Thank you for your question.

This may be an attempt to collect the debt from your mother even though she is not legally obligated to pay it. She should not pay the debt without proper verification that she is obligated to do so.

A lender can collect a deficiency on a vehicle repossessed in which the Loan balance exceeds the sale price of the car. However, your mother cannot be held liable for the deficiency if she did not co-sign on the loan. This would be the number one defense, and she may consider asking the debt collector to produce the document in which she apparently co-signed.

If she did co-sign, there are a number of defenses to these types of cases. If your mother did not receive the proper notice of the repossession, that would be a defense. If the vehicle was not sold in a commercially reasonable manner (such as the sale price was well below the fair market value), that would be a defense as well.

Depending on the amount claimed and whether the debt collector does in fact file suit, it may benefit your mother to hire an attorney to make these defenses for her to ensure dismissal of the lawsuit. The collection may be beyond the Statute of Limitations as well, depending where the suit is filed and other particulars of the case.

Here is some information on dealing with debt collectors and consumer's rights under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which would apply here:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

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