So my husband and I have been scammed and bought a bad vehicle from a guy off craigslist. After much talk, we decided we would rather pay the guy the final payment than to bother going to small claims court. My problem is that the guy WILL NOT call me back. We owe him 300 more dollars and then the title is ours. I want to pay him so we can have the title and then trade the dang thing in. What do I do if he won't call me back? I am due to pay him the final payment in a week and he has stopped communicating with me. He has threatened once to go to the cops and say we stole the vehicle and I am afraid of what he may do next. Should I go to the cops instead? (We have a paper signed by his wife stating they are selling to us and we owe them 300 dollars still) I wish I had never met this person it has made my life a mess for over a month now.

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Originally Posted by kattygirl

So my husband and I have been scammed and bought a bad vehicle from a guy off craigslist. After much talk, we decided we would rather pay the guy the final payment than to bother going to small claims court. My problem is that the guy WILL NOT call me back. We owe him 300 more dollars and then the title is ours. I want to pay him so we can have the title and then trade the dang thing in. What do I do if he wont call me back? I am due to pay him the final payment in a week and he has stopped communicating with me. He has threatened once to go to the cops and say we stole the vehicle and I am afraid of what he may do next. Should I go to the cops instead? (We have a paper signed by his wife stating they are selling to us and we owe them 300 dollars still) I wish I had never met this person it has made my life a mess for over a month now.

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Do you have a Bill of Sale? As far as him going to the Police and saying you stole the car, I would hope you have a Bill of Sale and receipts for the purchase. Why is he threatening to call the Police and say you stole the car?

I don't know what grounds you have for contacting the Police -

I'm sure you know most used cars are "as is" - I would be surprised if Small Claims can help you (other than a blatant lie on his part, turned back mileage, something like that).

I have a bill of sale showing that we paid him 700 and that we need to make a final payment of 300 to get the title. I have called him, text messaged him, and emailed him trying to set up arraingements for the final payment. He is not contacting me. I want the police to come with me when I make final payment so that someone will witness that the final transaction has been completed. He threatened to say we stole it because he was going back on his word. He said we could have a mechanic check it out and if it wasn't what he said it was we could get our money back. Well it was nothing like he said so I tried to give back the truck for our money and he said he no longer remembered that conversation and if I bothered him anymore he would just claim we stole it. That is why I just want to pay the final amount and be done with him but he will not respond to me.

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Originally Posted by kattygirl

I have a bill of sale showing that we paid him 700 and that we need to make a final payment of 300 to get the title. I have called him, text messaged him, and emailed him trying to set up arraingements for the final payment. He is not contacting me. I want the police to come with me when I make final payment so that someone will witness that the final transaction has been completed. He threatened to say we stole it because he was going back on his word. He said we could have a mechanic check it out and if it wasn't what he said it was we could get our money back. Well it was nothing like he said so I tried to give back the truck for our money and he said he no longer remembered that conversation and if I bothered him anymore he would just claim we stole it. That is why I just want to pay the final amount and be done with him but he will not respond to me.

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In most jurisdictions the Police will not go with you in this type of situation; it's your word against his at this point if you want to take him to Small Claims on the "get it checked out and get your money back" issue. You have a bill of sale and I trust proof you have tried to contact him (send him a registered letter stating you want to make arrangements for the final payment) so he cannot have you arrested.

I think I would sit and wait to see what he does next - but I realize that ties you up because you have no title.

Well why do you have the car but not the title? You should not have accepted possession of the car without the title. And the seller should not have let you have possession of the car if he wasn't willing to give you the title also. At this point, all you can really do is wait for a response from him. When you hear from him pay him the final $300 then insist that he immediately sign the title over to you. If he tries to accuse you of stealing the car you have the paper signed by his wife.

