High repair bill must be paid in installments

DEAR BRUCE: I brought my car to a mechanic to fix the water pump. It cost me $1,000 because they had to take most of the engine apart to get to it. We couldn’t afford the expense up front and had to take one of their payment plans.

My question is, if we fall behind on some of the payments, can they take us to court and sue us over what we still owe? I’ve heard it said when you finance a car and miss payments, the bank can sue you for the difference. I just wasn’t sure if payment plans were the same way. — Bill DEAR BILL: Whether you can be sued for falling behind on payments depends on what state you’re in. The laws vary remarkably from state to state, and even from banks within the same state. As to whether they will actually take you to court, let’s start with a premise: The mechanic wants to get paid! If you approach a lender with a reasonable plan to repay (by lowering monthly payments), in almost every case, they will accept it.

DEAR BRUCE: I went to a car dealership and purchased a Nissan. About two weeks later, I started receiving notices through the mail from multiple banks stating they would not be able to finance a vehicle for me, but the dealership had already financed it. Now I have three hard hits on my credit report

that will be there for the next five years. Is there anything I can do? Can I contact the credit bureau and have them removed? — V.W.

DEAR V.W.: I’ve had three letters this week from people upset about “hard hits” on their credit reports. Trust me, it’s not the worst thing that can happen. You can contact the credit reporting agency and state that you would appreciate having the inquiry removed since you already financed the vehicle. In the event that it won’t, so what! I wouldn’t worry too much. In a relatively short time, this thing will correct itself.