Faried buys a second-hand car under a credit agreement for R60 000. He pays off R10 000 but then stops paying his instalments.

The seller gets a court order to repossess the car. After repossessing the car it is sold at a public auction for R45 000.

So far the seller has received R10 000 from Faried plus R45 000 from the auction. This is a total of R55 000. Originally Faried owed R60 000 for the car. So Faried still owes the seller R5 000 for the car (R60 000 – R55 000 = R5 000).

The seller claims the R5 000 from Faried but Faried refuses to pay because he says that he has already paid R10 000 for the car and it has been repossessed.

What does the Law Say?

The law says that Faried still owes the BALANCE of R5 000 that he has not paid. It does not matter that the seller has repossessed the car and kept the money from the auction. The seller must not lose out because Faried has not paid his account.

What Can You Do?

Faried must pay the R5 000 back to the seller. You can help him to try and negotiate with the seller so that he can pay the amount of R5 000 off in instalments (small amounts paid every week or month).