someone bought a car for someone and now demands it back

[ajcoppo]

my girlfriend and i live together; i pay most of the bills. due to credit issues, her mom bought a car and gave it to us as long as we make the payments (loan and insurance) on time every month. we paid for the down payment on the car, have made every payment on time, and have paid all of the insurance as well. her mom has never had the car in her possession. we were given the only key to it and drove it off the lot even. i can prove payments through bank statements. my girlfriend and her mom are fighting right now and her mom wants the car dropped off to her house and turned over to her. if not, she's threatening to call the police and report that we stole it. I believe the mom's name is the only one on the title and paper work; i don't think my girlfriends name is. i would have to check. we also have all of the paper work too, including title i think. can she legally demand the car back even though i can prove we've made all of the payments, etc? obviously, we could prove we havent stolen the car with bank statements, but is there any recourse or must the vehicle be returned on demand? isn't possession nine/tenths of the law?

 

[army judge]

my girlfriend and i live together; i pay most of the bills. due to credit issues, her mom bought a car and gave it to us as long as we make the payments (loan and insurance) on time every month. we paid for the down payment on the car, have made every payment on time, and have paid all of the insurance as well. her mom has never had the car in her possession. we were given the only key to it and drove it off the lot even. i can prove payments through bank statements. my girlfriend and her mom are fighting right now and her mom wants the car dropped off to her house and turned over to her. if not, she's threatening to call the police and report that we stole it. I believe the mom's name is the only one on the title and paper work; i don't think my girlfriends name is. i would have to check. we also have all of the paper work too, including title i think. can she legally demand the car back even though i can prove we've made all of the payments, etc? obviously, we could prove we havent stolen the car with bank statements, but is there any recourse or must the vehicle be returned on demand? isn't possession nine/tenths of the law?

There is NOTHING in the law (with the exception of adverse possession as it pertains property interests) about that 9/10s that applies in YOUR situation.

LEGALLY the car belongs to mom.

Mom has demanded her car be returned.

You would be wise to do so.

So, you're wondering what you can do, right?

Return the car, and tell mom you'll sue her in small claims court for the payments you've put forth to date.

Assuming you have proof of all monies paid to the lender, you have a prima facie case to sue mom for that money expended to her betterment.

The problem is, mom has some defenses, which I won't explore at this time.

Bottom line, return the car to mom forthwith, or risk potential escalation of this contentious issue.

 

[ajcoppo]

thanks a lot for the reply. i knew that the '9/10ths of the law' statement was stretching it a bit. just a bit frustrated, so i threw it out there. the car is going to be returned. for the sake of stimulating conversation, how would it change the situation if the girlfriend was a co-signer on the vehicle. also, i was thinking of having her sign a paper stating that the car is being returned to her in good condition, working order, etc. just to further cover any potential future issues that may arise. there's absolutely nothing wrong with the car, just thinking of it as a precaution if she decides to damage it and try to come back at us. i don't know if she could or not, due to the fact that it's her car which she is taking possession of again. also, i would think that part of her defense against any monetary lawsuit would probably be something similar to fees for borrowing the car, maintenance, etc. again, thanks for the reply.

 

[army judge]

Take pictures of the car from all angles as you return the car to mom. Try to include mom (and one of you) in as many pictures as you can.

You can ask mom to sign such a statement as you suggest, but she can refuse. If she does, notate it with refused, date and sign it yourselves.

 

[mightymoose]

You can not be forced to give the car back short of a court order to do so. Your payments don't mean much at all- the car is mom's... however she has allowed you to use the car and what you have is a civil dispute. The police will not treat this as a stolen car so long as mom doesn't lie abut the circumstances. Mom may try and have it towed from your property, but that won't do her much good without the keys. Keep the vehicle in a garage or behind a locked gate and it won't disappear on you.
Mom's and daughters fights... give it some time and this will likely blow over. You are in the driver's seat, so to speak, since you have the car.

As mentioned above, the simplest way to deal with this is to give the car back. However if you rely on the this vehicle, just know that you are not under any obligation to give it back just because mom said so.

 

[ajcoppo]

decisions, decisions. . . i'm inclined not to give the car back just to be vexatious. unless she utterly lies, i agree that the police can't or won't do anything in regards to a report of it being stolen. actually, i'd assume she'd be in trouble actually for knowlingly filing a false report that it is stolen, because she knows it's not. and if she lied and hit me with accusations of theft, she'd definitely be in court for past payments and defamation of character, falsely accusing me of something she absolutely knows not to be true. why would i be making payments (on time nonetheless) for something that i've supposedly stole! doesn't make sense.

i also agree that mother/daughter fights are ridiculous and hopefully will blow over. i am in need of this vehicle at the moment for work. i'm going to take the car over there, try to talk some sense in her in order to keep the car. if she doesn't budge, then i may politely drop a hint at possible legal action to recoup past monies spent on the car note. as of right now, she hasn't made a single payment on the car; every payment has come from my bank account.

 

[army judge]

Negotiating and compromising often work better than suing and arguing. Good luck.

 

[ajcoppo]

it all worked out. i went over there last night and had a nice, calm conversation with the mom (i had the girlfriend wait outside in the car) and everything worked out. the mom and daughter can continue to hash out their differences and the car won't be brought into the argument again; i can keep it with no further issues. again thanks for all of the legal tidbits everyone; much appreciated!

 

[army judge]

I'm very happy things worked out the way you wanted them to. It's always better to resolve things on your own, if you can.

it all worked out. i went over there last night and had a nice, calm conversation with the mom (i had the girlfriend wait outside in the car) and everything worked out. the mom and daughter can continue to hash out their differences and the car won't be brought into the argument again; i can keep it with no further issues. again thanks for all of the legal tidbits everyone; much appreciated!