Repossessions: 15.14.2 Obtaining Release of the Property
It is never wise for a consumer to attempt to retrieve property unilaterally from a person who is holding it pursuant to a lien. In several cases, consumers have been convicted of larceny or hindering a secured creditor for retaking their property without the lienholder’s consent.277 Retaking the property unilaterally is not theft if there is in fact no valid lien,278 but the consumer runs the risk that the court will not agree that the lien was invalid.