Fraud on Selling Truck

[Smokesfan]

I owned a 1992 Ford Bronco and I posted it for sale on craigslist. The ad stated $2500 obo, and said that I could sell the truck as it was mine (even though I was going to buy my husband a new truck) etc. A guy called and said he wanted to come see it. He shows up with his mom and while he and my husband are driving the bronco (he is driving it), the mom just writes me a check. Never offers any less, etc. I sign the title over to the son and typed and gave them an invoice for the Bronco and wrote as is on the invoice at the time of the sale (I will admit to a typo on the invoice~I mistakenly wrote $1500, not $2500-but the mom admitted that in court paperwork and she only paid taxes on the $1500). They had ample opportunity to take the Bronco to a mechanic but chose not to (the mom had the check wrote out to me even before they came back from the test drive). The Bronco had the original engine in it with 245K miles on it (so the "numbers" all matched for restoration purposes). The Bronco ran and we had no knowledge of anything wrong with it. I have receipts showing all the maintenance work we did on it. Needless to say, they are now suing both myself and my husband for fraud for $7500 (want the cost of the Bronco back, legal fees, repairs, insurance, and taxes, plus they want to keep the Bronco). What I want to know is-how can the mom (who is the one who filed the lawsuit in magistrate's courts) sue us when the title was made out to her son? Also, how can they sue my husband when he was not the owner of the Bronco (and the ad even says this) and can they recoup attorneys fees if they win? What is the meaning of the "as-is?" Can anyone help us with these questions? Thanks!

 

[jharris352]

I am a car dealer in Georgia. I'm not in South Carolina but I'm sure the law isn't much different. On a private sale with no warranty the vehicle is sold "as-is." Even if the woman WON she can only recover the sales price. If you didn't make some massive fraudulent claim you are not liable to her at all. If she drove the car off and it completely fell apart she is still stuck.

Don't worry about the lawsuit. Answer it, appear with the story you just told and you win.