts that his girlfriend's parents have, since this car is in their name.

The finance company usually has the original paperwork of the car. At least as long as the financing runs. And so that creates a considerable legal advantage if, for example, the mother-in-law no longer pays her loan on the motorbike or, even worse, goes bankrupt.

If that is the case, the bank, as mortgagee on the house, will sell the house and if not all the mortgage debt can be paid from this, a residual debt will remain. This also applies to financier motorbike and financier TV. If all named financiers still have a claim after the sale of collateral, they must share equally in the proceeds of the sale of all unfinanced items together with general creditors such as suppliers of electricity, water, etc. The so-called unsecured creditors. In addition, financiers of TVs, kettles and similar unregistered goods can hope that those goods are still available. If not, they have nothing except a so-called unsecured debt together with the aforementioned unsecured creditors.

In short. A simple matter. In your case, in the event of bankruptcy of in-laws, the sale proceeds of the car financed by you will serve to pay unsecured creditors. And if the mother-in-law has not paid for electricity for months in the pre-bankruptcy stage, the company can seize the car. So you always have the check.

So hope that mother-in-law will simply fulfill her financial obligations and consider this investment as “written off” for yourself.