verbal agreement with another

G

gdog

New Member
Jurisdiction
Ohio
I bought a car. Got a loan. The car is in my name. I verbally agreed to split the payment with another person so they could afford the car. The other party has posession of the car and uses it daily. The months the other party attended college we split the payments. when the other party wasn't in school due to breaks they paid the entire payment. Am I legally obligated to continue this arrangement or can I take the vehicle and no longer accept payment for second party?
 
Depends on the terms of the agreement. Did you agree that the deal could be terminated at any time, without cause? Was the concept of termination even discussed? Do you have the practical ability to take possession of the car (i.e., do you have a key and access)?

As a practical matter, if you have the ability to access the vehicle, it would put the ball in the other party's court to sue you for breach. It may be that your failure to document this agreement properly could end up working to your advantage.
 
gdog said:
I bought a car. Got a loan. The car is in my name. I verbally agreed to split the payment with another person so they could afford the car. The other party has posession of the car and uses it daily. The months the other party attended college we split the payments. when the other party wasn't in school due to breaks they paid the entire payment. Am I legally obligated to continue this arrangement or can I take the vehicle and no longer accept payment for second party?
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The other party is fulfilling the terms of your contract, why do you want to breach the contract by repossessing the car?
 
zddoodah said:
Depends on the terms of the agreement. Did you agree that the deal could be terminated at any time, without cause? Was the concept of termination even discussed? Do you have the practical ability to take possession of the car (i.e., do you have a key and access)?

As a practical matter, if you have the ability to access the vehicle, it would put the ball in the other party's court to sue you for breach. It may be that your failure to document this agreement properly could end up working to your advantage.
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this was a verbal agreement. i did it with full knowledge i may have to pay the entire payment myself.

there were no definite discussions on terminating the deal. I said she could walk away if she needed to. Never mentioned me taking possession.

age old problem. children rebel. parents react.
 
gdog said:
worse. she is my daughter.
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If she is holding up her part of the deal on the car. Then be a MAN and keep your word. That is the only thing as men that we have is OUR word. If there is another issue that she is doing to make you mad. Don't use the car as a weapon against her.
 
she is a new-age man hating feminist.

as a conservative i am no longer fit to be in her presence. She expressed a desire to be "liberated" from my oppressive existence. Also wife wants to take vehicle back. I am aware of the ethical dilemma (and i am conflicted by it). just wanted some input on the legal aspect.
 
gdog said:
she is a new-age man hating feminist.

as a conservative i am no longer fit to be in her presence. She expressed a desire to be "liberated" from my oppressive existence. Also wife wants to take vehicle back. I am aware of the ethical dilemma (and i am conflicted by it). just wanted some input on the legal aspect.
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The car matter is business. Treat it as such.

(Yes, I've been in similar situations.)
 
gdog said:
do you really think this is "just business?" once again, just wondering about the legal aspects.
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Yeah, I do. You made a business arrangement. If you look at it any other way, then you're vision will be clouded.
 
gdog said:
giving her money is not really a business arrangement.
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The following (your original post) is a "business arrangement":
gdog said:
I bought a car. Got a loan. The car is in my name. I verbally agreed to split the payment with another person so they could afford the car. The other party has posession of the car and uses it daily. The months the other party attended college we split the payments. when the other party wasn't in school due to breaks they paid the entire payment.
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ok.you win. its a business arrangement. business agreements are dissolved all the time. (see elon musk twitter). what I would like to know is that verbal agreement legally binding.
 
gdog said:
ok.you win. its a business arrangement. business agreements are dissolved all the time. (see elon musk twitter). what I would like to know is that verbal agreement legally binding.
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That question has been answered above.

My intention for pointing out that this is a business arrangement was to help you come to a decision more easily. Take out the emotional aspect of it and treat it as a purely business arrangement.
 
gdog said:
ok.you win. its a business arrangement. business agreements are dissolved all the time. (see elon musk twitter). what I would like to know is that verbal agreement legally binding.
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Verbal agreements are enforced all the time. While it is better to get the agreement in writing to reduce the prospects of a debate over the finer details of the agreement, most verbal contracts are enforceable in court.

Note that Elon Musk's termination of his agreement to buy twitter is going to be costly. There is going to expensive litigation as Twitter has already said it is going to enforce the agreement. The minimum this is likely to cost Elon is a billion dollars, which is the break up fee specified in the agreement. And if Elon is forced to go through with the purchase (specific performance, which is what Twitter will go for) he'll lose a lot more than $1 billion given Twitters current stock price. Yes, business agreements are dissolved/broken all the time. But there are consequences for doing it. Elon's bet here is that breaking the contract and paying the $1 billion break up fee will cost him less than going through with the deal. He's got enough money that losing $1 billion won't break his piggy bank, but he'd of course rather not have to cough up that cash. He took that risk, though, when he went into it and he knew that risk. If he didn't want to run that risk, he never should have entered into the deal to begin with.

And the same thing applies here: you have a risk of loss if you break the agreement and your daughter decides to sue you to at least get back what she paid.
 
gdog said:
she is a new-age man hating feminist.

As a conservative i am no longer fit to be in her presence..
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It may just be a phase she is going through and it will blow over after a while.

My daughter became a born again christian when she was young and tried to convert everybody she talked to. It was annoying but it didn't change the agreement I made with her about a car I provided for her use.

She grew out of the born again thing by the time she finished college.

gdog said:
She expressed a desire to be "liberated" from my oppressive existence.
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Ask her if that includes being "liberated" from the car. :D

gdog said:
ok.you win. its a business arrangement. I would like to know is that verbal agreement legally binding.
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Yes, it is.

The two of you agreed on the arrangement. You provided the car, she's paying as agreed. That's an enforceable contract at it's simplest level.

So far you have said nothing about the agreement having any termination contingencies so I'll assume there are none.
 
Wait until there is an unexpected maintenance or repair expense associated with the car that she wants you to cover. You can explain that if she where truly "liberated" then she could pay her own bills.
 
gdog said:
there were no definite discussions on terminating the deal.
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Ok...so the agreement was for you to buy a car and allow your daughter to use it in exchange for her making 100% of some payments and 50% of some payments. You do not appear to have articulated any other terms of the agreement, and it appears that, up to this point, both parties have performed as agreed.

You did not answer my question about whether you have the practical ability to take possession of the car (i.e., whether you have a key and access). Assuming you do, as I mentioned previously, if you take possession, it would put the onus on your daughter to sue you and prove some sort of breach on your part. It's possible that she would allege that the deal was that, once all the payments were made, you would transfer title to her. Needless to say, you know more about that than anyone here. Of course, she could also try to re-take possession from you. However, since you're the titled owner, if you took possession and notified her that she no longer had your permission to have the car, you could probably get the police to take action in response to a stolen vehicle report.

The other options (and the only options if you don't have the ability to take possession yourself) would be to sue your daughter or stop making payments and let the finance company repossess the car.
 

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