§ 6-51-4 — § 6-51-4. Repossession of automobile as a result of default under a loan or lease agreement.

§ 6-51-4. Repossession of automobile as a result of default under a loan or lease agreement.

(a) Subject to the provisions of § 6-50-3, a lessor or secured party under a consumer automobile lease or loan agreement may take possession of the automobile. In taking possession, the lessor or secured party under a consumer automobile lease or loan agreement may proceed without prior hearing pursuant to § 6-50-3, only if the possession can be obtained without a breach of peace and, unless the consumer consents to an entry, at the time of such entry, without entry upon property owned by, or rented to the consumer, except as provided for in chapter 12.1 of title 39.

(b) Any lessor or secured party obtaining possession of an automobile under the provisions of this chapter shall notify the police department of the city or town in which such possession occurred pursuant to § 6A-9-609(b)(2).

(c) The consumer under an automobile lease or loan agreement may redeem the automobile from the lessor or secured party and have the automobile lease or loan agreement reinstated at any time within twenty (20) days of the lessor's or secured party's taking possession of the automobile, or thereafter until the lessor or secured party has either disposed of the automobile; entered into a contract for its disposition; or gained the right to retain the automobile.

(d) The lessor or secured party may, after gaining possession of the automobile, sell or otherwise dispose of the automobile after the twenty-day (20) redemption period provided for in subsection (c) of this section.

Legislative History

P.L. 2007, ch. 296, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 528, § 38.