Help with Car Loan Payments for Ex-Felons

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Unless you live in a place like New York City, the rest of the country is largely designed to not be pedestrian friendly. The cities and towns are not designed to be friendly to bikers and walkers, making it essential to have a car. It’s estimated that around 80% of households in the country do have at least one vehicle. Those who take out loans to purchase their car may need help paying for it if they experience a financial hardship.

Many people who experience financial challenges may need help with their car loan payments, including ex-felons. There are some options to consider for those who need help with car loan payments for ex-felons. While you may not be able to find a program that will specifically help you with making your car payment, you may be able to get help in other ways that helps to alleviate the challenge of making the car payment.

Programs that Provide Help with Car Loan Payments for Ex-Felons

Having a car that you owe money on is not seen as a necessity, because people can purchase a used car outright and not have a monthly payment. They can buy a more affordable car that they do not need a loan for, so taking out a loan for a car only happens if someone is buying one that they cannot pay cash for all at once. If you have a car loan and you are having difficulty paying for it, you may have a challenging time finding someone to provide help with the car loan payment.

The best place to start when you need help with your car loan payments as an ex-felon is to contact the place that you have the loan through. There are times when they will have programs in place that will help their borrowers during times of hardship. For example, Mid-Florida Credit Union offers the opportunity for their borrowers to pay back half each month, without incurring any penalty. This means that if their borrower experiences a few months of financial challenges, they can simply let the lender know they can only afford to pay back half of the payment that month.

The first thing for you to do if you need help paying for your car loan is to contact your lender. See if they have any programs in place that would allow you to pay less for a few months, or freeze your payments for a while, or if they have other options. Let them know you want to keep your car, but you are experiencing financial difficulties and want to see if they have any options that you can turn to until your financial situation improves.

Other Options to Consider

Due to owing on a car loan being more of a luxury than a necessity, there are not many places that are going to simply make your car payment for you. You can check with local non-profit organizations to see if there are any that will provide such a service, but it is a good idea to also consider other options in addition to that. Contacting organizations is something you can try to do to see if you can get some temporary help paying for your car loan.

Non-profit organizations do not typically give money to help people pay for their car loan, because it is not something needed for your basic needs. You may be able to find places that will lend you the money to make your car payment, but that may not be a big help if your financial situation will not be changing anytime soon, because you will need then come up with your next car payment, as well as the funds to pay back what the organization lent to you.

Here are some additional options to consider if you have experiencing financial hardship and struggling to pay for your car payment:

• Sell the car and buy something more affordable. Even if you still owe on a vehicle you can make arrangements to sell it. Once you sell it you can take the money left over and purchase a more affordable vehicle outright so that you do not have a monthly car payment.
• Use your car to earn the extra money to pay for the car payment. There are some things you can do to use your car to raise money that can be used to make the loan payment. These include food delivery, grocery delivery, driving people to the airport, being an Uber, etc. Make a quick list of things you can do using your car to raise the amount you need to pay for your car loan.
• Find some things to sell either in a garage sale or in the Facebook marketplace. You can gather things from around your home to sell, or you can pick up curb alerts (items people are throwing out at the curb). These items can add up quickly to help give you the funds you need to make the payment.
• Take something to your local pawn shop. If you have something of value, you can use it as collateral to get a small loan, which can be used to make your car loan payment. For example, if you have a piece of valuable jewelry or a gun, you can take that to the pawn shop and they will give you a loan for it. They will tell you how much they will lend you and then you get the funds, while they keep the item until you come back with the payment. They make a little interest off of this arrangement, but it can help you get funds quickly.
• Reach out to non-profit organizations to get help from their programs to pay for necessities, such as food, utility bills, etc. Then you can take the money you would have used for those things and use it to pay for your car loan payment. Most non-profits have programs in place that will provide you with food, clothing, bill payment assistance, and more.