Lender may take car, write off debt

Dear Terry,
I was laid off 10 months ago and have no vision of being able to work in my field or any other field in the near future. My wife is supporting both of us, but I am no longer able to make my truck payment, although I have yet to miss a payment.

I am upside down on my vehicle and cannot sell it. What recourse can the credit union take on me other than giving me a bad credit rating to collect the debt and suing me for the difference?
-- Robert

Dear Robert,
State laws determine what action your lender can take in addition to the likely actions you mentioned. In some states, the lender could garnish your wife's wages if she's a co-signer on the loan.

Given that a lot of people are now finding themselves in dire financial straits, it's likely that the credit union will repossess the car, make an attempt to get you to pay the difference between what you owe and what they sold the car for and then simply write off the balance due as unrecoverable.