Last updated: October 8, 2026 · Written by John C. Hubbard, Attorney
Most repossession cases start with a missed payment. This page is about the other kind: the repo company took a car you did not owe money on. They came for a different car and took yours. The dealer never paid off the previous owner’s loan and that lender came for the car months after you bought it. You bought the car at a tow yard, impound or abandoned vehicle auction with a bill of sale that said free and clear, and an old lienholder took it anyway. In each of those cases the company that took the car had no right to it, and in Alabama that is conversion, with the lender and the repo agent both on the hook. John C. Hubbard, LLC takes these cases in Birmingham and across Alabama, and has tried wrongful repossession cases to verdict in state and federal court.
Why this case is different from an ordinary repossession
A lender’s right to take a car without a court order comes from one statute, Ala. Code § 7-9A-609, and it applies only after default and only to the collateral that secures that loan. If you were never in default to the company that took the car, or the car was never collateral for a debt you owe, the statute gives them nothing. Taking it anyway is conversion under Alabama law, and because the company had no present right to possession, the repossession agent is also liable under the one section of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act that reaches repo companies, 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6). There is no deficiency to fight over, no counterclaim for a balance, and no argument about whether you objected loudly enough at the scene. The only questions are whether they had the right to the car and what it cost you.
The wrong car
Repossession agents work from a list: a name, a VIN, a plate, an address. Mistakes happen when a dealer assigns the wrong VIN to a contract, when two cars on the same lot have VINs a digit apart, when a lender’s system keeps a lien open after a payoff, or when an agent grabs the car that is in the driveway instead of the one on the order. If you had no loan with the company that took the car, or your loan was paid off and you have the lien release, the repossession was wrongful from the first second, and the lender does not get to fix it by returning the car a week later. The damage is the loss of the car, the things in it, the rides you had to buy, the work you missed and the embarrassment of being treated as a deadbeat in front of your neighbors. Alabama juries can add punitive damages when a conversion is done with reckless disregard for whose car it is.
The previous owner’s lien
A lien follows the car, not the person. When you buy a used car from a dealer, the dealer is supposed to pay off the previous loan and deliver a clean title. When the dealer does not, the old lender still holds a security interest, and it may come for the car when the previous owner stops paying. The lienholder’s claim is against the car; your claim is against the dealer that sold you a car with a lien on it and kept the money. Alabama licensed dealers post a $50,000 surety bond, and a judgment against the dealer can be collected from the bond. The firm handles both pieces: stopping the sale of the car where possible, and pursuing the dealer and its bond for what you paid.
Private sales are different. If you bought from an individual and the title had a lien on it, the lienholder’s rights usually survive and the question becomes what the seller told you and whether the lien was actually released. Send the title and the bill of sale with your intake and the firm will tell you which case you have.
Tow yard, impound and abandoned vehicle sales
This is the case the lenders fight hardest, and the one where the paperwork decides everything. Alabama lets a tow yard, repair shop, impound lot or anyone else holding an abandoned car sell it at public auction under Title 32, Chapter 13 of the Alabama Code. Done correctly, that sale wipes out the old lien: when the sale is run by a bonded agent the buyer gets a bill of sale “free and clear of all liens, security interests, and encumbrances” (Ala. Code § 32-13-3(c)(1)), and the Department of Revenue sends the owner and lienholder of record a notice that their interest will be terminated on sale. A lender that repossesses a car after a valid abandoned vehicle sale has taken a car it no longer has any interest in.
The catch is in the same statute. If the seller failed to send the required notices, the sale is void and the lienholder keeps its lien (§ 32-13-3(c)(4)). So the lender’s defense in every one of these cases is that it never got notice. The seller is required to keep copies of the notices, with proof of certified mailing, for three years after the sale (§ 32-13-3(c)(3)), and the newspaper publication and the Department of Revenue filing leave their own records. The firm pulls all of it before the lender can claim the file is empty. If the notices were sent, the lender loses. If they were not, your claim shifts to the seller who sold you a car it had no right to sell.
One thing to know about mechanic’s liens: a repair shop’s lien for unpaid work is, by statute, subordinate to a loan that was perfected before the repair (Ala. Code § 35-11-110), unless the lender authorized the work. A shop’s lien by itself does not beat the bank. What beats the bank is the shop running a proper abandoned vehicle sale under Chapter 13. The question is always which one happened.
What to do today
Do not pay a “redemption” or storage fee to get the car back without talking to a lawyer; the lender will later point to the payment as proof you accepted its right to the car. Do not sign anything the lender or repo company sends. Find the title, the bill of sale, the auction receipt, any lien release and any letters, and photograph the spot the car was taken from. If there was a dispute at the scene, write down who was there and what was said. Then send the intake below. Lenders sell repossessed cars within weeks, and the firm’s first letter is a demand that the car be held.
Deadlines
Conversion and trespass to personal property carry a six year limitations period in Alabama (Ala. Code § 6-2-34). The federal claim against the repossession agent under § 1692f(6) must be filed within one year (15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d)). The car itself will be gone long before either date, which is why the first week matters.
If you were behind on your own loan
If the company that took the car is the one you owe, your case is governed by a different set of rules about breach of the peace, notice of sale and the deficiency balance. Read the firm’s wrongful repossession page, which covers those cases, and use the intake there.
Start your case
Tell the firm what happened below. John reviews every message personally, usually the same business day. Or call 205-378-8121. Se habla español.
Frequently asked questions
The repo company took the wrong car. Can I sue?
Yes. A company that takes a car it has no security interest in has committed conversion under Alabama law, and the repossession agent is separately liable under 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6) for taking property with no present right to possession. Returning the car later does not undo the claim.
I bought the car from a dealer and the previous owner’s lender repossessed it. Who do I sue?
Usually the dealer, which was obligated to pay off the prior loan and deliver a clean title. Alabama dealers post a $50,000 surety bond that a judgment can be collected from. Whether the lender itself is liable depends on whether its lien was still valid when it took the car.
I bought the car at a tow yard or police auction. Could the old lender still take it?
Only if the auction was defective. A properly noticed sale under Ala. Code § 32-13-3 terminates the old lien and gives the buyer a bill of sale free and clear. If the required notices to the owner and lienholder were not sent, the sale is void and the lien survives. The seller must keep proof of those notices for three years.
Does a mechanic’s lien wipe out a car loan in Alabama?
Not by itself. Under Ala. Code § 35-11-110 a repair lien is subordinate to a loan perfected before the repair unless the lender authorized the work. A shop clears the lien by running an abandoned vehicle sale under Title 32, Chapter 13, with the notices that chapter requires.
What does it cost?
Nothing up front. The firm is paid from the recovery, and the federal claim allows the court to award attorney’s fees against the defendant.
Related: wrongful repossession, credit report errors, illegal debt collection.
This page is general information about Alabama law, not legal advice, and contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. No representation is made that the quality of legal services is greater than that of other lawyers. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.