What to do about car loan debts?

What happens when a car is repo'd is the car goes to Auction. The 8k is the difference between what was owed and what was received at auction. Mom owes it. I guess you are going to have to call the bank and tell them Mom has no money to pay it upfront. Ask if you can set up a payment plan. Its either work with u or not get paid of all. It will cost the bank to put a lean on the house.

Well, if her name is on the home for the deed whether it is paid off or not, a lien can be placed on the home. At her age I wouldn't worry about it, basically she is judgement proof. Ignore it.

If your mom has the money to pay the loan off then you should pay the loan. She wasn't mentally or physically unable to buy the car and secure the loan, it is unfortunate that things have changed so drastically for her, but they will go after the balance if she has anything to recover from.

For 8k it is not worth the hassle you will have if she is able to pay. It's kinda like not carrying enough insurance and totalling the car, it is very difficult to pay the balance on something that you no longer have, but the bank did give all the money based on full repayment, regardless of where the vehicle is or if it is running or not. They didn't buy a car, they loaned money.

The bank can get a judgement against her for the amount owed in court. Being disabled will not keep her out of court. While she is alive, not much will happen. But the money owed can be collected from any money or property the estate might have.

Does she own any property?

It would probably help for your mom to have a doctor's note confirming her physical and cognitive issues. I'm not sure they can garnish ss wages or "take" her house but I'm not an attorney.

My stepFIL and MIL were upside down on their mortgage. They both went into dementia and one also Parkinsons. I don't think we bothered contacting the mortgage bank since it's so impersonal. We paid a minimum amount towards the mortgage every month just to show "good faith" and stave off foreclosure until we got them placed into NHs. The bank pretty much left them alone. There were no assets to pursue in their case, not even a car or savings. When they were moved out to LTC we notified the bank, dropped off the keys and walked away. They had no recourse.

Contact your local area's agency on aging and they might have resources to help you get affordable legal advice. If you do go to an attorney (and be prepared for that expense) make sure it is one who specializes in elder law. In the meantime you should probably get an official cognitive eval from her main doc and get that letter. Hopefully someone in your family has durable PoA to help oversee her care going forward.

Collection agencies will threaten all sorts of fire and brimstone but they can't squeeze blood out of a stone. Do get sound legal advice for your situation for your state, though.