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You should NEVER buy anything off of a KILLERS LIST (also known as - CRAIGSLIST) ad.

You buy junk off that site, you could get killed, robbed, raped, and always SCAMMED.

For that $5,500 you could have had a great trailer from dozens of other places.

Not much you can do, except tell it to the judge.

Get ready for what comes next after you prevail in small claims court.

I won't spoil that surprise for you.

Good luck.....
 
Well I'm not really a fan of surprises. Especially in this situation. Any chance you could elaborate a little more please?
 
If you prevail, and you most likely will, you'll have to chase that deadbeat (con-artist) and try to collect on your judgement.
 
I'm very sorry to hear about your problem. I hate it when honest people are scammed - but unfortunately you may not have been very smart about how you handled this transaction and it may cost you.

1. Paying cash for anything is usually a bad idea unless you make 100% sure to clear all risks and that you will have no remorse if the seller proves to be unreliable. For example, I would probably not purchase a phone off Craigslist from a seller unless I knew he could be located and prosecuted, e.g. a nearby resident whose address is easily able to be obtained. Even then, I'd make sure to first clear the IMEI number with the network carrier to make sure all payments were made. That's the due diligence needed. You did very little - no title or lien search, etc.

2. I'm guessing that you cannot be sued for back payments and that it is an aggressive act by the attorney. You cannot assume what is owed on the trailer unless you agreed to assume the contract on the trailer and all its debts. What does the paperwork say? If you didn't read the paperwork before you signed it, then you have a serious problem. If the "paperwork" isn't a legal agreement but just the title and ownership documents, then I'd have to say you were foolish to pay $5,500 without having a written agreement for the transaction.

3. As to the error... whose error was it? Did the former owner / seller deliberately place your name on the title to try to complete a scam? If so, that is the seller's doing. And still you have a problem because your discovery of the lien holder was only AFTER the sale was consummated. The claim you may have may be only against the seller if the result was fraud by concealment.

You'll eventually discover whether the other party had a right to repossess the vehicle. My guess is that they probably did. While the threats are distasteful, they don't change the issue of who owns the vehicle and has rights as a matter of law. Good luck.
 
Michael M. Wechsler said:
I'm very sorry to hear about your problem. I hate it when honest people are scammed - but unfortunately you may not have been very smart about how you handled this transaction and it may cost you.

1. Paying cash for anything is usually a bad idea unless you make 100% sure to clear all risks and that you will have no remorse if the seller proves to be unreliable. For example, I would probably not purchase a phone off Craigslist from a seller unless I knew he could be located and prosecuted, e.g. a nearby resident whose address is easily able to be obtained. Even then, I'd make sure to first clear the IMEI number with the network carrier to make sure all payments were made. That's the due diligence needed. You did very little - no title or lien search, etc.

2. I'm guessing that you cannot be sued for back payments and that it is an aggressive act by the attorney. You cannot assume what is owed on the trailer unless you agreed to assume the contract on the trailer and all its debts. What does the paperwork say? If you didn't read the paperwork before you signed it, then you have a serious problem. If the "paperwork" isn't a legal agreement but just the title and ownership documents, then I'd have to say you were foolish to pay $5,500 without having a written agreement for the transaction.

3. As to the error... whose error was it? Did the former owner / seller deliberately place your name on the title to try to complete a scam? If so, that is the seller's doing. And still you have a problem because your discovery of the lien holder was only AFTER the sale was consummated. The claim you may have may be only against the seller if the result was fraud by concealment.

You'll eventually discover whether the other party had a right to repossess the vehicle. My guess is that they probably did. While the threats are distasteful, they don't change the issue of who owns the vehicle and has rights as a matter of law. Good luck.
Click to expand...


I understood that Craigs list is a crazy place to do business. However, in this case, the seller was simply advertising the business. That led me to there Web page. They are a legitimate business. And that's one of the reasons the police are having a hard time with it. The receipt I received clearly states "paid $5,500 cash. $0.00 balance is due. So it wasn't as if there was a dmv error. Nor my error. What gets me is how they can 1.change the title without having the original. 2. Then file a small claims civil suit. 3. And then still repossess it.
 
Wait a minute.... it's the DEALER who sold you the trailer is suing you for non-payment and claims that there is a lien on the vehicle - not a third party? If so, you should probably report this to the state attorney general since this would seem to involve motor vehicle fraud.

Next... who is the title holder of the vehicle with the DMV?
 

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