On 10-21 I purchased a 2000 model used car from a couple who said they
were moving overseas sometime in November. I paid the full amount in
cash.
In retrospect, I'm sure you now realize that was foolish, since you
had no way of guaranteeing that the registered owners would actually
PAY OFF THE BANK LOAN using your cash and thus give you clear title.
It sounds like they pocketed the money and ran, leaving the bank loan
unpaid. This is a very sorry situation for you to be in.
I got the registration signed and a bill of sale but not the
title, as they had bought the car with a bank loan and the bank held the
title.
You know now not to pay ONE RED CENT of cash, other than maybe a
nominal good faith deposit, until they can give you clear title. That
usually means that you have to work with the seller and their bank to
see that the cash necessary to pay off the loan reaches the bank
BEFORE you and the sellers, and maybe a bank rep., go down to DMV to
transfer their title into YOUR name. You can then take care of all
of these steps at once.
Another alternative is to set up an escrow holder who would keep your
money in trust until the sellers came forward with clear title, at
which time he would exchange the payment for the title. An atty
could have done that for you, at relatively small cost.
You took a big risk trusting the sellers with a CASH payment directly
to them when they did not in fact own the full equitable title in the
car. The bank did, and still does, until the loan is paid off.
They assured me the bank would send them the title within a week
Sure it would, but only if THEY PAID OFF THE BANK. If they kept the
money, the bank wasn't about to do anything of the sort.
and I could have it then. It has been two and a half weeks since then
and I have not been able to contact these people at all, despite trying
on a daily basis. Both of their phone numbers were disconnected a week
ago. One number was a cell phone but I was able to find an address for
the other and visited the location. Nobody answered the door. Nobody
at the address on the car title, either.
It's painfully obvious that they skipped on you. But a good lawyer
on your side working with a good PI could track them down and contact
them even if they don't want to be found.
Last Thursday (11-4) I
contacted the DMV and they gave me the name of the bank that held the
title. I told the bank my story and they were able to contact these
people but would tell me nothing except that they were sending the title
to this person who had the car loan, so presumably they were the legal
owners, they used my money to pay off the loan, and they have, or soon
will have, possession of the title.
So they DID pay off the loan? I'm confused. Maybe what you need
your lawyer to do is talk to the bank and convince them to issue the
title to YOU. At least, you do see that a lawyer could help you get
out of this mess. I'm not sure exactly how, but that is something he
can help you work out.
So the problem is, I still can't contact them! The bank promised to
send them my phone number (which they already had) but I have no
confidence that they will make any attempt to contact me. So I am stuck
here with a car sitting in my driveway that I cannot register because I
can't get the title. I don't know what to do and it's becoming a
*major* source of stress for me and my wife. Anyway, any suggestions or
ideas would be very much appreciated. Please don't bother telling me
I'm an idiot, that message has been pretty thoroughly pounded in
already.
We all make mistakes. Hopefully if you follow up with a lawyer this
will be a relatively minor one in the long run for you. Good luck,
--
This posting is for discussion purposes, not professional advice.
Anything you post on this Newsgroup is public information.
I am not your lawyer, and you are not my client in any specific legal
matter.
For confidential professional advice, consult your own lawyer in a
private communication.
Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
10440 Little Patuxent Pkwy #300
Columbia, MD 21044
(tel) 410-740-5685 (fax) 410-740-4300
