Can a logbook loan lender seize your car without warning?
Movable Property Security Rights Act · sources read 2 Oct 2026
If you default on a logbook loan, the lender must first serve you a written notice saying what you owe, the deadline to pay, what it will do if you don't, and that you can ask a court for relief. It can take the car without a court order only if you agreed to that in the security agreement or you don't object at the time, and it must give at least 5 working days' notice before selling it.
- Deadline
- At least 5 working days' notice before the car is sold, leased or otherwise disposed of.
- Where
- The lender (to pay and redeem the car); the court (for relief against the lender's remedies)
Steps
- Read the default notice. It must state what the default is, the exact amount and the deadline to pay.
- You can get the car back by paying the full debt plus reasonable enforcement costs, any time before it is sold.
- The notice must tell you of your right to apply to court for relief against some of the lender's remedies. That is where to go if you dispute the default or the process.
- Before any sale, check the sale notice: it must describe the car, state the amount needed to clear the debt with costs, and give the sale date or the time and place of a public sale.
Watch out
- Read your loan agreement: if you consented there to the lender taking the car, it does not need a court application to take it.
- If the sale brings in less than you owe, you still owe the balance.
- If the car was bought on hire purchase, the lender can enforce only under the Hire Purchase Act, which has its own rules.
Who this covers
- Anyone who has given their car (or other movable property) as security for a loan, called the grantor.
Official sources (1)
- Movable Property Security Rights Act, No. 13 of 2017 new.kenyalaw.org · read 2 Oct 2026