Small Claims Suit for Towing Charges

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kellie_annie

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In Nov 2004, just before leaving home for military service, my son sold his car. The title of the car was in both he and his father's names. They, and the buyer, all signed a Bill of Sale, and signed over the vehicle title to the new owner. We also mailed the Notice of Vehicle Sale to DMV. In August 2005 we received notice from a collection agency regarding a towing bill. I phoned the collection agency and was told that the car had been towed from a city street. I told them that we no longer owned the car, and faxed over a copy of the Bill of Sale. Three days ago my son was served with a summons naming he and his father for a Small Claims Court case brought by the collection agency. We checked with DMV and found that the buyer did not register the car, and that DMV did not receive our sale notice.

Should we deny the charges and go to court with our Bill of Sale, or pay the amount requested. This has never shown up on either our or our son's credit report and I am willing to pay to keep it that way. Thank you for any advice.
 
This suit being brought is liekly too late as this is six years after the fact. The statute of limitations to bring the suit is likely 3-5 years. When you appear in court you can argue the suit is not timely and it may be dismissed on the spot.

I don't know the procedure in Oregon, but if you can show you followed proper procedure to notify DMV of the sale then you should be ok, but showing the bill of sale may do just as well. This really should have been addressed with the DMV back in 2005 when you first found out about it.

Do not pay. Even if you did not do things properly then, it is likely too late for them to be successful in their attempt to sue you. They are probably hoping you will just pay up in order to avoid court.
 
In the complaint made by the collection agency, what is the date of the original debt (towing bill)? The statute of limitations in Oregon is six years. It appears to be close one way or the other. If the SOL is indeed expired, simply answer the complaint and within the affirmative defenses inidicate that the action of the collection agency is barred by the SOL. You may also add that the vehicle is no longer owned by your son and husband. Add a copy of the bill of sale as an attachment to your answer. You may review other "answers" of civil suits on your local County Clerk's website, in the event you are unaware of answering a civil complaint.

It is surpising that this has gone to court and yet does not appear on your son's credit report. I would have expected the towing company to have reported the debt to the credit agencies prior to selling the debt to the collection agency.

I assume you have already dealt with the DMV registering so to prevent any further problems.
 
The date we received the first contact on the matter was August 2005. So, we are a few months from the 6 year mark. The reason I did not pay at the time was that it seemed wrong/questionable that we did not hear anything from the towing company prior to the notice from the collection agency. At the time I thought the tow company could not collect from the owner so had sold the debt. I found out through CarFax that the the car was at a recycling facility in May of 2005, 6 years ago, and was crushed in June of 2005. All of this occurred with no notice to us. All of this said, I would rather pay than take a chance of having this go on either of our credit reports. My main question is the 6 year date. Would that start the day we received our first notice from the collection agency?

Thank you, again...
 
I'm sorry, qopycekob, I did not answer your question about the original date of the towing bill. There was no info on the notice other than the towing company name and the fees demanded. At the time, I did call the towing company, but they would not give me any information. Nor would the collection agency, other than to say that the card had been towed/impounded. They neglected to tell me that by this time the car was also destroyed.

Thank you,
 
It sounds like you are likely in the clear on all this.
If the tow company put a lien on the vehicle and sold it for recycling then they have already received their tow fee plus some. After selling the vehicle for scrap they no longer have damages.
They should not have been able to sell it to the wrecking yard without your knowledge though... you never received any bill or notice from the towing company itself? Something weird happened here.

Just appear in court and make your argument- you won't likely be ordered to pay this.
 
Thank you, Mighty Moose. I agree that something weird happened, which is why I didn't pay this originally. I was immediately suspect as we had not heard from the tow company. When I questioned the CA about this their response was that they were unable to locate us. This was untrue, as we were in the same address as where the CA found us, where we had been for several years. The whole thing was off from the start.

Just to be sure I think we will see an attorney before we respond to the summons. Better safe than sorry, I now know. Thank you, again.
 
An Update...

We have had our first court appearance, Arbitration, and are now going before the judge. We, our attorney, the clerk at the courthouse, et all, certainly underestimated our debt buyer, as EVERYONE said he was just shaking our tree, and would not show. WRONG!
 
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