Purchasing a bank repossessed vehicle
| Fatwa #893 | Category: Business & Trade | Country: Zambia | Date: 7th September 2023 |
| Fatwa #893 | Date: 7th September 2023 |
| Category: Business & Trade | |
| Country: Zambia | |
Question
It is permissible to purchase a car that has been reposessed by a bank, due to its client defaulting in payment of the vehicle.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
To understand the ruling of purchasing repossessed vehicles, one must first understand the nature of the agreement between the original buyer and seller (the bank).
In principle, it is not permissible for the bank to stipulate that in the event of default of payment, the item will be repossessed, and the buyer will forfeit all payments made towards the purchase of said item. The Islamic ruling here is that though the bank may seize the item and sell it (if it was pre agreed in the contract), however, by doing so, they have actively cancelled the sale. Therefore, they must return all payments the buyer has made to date.
Alternatively, the bank may sell the item, recuperate the amount that was due to them, and handover the surplus to the original buyer.[1]
Unfortunately, banks do not do either of the above. The bank keeps all payments the original buyer has made, and also keeps all the proceeds from the new sale after seizing the item. This is oppression on the part of the bank and the original buyer is the one who suffers.
The transaction between the original buyer and the bank is not directly related to you the new potential buyer. The original buyer should settle his matters with the bank and use whatever means are available to him to claim for the surplus from the proceeds of the sale. Whether the bank complies or not will not be of consequence to you and your intent to purchase.[2]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Bilal Pandor
Concurred by
Mufti Muhammad IV Patel
Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah
Lusaka, Zambia
[1] بحوث في قضايا فقهية معاصرة ج1 ص11
انظر أحكام البيع بالتقسيط
امساك البائع المبيع لضمان التسديد ص 11
الرهن السائل ص 14
الهداية في شرح بداية المبتدي المكتبة الإسلامية (3/ 51) [2]
وإذا قبض المشتري المبيع في البيع الفاسد بأمر البائع وفي العقد عوضان كل واحد منهما مال ملك المبيع ولزمته قيمته