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With getting rid of her car, that will free you up from paying anything for her expenses going forward. You are not the proper solution to her monetary issues. If she is still OK to live in independent living, I would look into getting her into a sliding scale rent elderly apartment. My MIL lived in one for quite a while and they figure out how much the renter can afford for rent after normal expenses. If she has no money besides her social security, then when her dementia gets bad enough, her only option will be to go into a nursing home.

Sorry for your mom's decline. My mom also has dementia and after living with me for 7 years (not recommended) she is in AL. When her money runs out she will have to go into a medicaid accepting SNF.
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Cars that were bought new, still low mileage and still within their warranty - with the exception of Kia & Hundai’s, as those can get stolen in a heartbeat- should be able to be sold for over the balance of the outstanding loan. There still is a bit of a shortage of new cars on the market. It is not nowhere what is was a year ago…. That was absolutely crazy value on used cars. But it’s still good market for “new” used cars. The issue to me will be that this will be impossible for your mom to do at all as she has dementia and unless you have full financial POA ability and you have the time and savvy ability to deal with selling a car it runs too too much risk. I’d look into her doing a “voluntary surrender”, it’s different than a repo. It’s less bad on her credit.

Call whomever holds the loan to see what they need to have in front of them for you to start to talk with them on your moms behalf. If it’s the manufacturer’s lending group that is holding the loan, like what NMAC is for Nissan, they are going to need everybody in this dramas IDs and legal authority paperwork. I bought out my expiring lease last year at the height of the used car high $$$ value, in theory that is never supposed to be a good deal but it was a great deal, was some kinda crazy to get through though!
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Find out how much the car is worth. If more than outstanding balance, sell it and let her use the equity money towards her care. You avoid any credit issue.

At her age and decline, it's doubtful she will need credit again in her life for any purchase. So if value of car is same as outstanding balance, let it go.

You do need to find out how an unpaid loan works in your state in regard to probate later on.
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Many posters advised selling the car. But if the car has a loan, which means the bank has the title, how would the questioner sell the car without a clean title? I am curious …
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Maryjann Jun 2023
I know people can take over the payments. I've heard of it being done although I don't know how. They take over payments and give the seller some of the principal that has already been paid for.
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Please do not do anything that will "ruin" her credit rating.

Why would she need her credit rating? Because credit rating is used as an objective measure to assess financial trustworthiness.

For instance, at the age of 95, my Mom got a Costco credit card so that she could charge her glasses and prescriptions to the credit card instead of paying with cash. She doesn't have any other VISA credit card. The real reason she got a Costco credit card was so that she could have the one extra year of technical support on her TV, therefore giving her 4 years of warranty instead of 3 (Costco was running a promotion.)

Even though she didn't drive, she still used a credit card for restaurants, travel, groceries, cataract surgery (Medicare does not cover cataract surgery or hearing aids), etc. I don't feel comfortable carrying around cash and most places don't take a check anymore. Some places won't even take cash (e.g. airplanes).

When she moved into the MC unit (private pay), they ran a credit check on her before they would let her in. They wanted to ensure they were going to get paid each month and doing a credit check is one of the easiest and quickest methods to ensure someone is financially trustworthy.

Without the credit worthiness, she probably will be okay. However, doing things that involve financial obligation will just take longer and be more complicated. Worse, someone might require that you put your name down to secure the bill if they are concerned that she might not be able to pay the bill.

If the car is the collateral for the car loan, I would talk to the bank about selling the car. You would need to anyway since they have the title to the car. If she has the physical title to the car, then the loan for the car is secured in a different manner.
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Kendra21: I did see your update wherein you stated that you were able to get a friend's help. That is good. Maybe you could use a auto detailing service to rid the nicotene odor.
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Get value of car. Used cars are in high demand right now. Sell it. A repo would be of minimal consequences to her though. You may make a good profit by selling.
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Do NOT allow them to repossess.

I just looked this up on-line. Verbatim, for Washington state, I found: "Even if you return the car voluntarily, you still are responsible for paying any outstanding debt on the loan, as well as the lender's cost of the repo, and your creditor still may enter the late payments or repossession on your credit report."

I would find someone to buy it for at least what is owed. Check around. You might find a local lot that will sell it for her on consignment.
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Sell it.
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Why can't you sell the car? Surely you can get at least what she owes on it, if not more!

I took my moms car, put a for sale sign in the window and parked it in the back of a Sam's club parking lot near the Sam's gas station. Do you have any idea how much traffic goes in and out of a Sam's club gas station? You can't buy that kind of advertising! It sold within a week.

Look up the blue book value of the car. Get a for sale sign at the dollar store. Write some details on the sign....mileage, year, make and model, price and your phone number. I think you'll be surprised how quickly you can move it.

There are also car places that buy used cars. You go onto their website, type in the details of the car and it will tell you what they are willing to pay.

Lots of options...but the last thing I would do is let it go back to the bank.
Good Luck!
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Try taking to car max and see what they will by it for. If enough to pay the loan. Go that route. My son when he inherited his grandfathers van. He took the one he had a loan on to carmax. They bought it and he walked out with extra money in his pocket above the payoff loan.
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Maybe talk to a car dealership that has used cars. You might get more for the car than is owed and can then pay off the loan.
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