# California — After a car is repossessed, can you get it back by paying only what's late, or must you pay off the whole loan, by state

For California, how the statute states the right is the buyer or any other person liable on the contract shall make the defaulted payments and pay any applicable delinquency charges; section is CIV 2983.3, verified against its source on 2026-09-01.

- **State:** California _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **What the borrower can do to get the vehicle back:** A post-repossession right to reinstate the contract by paying only the arrears: where the default is a missed payment, curing it means making the defaulted payments and paying any applicable delinquency charges. The right is limited to once in any 12-month period and twice during the term of the contract. _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **How the statute states the right:** the buyer or any other person liable on the contract shall make the defaulted payments and pay any applicable delinquency charges _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Section:** CIV 2983.3 _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_

## What the source says

> (1) When the default is the result of the buyer’s failure to make any payment due under the contract, the buyer or any other person liable on the contract shall make the defaulted payments and pay any applicable delinquency charges.

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### What the borrower can do to get the vehicle back

> (c) Exercise of the right to reinstate the contract shall be limited to once in any 12-month period and twice during the term of the contract. (d) The provisions of this subdivision cover the method by which a contract shall be reinstated with respect to curing events of default which were a ground for repossession or occurred subsequent to repossession: (1) When the default is the result of the buyer’s failure to make any payment due under the contract, the buyer or any other person liable on the contract shall make the defaulted payments and pay any applicable delinquency charges.

### Section

> California Code, CIV 2983.3.

## Source

- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=2983.3.&lawCode=CIV
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=2983.2.&lawCode=CIV

Last verified: 2026-09-01. Review by: 2027-09-01.
Part of [After a car is repossessed, can you get it back by paying only what's late, or must you pay off the whole loan, by state](https://referencesource.org/vehicle-repossession-cure-rights-by-state/).