Hello All,
My father recently had a severe stroke and I am trying to work through his finances and figuring out what to do about them. I've found a lot of good advice about CC debt and similar, but the one issue I'm having a hard time finding a path forward on is his car.
My father is definitely not a Mustachian, and I'm sure has very poor credit. He purchased a used vehicle a couple months ago, and now that he is in the hospital, I'm getting insight into the situation via his bills (I just got POA, by the way). He apparently is paying interest only with approximately 30% annual interest on the vehicle. My first thought was obviously to sell it fast. However, a quick look at KBB and it looks like the vehicle is worth about $5k less than he owes on it ($10k vs $15k).
Given the recent stroke, he will no longer be working. Additionally, as you can imagine given his loan situation, he has no savings. I know that there is no filial responsibility, but I'm trying to figure out the best approach to resolving this.
So far, I see two options:
1) Sell the car and leave the remaining $5k. Is there a problem selling a car with a lien still on it? Obviously he has no way of paying the remaining debt.
2) Let the bank take the car back. From what I see, they will auction it and then my Dad is on the hook for the remainder - and the car will likely sell for even less if auctioned (thus more in debt)
I lean towards option 1, but worry about selling with a lien (trade in would be different). I'm looking for any other options or advice.
Thank you in advance!