Other Criminal Charges & Offenses Car Left To Be Stolen

M

Mike Radant

New Member
Jurisdiction
Ohio
I had a friend who was interested in buying my car, I gave him the key and left the registration in the car but took the tags. I knew the guy and trusted him to pay me. After 3 months, he still hadn't paid me so I told him I was coming to pick it up. He told me that he was going to park the car on the street leave the keys in the car so it would get stolen. He lives an hour away, I checked the apartment he lives in and the car is gone. He won't answer his door or the phone.

I talked to the cops and they said that since I left the car with him, there was not much they could do. Can anyone give me some advice on what I can do? Thanks.
 
What is the REAL (not your value), the REAL VALUE of the vehicle???

As far as the police go, they only know what you tell them.
 
Based on your description of the events, you don't have any right to go pick up the car. It is not your car. Your option is to sue your former friend for the amount of money that he was supposed to have paid you. If he hasn't properly transferred ownership of the vehicle, then you may be able to get a court order to require that it be done.

EDIT: I'd also like to add that, even if he leaves the car on the street and it's stolen, destroyed, or whatever, he still owes you the money.

Did you file the proper paperwork to inform the state that you had sold the vehicle?
 
army judge said:
As far as the police go, they only know what you tell them.
Click to expand...
True - but because filing a false police report is a crime, we should be able to expect the OP to be truthful when dealing with the police, right?
 
Zigner said:
True - but because filing a false police report is a crime, we should be able to expect the OP to be truthful when dealing with the police, right?
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That is the situation, the car was worth about $1000-$1500. It was a 2000 Honda Civic in good condition. I knew the guy for 5-6 years and have sold him things before. I trusted him to pay me, but evidently he got involved in drugs.
 
Zigner said:
Based on your description of the events, you don't have any right to go pick up the car.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that's true. The OP wrote that he/she "gave him the key and left the registration in the car but took the tags." There's nothing in there about a transfer of title.

Sounds like you made a poor decision in trusting the guy. You probably should revisit the police and ask that the car be put into whatever database cops use for stolen cars. You need to do this so that you're not on the hook if the car is used in a crime or gets a bunch of parking tickets or is impounded, etc. Did you have comprehensive coverage? If so, you can make a claim with your insurer.

Beyond that, you obviously made a poor choice in trusting this guy. Just consider yourself lucky that all it cost you was a 20 year old car (which I'd be shocked if you could have gotten more than $500-750 for).
 
Zigner said:
True - but because filing a false police report is a crime, we should be able to expect the OP to be truthful when dealing with the police, right?
Click to expand...

The police only know what a complaintant reports.

Once the report is received, the police investigate the allegation(s).

Honesty has little relationship to truthfulness.

Truth, on the other hand, will be determined during the police investigation.

A person can genuinely believe that he was abducted, taken aboard the Mother Ship, anally probed (for example) by his alien abductors, and sexually assaulted by same.

Society can encourage honesty and veracity, but expectation is soon forgotten.

It appears to me the entire episode boils down to a civil dispute, primarily a failure to pay.
 
zddoodah said:
I'm not sure that's true. The OP wrote that he/she "gave him the key and left the registration in the car but took the tags." There's nothing in there about a transfer of title.
Click to expand...
It wasn't explicitly stated, but there are strong implications of a "sale". The guy was interested in buying the car, so the OP gave him the car and kept the tags and expected the guy to pay him for the car. Add it all up and it's pretty clear this was a sale.
 
Let's put this to bed:

@Mike Radant
Were you selling the car to the other guy?
If yes, did you agree on an amount and, if yes, did you agree on a time-frame for payment?
 

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