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Originally Posted by s_cianci

Well why do you have the car but not the title? You should not have accepted possession of the car without the title. And the seller should not have let you have possession of the car if he wasn't willing to give you the title also. At this point, all you can really do is wait for a response from him. When you hear from him pay him the final $300 then insist that he immediately sign the title over to you. If he tries to accuse you of stealing the car you have the paper signed by his wife.

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Loan company holding title is not terribly unusual -

I'd make sure any dealings with the seller are NOT in cash.

I paid cash for the first 700 and his wife wrote and signed a letter stating we had done so but that we still owed 300 for the title. I figured that final 300 I would definitely write a check for. We had set it up this way so that our family mechanic could check it out. The seller agreed to let us bring it back if it was bad. Of course now we know we should have had that in writing. I have saved all of my text messages and emails so that I can use them as proof later on.

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Originally Posted by kattygirl

I paid cash for the first 700 and his wife wrote and signed a letter stating we had done so but that we still owed 300 for the title. I figured that final 300 I would definately write a check for. We had set it up this way so that our family mechanic could check it out. The seller agreed to let us bring it back if it was bad. Of course now we know we should have had that in writing.

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I do understand how it happened - unfortunately it's a time consuming lesson! I wonder why the seller now won't contact you - ? I would think he'd be eager to get the rest of his money.

My concern is that there really is no title to this truck. I just sent another email telling him he has to deal with me at some point so why not get it over with before we have to involve the law. I am giving him a month. If he doesn't contact me by then I guess I will file small claims breech of contract ? The part that sucks is my husband is now still stuck at home without any type of vehicle. Due to having had the two different cancers he has a TON of dr appts and that is not easy to manage with one vehicle.

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Originally Posted by kattygirl

My concern is that there really is no title to this truck. I just sent another email telling him he has to deal with me at some point so why not get it over with before we have to involve the law. I am giving him a month. If he doesnt contact me by then I guess I will file small claims breech of contract ? The part that sucks is my husband is now still stuck at home without any type of vehicle. Due to having had the two different cancers he has a TON of dr appts and that is not easy to manage with one vehicle.

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Hm - wonder if he doesn't actually have possession of the title and has sent for a duplicate - ? Did he buy the truck and then sell it to you possibly without getting Title in his name (if you have any idea). Given your circumstances and your husband's health I wouldn't change the terms of your agreement (if you were to pay the balance and get the title on a certain date I would put that in writing) but I would move against him as soon as the deadline passes or you are going to waste time before you can get him into Court.

What State are you in? In some States you can find out who holds Title, if there are any liens, that type of info - in other States you cannot.

Here is the Rest of the Story!

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/small-...ue-149540.html

Kattygirl, please keep your posts all within the same thread. It gets confusing when the peple trying to help you have to go back and forth from thread to thread.

Ok, First, his threats to report the car as stolen are empty. You have a Bill of Sale. You show that and he's in trouble for filing a false report.

I would take the Bill of Sale to the DMV and ask them to prepare a Title. They may require proof of your payment of the remaining $300 or his signing over the Title, but its worth a shot.

But what if HE will not LET me pay him? HE WILL NOT ANSWER HIS PHONE.

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Originally Posted by kattygirl

But what if HE will not LET me pay him? HE WILL NOT ANSWER HIS PHONE.

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This makes no sense to me -

Me either. My husband went to the DMV and they told him they think the guy is just waiting until our first payment is due so he can claim we are not following through on the deal.

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Originally Posted by kattygirl

Me either. My husband went to the DMV and they told him they think the guy is just waiting until our first payment is due so he can claim we are not following through on the deal.

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Now THIS makes me laugh - this is why the DMV should not be allowed to give legal advice. Could they tell you if there or is not a title in the seller's name? As I mentioned earlier it is not unusual for the loan company to hold the title - my daughter financed her vehicle through a bank, paid the loan, they couldn't find the title (? ) and it must have taken her 2 months to get a clear, duplicate title.

I'm beginning to think the seller is not the owner - or at least not the titled owner.