Automobile abandoned

ainman81

New Member
Jurisdiction
Iowa
We sold a party bus business which included 2 busses, a Facebook page, bookings, and clientele. This transaction occurred 1 year ago. He paid for the busses and business but has never came to pick up one of the busses, it has been sitting on our property for a year. We have contacted him to come get it and sent a storage fee notice in May of this year. Do we have the right to resell it or what can we do?
 
You refer to the seller as "we" and the buyer as "he." Was the transaction really between two (or more) individuals (whoever "we" are) and another individual? Or were any business entities involved?

Also, in whose name(s) is the bus titled?

What is the value of the bus?
 
Do we have the right to resell it or what can we do?

What you have to do is follow the state law regarding abandoned vehicles on private property. The Iowa DMV has instructions:

Abandoned Vehicle Q and A - Motor Vehicle Division - Iowa DOT

Here's the statute:

2019 Iowa Code :: Title VIII - TRANSPORTATION :: Chapter 321 - MOTOR VEHICLES AND LAW OF THE ROAD :: Section 321.89 - Abandoned vehicles.

By the way, unless your sales contract specifies storage fees, you don't get storage fees.
 
Trying to resell the bus will likely not end well for you.
When you sold it did you submit documents to the state? ( Release of Liability)
You may be able to have the vehicle removed from your property by a tow service, but make sure it is not still in your name first.
Before removing the vehicle you might mail a notice of your intent to do so and give a reasonable end date.
As for storage fees on your property you might be able to claim that for the period after you gave notice of the fees and they failed to retrieve the vehicle, but certainly not for the entire year.
 
You refer to the seller as "we" and the buyer as "he." Was the transaction really between two (or more) individuals (whoever "we" are) and another individual? Or were any business entities involved?

Also, in whose name(s) is the bus titled?

What is the value of the bus?
You refer to the seller as "we" and the buyer as "he." Was the transaction really between two (or more) individuals (whoever "we" are) and another individual? Or were any business entities involved?

Also, in whose name(s) is the bus titled?

What is the value of the bus?
"We" refers to my husband and I. My husband and I owned the business together, just the 2 of us. "He" refers to the buyer. Yes, it was a full business. We were an LLC. It was titled in my husbands name. The buyer has the titles to both busses but one title was not signed by us. $10,000 is the value of the bus.
 
Trying to resell the bus will likely not end well for you.
When you sold it did you submit documents to the state? ( Release of Liability)
You may be able to have the vehicle removed from your property by a tow service, but make sure it is not still in your name first.
Before removing the vehicle you might mail a notice of your intent to do so and give a reasonable end date.
As for storage fees on your property you might be able to claim that for the period after you gave notice of the fees and they failed to retrieve the vehicle, but certainly not for the entire year.
It was all a private sale by owner. We did have a bank loan so I am not sure what all the bank did when we paid off the loan and signed all paperwork over to the new owner. I did type up a demand for removal of personal property letter and will mail it tomorrow via certified mail. We gave him a 2 week time frame. The storage fees are only for the past 126 days, not the whole year.
 
It was all a private sale by owner. We did have a bank loan so I am not sure what all the bank did when we paid off the loan and signed all paperwork over to the new owner. I did type up a demand for removal of personal property letter and will mail it tomorrow via certified mail. We gave him a 2 week time frame. The storage fees are only for the past 126 days, not the whole year.
Did he agree to pay you storage fees? If not, then you are not entitled to them. Putting them in the demand letter may be perceived as aggressive and may not help produce the result you desire.

You say that one of the titles was not signed by your husband. Is that the title for the bus that is still at your place? If yes, then how can you expect him to pick up something that he has no ownership of?
 
It was titled in my husbands name. The buyer has the titles to both busses but one title was not signed by us. $10,000 is the value of the bus.

I can't tell from this whose name is on the title of the bus that's sitting on your property. Is title in your husband's name, or has title been transferred to the buyer? Title to the other bus isn't relevant.
 
The storage fees are only for the past 126 days, not the whole year.

If you are able to stick any storage fees it would be for the time after notice was given and he failed to move the vehicle.

Whether or not your are ultimately successful collecting the fee is not as important as informing him of your intent to do so, which may motivate him to move it.

If the vehicle is no longer titled to you call a couple tow companies and see what they might do to help. They might be more than happy to take it and collect their own fees from the new owner.
 
If the vehicle is no longer titled to you call a couple tow companies and see what they might do to help. They might be more than happy to take it and collect their own fees from the new owner.
The OP would be wise to review the links given in post #3 by adjusterjack. That way, she can be assured that she doesn't run afoul of the law.
 
The OP would be wise to review the links given in post #3 by adjusterjack. That way, she can be assured that she doesn't run afoul of the law.

And within those links, which perhaps you did not read, is this...
"A property owner or other person in control of private property may employ a private entity who is a garagekeeper, as defined in section 321.90, to dispose of an abandoned vehicle, and the private entity may take into custody the abandoned vehicle without a police authority's initiative."
 
And within those links, which perhaps you did not read, is this...
"A property owner or other person in control of private property may employ a private entity who is a garagekeeper, as defined in section 321.90, to dispose of an abandoned vehicle, and the private entity may take into custody the abandoned vehicle without a police authority's initiative."
Oh, I read them...and I saw that. My advice for the OP to review...you know...THE LAW, stands.
 
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