car scam?

[PepperElf]

I got a call from Mom last week about a guy I sold my first car to back around February 2007 or so, right before I left the country.

He *WAS* suppose to pay me about 900 for it but he only sent one check for it ever and only a fraction of the original amount. I could have pursued it but at the time I was frankly too busy to worry about it. And, prior to selling him the car I replaced all four tires on it - his request.

I did however send him the title, turned the plates in and canceled the insurance on it.



The issue? Now, over four years later he called up Mom complaining about the car. He now claims he never drove it and that the transmission doesn't work (it was replaced in 2004 actually) and he started asking about the title.


Although I've always liked him - even despite never paying me the full price for my old car - I'm a bit pissed now.

I reviewed my old sent emails and found that I emailed him after sending him the title, emailed him asking if he got it, and even sent him 2 journal updates. He had the ability to contact me - via email and via my mother (since he obviously still has her number).

He waited FOUR YEARS to say ANYTHING about the car? Mom thinks he either ran it into the ground or did something bad with it - lost the title, never registered it, or etc - and is now trying to get me to pay for whatever is wrong.

Most interesting is that she gave him my cell to call me ... and I haven't heard a peep from him. Maybe it's because Mom pointed out about how he never actually finished paying me for the car...

She and my brother in law were worried that I'd be in trouble somehow but then I found my old emails about sending him the title... PLUS the DMV knew how to get in contact with me before... so I'm thinking whatever it is, it's nothing that he can use against me.

Plus I find it hard to believe he had my car sitting in his driveway for four YEARS and never used it.

[Salted Grump]

Sounds to me like he's all butthurt because a cop nailed him for driving without registration or insurance so he's trying to blame you for 'never sending the information'

Point and laugh at him, please?

[MoonCat]

I really don't see how you could be held responsible for any of his problems. Title aside, he's had the car for four years and bought it "as is" except for the new tires which you paid for. He probably misplaced the title. And he never paid you the full price, so I'd say he hasn't a leg to stand on with any of his gripes.

[PepperElf]

I think he did register it. I found a street-view of the car with plates on it from 2007 - or so their watermark says.

Now yes, I did park there in 2007, but I pulled the plates off in February. Street view wasn't even available until May of that year and they only had 5 cities. So it's very likely the plates are his.


Maybe the transmission died again and he wanted me to pay to fix it.

[lordlundar]

Worst case scenario is he'll take you to small claims court and you have enough proof to not only rule in your favour, but depending on the judge might also get him to pay you the remaining amount owed.

[protege]

I'd tell him to get lost. If you can prove that you sent him the title, and that the car was sold "as-is" he doesn't have a leg to stand on. Plus, there's the issue of 4 years--if this was a problem, shouldn't it have been settled 4 years ago? Something tells me that the guy beat the hell out of the car, and/or lost the title, and is now in a situation. Meaning, he's looking for someone to blame for getting pulled over without proper insurance/registration, or he's trying to get someone else to pay for the transmission job.

People like this are *exactly* why my dad always did the title transfers the same day as the car was sold. He'd meet the buyer at the local Triple-A office, they'd exchange the cash, the paperwork was done, and new plates were issued. Less hassle, plus there was a paper trail.

[Sapphire Silk]

Check with the DMV and see if he actually transferred the title to his name.

If he DID, he can pay a small fee to get a duplicate title, and you can tell him to go pound sand.

If he DIDN'T, and he contacts you, tell him you are going to have him arrested for grand theft auto for not paying you for the car That'll make him back down. Oh, and make sure you get a duplicate title first . . . it'll invalidate the title you sent him should he still have it

That'll make the dumbshit back down. I would hold the title hostage and make him pay at least some of what he owes you before I gave it to him.

[PepperElf]

To be honest I haven't actually heard from him yet. But yeah, I think Mom scared him off when she pointed out he never finished paying for it.

His reason was that he couldn't get ahold of me... but he sent the first check to Mom so... there was no reason he couldn't have done that again.

I have a feeling he's going to drop it because... yeah, if it's discovered that he never finished paying for it, he'd be in trouble.

[PepperElf]

Oh it MIGHT be legal issues - or rather a lack of money on his part resulting from his legal issues.

turn back now if you are easily grossed out


I was messing around with AIM, trying to figure out why my AIM account kept spamming my Google Talk account for contact permission when I found his name on my list of friends. I fixed the AIM spam issue (deleted my gmail name from the contact list).


But him... Well first of all I see that I was spelling his last name wrong. Again. Now that I had the right spelling I ran a search of "Firstname Lastname" and "police" on google to see if there was any legal issues involving the car.

I found his name ... and the arrest notice.
your last chance to turn back







He was arrested last year for 5 counts of distributing child porn. No other news reports on if he's still in jail or released.
I saw the photo accompanying the article and ... yes it was him

As soon as I get ahold of Mom I'm letting her know cos ... hell I REALLY don't want to talk to him now.


maybe that's why he hasn't called me. Maybe he was trying to call me from jail...

[Sapphire Silk]

AAaghh! That's rat nasty.

A girl I went to high school with contacted my brother a few years ago trying to get a hold of me. He wasn't sure he remembered if we were friends or not, so he googled her.

And found she had been convicted of the sexual abuse of a female minor. A copy of the court record was online . . . and very graphic. Brother clued me into it.

Fortunately for me, this girl was NOT a friend of mine in HS. She was my best friend's cousin . . . and we didn't get along all that well. I was doubly glad he didn't just give her my contact info.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Hey! don't insult rats! Sewage, yes, rats?
back on topic more... yeah, watch him run 'cuz he's not paid! (JERK)

[PepperElf]

It's also a good thing the police arrested him when they did. They arrested him about a month before he moved to another state.

And I wonder if that was on purpose - both the arrest and his plans to leave. That in itself could be why he was having trouble with the car.... either having to get rid of it quickly, or perhaps he (or his partner) tried to register it in the new state.

I'm still looking online to see what happened to him after the arrest. And yes, I'm wondering how his partner escaped charges... I mean how could he have not known about the porn?

[PepperElf]

O_o

I guess he's not in jail now. He started a new facebook account and attempted to add me. ... which makes me glad my account is Friends-Only, so he can't see crap on my account, not that I post much anyway.

Um yeah. Sorry I'm going to ignore that request. I'm pretty sure he dropped the old FB after the police investigation into his kiddy-porn uploads. But now I figured out why he wanted to contact me... looking at his wall it looks like he's trying to move again.

But seriously, I ain't adding him to my FB. I don't want to be associated with him anymore.