Car buyer won't pay up!

T

Tanner Paulson

New Member
Jurisdiction
Minnesota
So a little over a month ago I sold my car to this dude I had not known prior to, we had agreed that he would pay $135 each week for about 2 months or so to reach the final debt of $1,350. For the first few weeks he came by and payed as he claimed he would, as of recently he has not been replying me at all on any platform and has about one thousand owed left. I setup a legal contract when selling the car signed by me and him along with two witnesses that were there, I have gotten in contact with some family members and after doing lots and lots of looking found that this guy was not trustable one bit as a high-school drop out and drug addict (none of which you guys care). I don't know where he is now or what he's doing but I know he doesnt plan on paying up and found out he had quit his job near the the disappearance. My question is, who do I contact or what's my best bet/option in getting my money back? Do I contact the police then have them find him? WHAT SHOULD I DO? please please do help if you do have any advise for me! God bless! - Tanner
 
Hopefully you did not sign over the title to him. Do you still have the title to the car?
If so look into reposessing the vehicle.

If you did sign over the title, the first thing to do is beat your head against a hard surface several times.

After that, come to terms with the reality that this deadbeat with no assets is unlikely to be able to pay you with no job and tweaker tendencies.

You could sue in small claims for what he still owes, but don't waste your time if you know he doesn't have the means to pay.

Police will not help you with this. It belongs in civil court, not criminal.
 
Too late for this deal, OP, but never release the item until you have been paid in full in GENUINE UNITED STATES CURRENCY.

Buy yourself a counterfeit checking pen to substantiate your observations about EACH bill received.

Never sell anything to anyone on credit.

You aren't a bank, and you probably don't want to be stiffed.
 
mightymoose said:
Hopefully you did not sign over the title to him. Do you still have the title to the car?
If so look into reposessing the vehicle.

If you did sign over the title, the first thing to do is beat your head against a hard surface several times.

After that, come to terms with the reality that this deadbeat with no assets is unlikely to be able to pay you with no job and tweaker tendencies.

You could sue in small claims for what he still owes, but don't waste your time if you know he doesn't have the means to pay.

Police will not help you with this. It belongs in civil court, not criminal.
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Title is signed over yes, I had to get insurance out of my name so I wasn't paying for 2 cars Insurance.. Shouldve done more research first. How do I go about sueing in a small claim? And i don't even know where he's at so how can I?
 
zddoodah said:
Did you turn over the car to this person? Did you sign over title?
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Title is signed over yes, I had to get insurance out of my name so I wasn't paying for 2 cars Insurance.. Shouldve done more research first. How do I go about sueing in a small claim? And i don't even know where he's at so how can I?
 
You're pretty much out of luck. You can sue him in small claims court and get a judgment, but if you don't know where he is and he isn't working, you won't be able to collect any judgment you might get.
 
Tanner Paulson said:
Title is signed over yes
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Ok, so getting back to your original questions:

Tanner Paulson said:
My question is, who do I contact or what's my best bet/option in getting my money back? Do I contact the police then have them find him? WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Click to expand...

The car belongs to the buyer, so the police won't get involved. Your only recourse is to sue in small claims court. You can hire a private investigator to try and find him.

Tanner Paulson said:
How do I go about sueing in a small claim? And i don't even know where he's at so how can I?
Click to expand...

Google something like "Minnesota small claims court how to." You'll have to locate the buyer in order to serve him, so you'll have to make some effort in that regard. Hard to believe you signed over title (which would have required you to sign a document that contains both his name and address) but don't know where he is. At the end of the day, however, this may turn out to be an expensive lesson about obtaining and keeping proper information and documentation about persons who owe you money.

Tanner Paulson said:
Default? Not sure I follow.. On the contract has stated that additional $50 is added for every missed payment
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"Default" is the failure of a person to perform according to the terms of a contract. A $50 per missed payment charge isn't going to be enforceable.
 
At this pint you need to decide if the amount owed is worth the trouble of pursuing in court, knowing that the person you sue likely does not have the money to pay you back even if you win.
If you do sue and get a judgment you could potentially put a lien on property that he owns, but even then you wouldn't get paid unless that property was sold.
If the time and effort is worth it to you then go for it, otherwise suck up the loss and move on.

Had you not signed over the title you would have still been the owner and could recover the car. Better to sell to someone with cash in hand then to someone who offers to gladly pay Tuesday for the hamburger you give them today.... Which coincidentally is Tuesday...
 
Tanner Paulson said:
i don't even know where he's at so how can I?
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Count your blessings. A guy on another site wrote that he sold a boat for $20,000, collected about $1600 over an 8 month period, the buyer moved across the country, the boat got repossessed because he (the borrower/seller) relied on the buyer to make the payments and didn't.

Now the seller is on the hook for the loan, has trashed credit, no boat, and (of course) is faced with the cost of going cross country to sue a deadbeat who was happy to find a sucker to sell him a $20,000 boat for $1600 and would probably never pay the judgment anyway.

Tanner, I agree with MM. Suck up the loss and move on. This is nobody's fault but your own. These deals are doomed the moment you make them.
 

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