Scammed out of my car title

[kyle4444]

Jurisdiction

Washington

I have waited a couple years to pursue litigation as I have had way too much going on and couldn't afford a lawyer until now, but I hope that doesn't matter. I requested info from the DMV on current owner and am waiting to hear back, vincheck reports its still registered next person after me in California. Sale was in Seattle.

I had a Lotus Exige that was "totalled" because of a ding in the floor that was unfix-able. Insurance gave me 25k after buying the car back from them to keep, since it was in great condition I would just live with the branded title.

I ended up needing money badly, and my friend who buys and sells cars offered me 15k for it. I had not bought or sold many cars at such a young age so I trusted him, since he had originally helped me find and purchase the car. He told me that when financing a car, the car had to be in his name to get a loan on it and receive the money in his bank account. I believed him and signed the title over to him. Eventually I noticed the transfer went through and asked him about the money and he stopped talking to me completely. A few times I did reach him and he said "I gave you cash, don't call me anymore". His story then changed to "I mailed you a check" which never came. I still have one of the keys. I'm also in contact with his ex girlfriend who acknowledged he did less than honest business fairly often and eventually scammed her out of some furniture and an apartment.

What can I do? Its higher than the small claims amount. Ideally I would get the car back, next best thing would be the 15k. I don't have records of much because it was all old text messages. I was thinking I had a chance in court because the judge should realize I was tricked by someone who was supposed to be experienced and trustworthy on the topic, and that no one sells a car for free, there should be some paper trail of money, which there isn't. The way I see it, this is the same as giving someone a bad check for a car, surely it would be easy to win in court if that was the case.

Any ideas, or your advice would be so helpful and appreciated. Do you think I stand a chance of winning? What would be the most affordable way to go about this, maybe just filing and having him served would get him talking for a settlement, but its unlikely, his parents are very wealthy and he doesn't seem to have any remorse or guilt.

 

[txls]

Talk to a couple of local attorneys. If he bold-face lies in court and says he paid you cash, I don't see how you can prove otherwise, but it may be worth a try.

 

[mightymoose]

Never sign over a title until you are paid in full and no longer have an interest in the car.
Waiting two years to try and pursue a matter like this makes me question your credibility. I don't see you being successful in court.
Your only hope is that he fears a negative outcome and comes clean.
The fact that he is now in another state complicates things for you.

 

[adjusterjack]

You can forget getting the car back since somebody else (other than your friend?) is the titled owner.

Best you can do is sue your friend for the $15,000.

Exactly how many years has it been? In WA you have 3 years to sue for breach of an oral agreement (which this appears to be).

 

[Highwayman]

Seems like you're the one who scammed yourself by giving your friend a car for what amounted to an IOU.

 

[kyle4444]

Never sign over a title until you are paid in full and no longer have an interest in the car.
Waiting two years to try and pursue a matter like this makes me question your credibility. I don't see you being successful in court.
Your only hope is that he fears a negative outcome and comes clean.
The fact that he is now in another state complicates things for you.

I have been unemployed the past two years, and been moving around and dealing with family issues, I haven't had time to worry about this since I didn't know if there was anything I could do. How can I get a copy of the title signatures, he may have signed it for me as I remember giving him the title but don't think I actually signed it. I thought just you could register the car with just sending in the title to the DMV?

You can forget getting the car back since somebody else (other than your friend?) is the titled owner.

Best you can do is sue your friend for the $15,000.

Exactly how many years has it been? In WA you have 3 years to sue for breach of an oral agreement (which this appears to be).

No, it appears he still has the car. I'ts nearly been three so I should probably get on it.

 

[Highwayman]

...but don't think I actually signed it.

You don't "think"? At this point I'd say getting a copy of the signed title will be difficult to impossible.

 

[txls]

You may be able to request copies of the history from the DMV.

 

[ElleMD]

If you gave him the ca and title, it is now his car. I don't know how old you are but at the very least google was around 3 years ago and not getting anything in writing for the purchase of a $15K item is mind boggling. Not bothering to do anything about it for 3 years despite not even having a job to keep you busy is even more so. If anything the lack of a job would seem to elevate the need for the funds from the "sale" if it was a sale, in priority such that you wouldn't just ignore it for several years. At this point all I can advise it to talk to an attorney to see if there are any options still available and what the likelihood of any sort of remedy might be.

 

[kyle4444]

You don't "think"? At this point I'd say getting a copy of the signed title will be difficult to impossible.

I was young and dumb, it wasn't a notable day in my past that I'd remember it. I wasn't cautious at all because I thought our legal system would protect against scams like these. I also trusted him completely as we were close friends.

If you gave him the ca and title, it is now his car. I don't know how old you are but at the very least google was around 3 years ago and not getting anything in writing for the purchase of a $15K item is mind boggling. Not bothering to do anything about it for 3 years despite not even having a job to keep you busy is even more so. If anything the lack of a job would seem to elevate the need for the funds from the "sale" if it was a sale, in priority such that you wouldn't just ignore it for several years. At this point all I can advise it to talk to an attorney to see if there are any options still available and what the likelihood of any sort of remedy might be.

I didn't need google, I had a close friend I trusted who bought and sold tens to hundreds of cars a year, and he told me thats how financing worked. Mind you I had never had a loan before and had only bought and sold cars for cash. I realize its easy to cast doubt on my story but its the truth. I'm a very trusting person. I had a lot going on the past few years, and I had no money for litigation. If I had a few thousand dollars I would have done it earlier, this is the first time in 3 years I have had any excess funds and time to deal with this matter. I DID talk to an attorney as soon as it happened but he advised me he wasn't sure if he could win and would need a retainer if I wanted any more advice or time.

I thought people would be more professional on this forum since you're lawyers, but instead of giving advice you're accusing me of lying and asking about personal details of my life that delayed litigation. There would be no benefit to me coming on here and telling a different story than the truth, that's like lying to your doctor and expecting good health coverage.

For everyone that told me their thoughts, thank you for your time, I think I'm going to start the process and see how he responds.