[california] Deceased's Fathers Car Was Repossessed And The Repo Company And Bank Will Not Release The Personal Property To Us.

Location: Santa Barbara, California

Hello, I am in desperate need of some advice on how to get my deceased father's belongings after his vehicle was repossessed after his death. I am the oldest child. My father's old Hyundai Tuscon (license is from Nevada, he died in Iowa) was repossessed for non-payment on June 17th. We do not want the car. We simply want the personal belongings within the vehicle, there is a record player that has a lot of sentimental value and it's probably no more than $500.

My dad never left a will or anything because he claimed that he "didn't have anything" like a house. So, he never wrote a will even though I asked him many times to, and then dementia crept in quickly. He died in a completely different state from us and it took a lot of coordination to get the car back, because he was transient/homeless by the time he died. We finally got the car back in June after he passed in April and then the repo company quickly took it because there were no payments.. because well, he died and we had no idea who the lender was tbh.

After it was repo'd, we finally figure out who the bank is that authorized the repo. I send in a death certificate to them and have been calling every day to establish authorization on his account, before a supervisor allows me to be on the account. I ask if they can please release my father's personal belongings to me (I am the informant on the death certificate as well), and they said "We made a new policy change on June 1st, and do not do third-party authorizations." Just my luck. I have asked them twice to reach out to their management for an exception. The supervisors are the bank (Western Funding) have said they have emailed their respective management and are waiting for a reply from them. They already have the car, why does the repo company need to keep my dad's belongings so they can sell it to the highest bidder?? Also the repo company will only hold his stuff for 60 days.

TLDR: The repo company will not release my dad's belongings without authorization for the bank and the bank doesn't do third-party authorizations anymore as of June 1st due to their policy change, even with me on the death certificate. Need advice on how to get my father's sentimental belongings that is being held by the repo company. I have 60 days from June 17th, 2026, before the repo company throws away my father's stuff. Do I need to speak to a lawyer? Or file a Small Estate Affadavit?

I don't really have a lot of money for that. I already asked the repo company if I get a Small Estate Affadavit and they said they will only accept authorization from the bank. I don't really have a lot of money for that.