Advice, suggestions?

[Bad Bowtie]

I was hoping 4 sum advice her fellow truckers. My g/friend has been nice in helping a cousin pay-off a 2003 v-6 mustang for like alittle over 2 yrs now. They met a lunch in the beginning (ALONE, no other friends/family there) and her cousin informed her of a fincial problem she and her newly wed husband had in making the car payments on a then new 2003 Mustang. So they BOTH verbally agree to let my g/friend take the car and make the $400 monthly payments and keep the car in the cousins name (to help her build credit). They BOTH have insurance on the car, and my girlfriend was supposed to take the title in the end and do what she wanted with this Mustang. Now, after adding up each CHECK she mailed to her cousin the car should be paid off, and my g/friend wants the title to this 2003 Mustang so she can sell/trade it in for a new ride. The cousin finally returns many calls and acts like she dosen't know what my g/friend is talking about. The cousin wants the car back so her husband can drive it back and forth to work, OR SELL IT to my g/friend for $8K. This is horse SH*T!! Most of the family knows about the "deal" these 2 girls agreed on from the beginning, they thought it was kind of my g/friend to help these newly weds out. We live in TX, my g/friend has a copy of the insurance she has ALSO been carring on this mustang, as well as every check stub that she mailed out to her cousin (a few times in the last 6 months she double paid) b/c she hated the car and wanted to get it paid off ASAP so she could buy something different. Anyways, sorry 4 the long post. I have a few "BAD and very HOSTILE" ideals in my head right now that I would like to do but that is not 4 here. Anyone have any info, hints, suggestions? I'm trying to stay out of this b/c it is a FAMILY matter, I wish my g/friend and her dad would just load up and go to the cousin & husband and have a face 2 face....

Edited July 16, 2007 by Bad Bowtie (see edit history)

[Black2003SS]

[xlr82sxs]

my ex just went through something similiar.. she paid for it, allowing her sister to drive it during hard times. then her sister turned and sold the vehicle to get a newer ride for her boyfriend. my ex was left with nothing.. even though it was her vehicle.

 

good luck with everything.. i don't know what to suggest, other then court. but again, if there weren't any legal documents written up upon the agreement, it's going to be tough to get the car in her possession.

 

EDIT: it's hard to trust anyone anymore these days..

Edited July 16, 2007 by xlr82sxs (see edit history)

[misterp]

There is only ONE good thing here, and that is you have concrete proof of payment; your g/f really ****ed-up the rest by not getting anything in writing. But you know that.

 

The issue is very simple - your g/f entered an agreement to buy the car via "take over payments", and she's met her end of the deal and now the other party is refusing to come through on their end of the bargain.

 

Step 1 - work it out through family. This is going to get nasty, she's gotta get tough and call every blood relative she can to apply pressure to get her cousin to do the right thing - tell her to see if her grandparents will step in and make the cousin hand over the title.

 

I would also advise her to call the bank holding the original loan on the car, make an appointment with the bank pres (or highest manager that will take her appointment) and have her bring in all the canceled checks and insurance and explain that she bought the car under the table and she has been the one paying the loan and that she (your g/f) wants to put a second lein on the car; that way the cousin cannot legally sell off the car. DO whatever you have to in order to legally lock-up the car and prevent a sale. Also, if there is any way she can convince the current bank/lender to NOT just hand over the title to the cousin until this legal situation is taken care of it would really help.

 

Another idea - have your g/f file with the big three credit reporting agencies that the cousin is a deadbeat payor on a delinquent debt; yes, the idea here is to destroy the cousin's credit beyond all repair, anything gone bad on a car deal is a major incident in their credit that will not wash away for at least 5 years (the cousin will be totally f'd). Also name the cousin's spouse and/or cosigner if possible. You wanted to do something BAD to the cousin, my advice is that this is the worst thing you can do to take out your anger and it is LAWFUL.

 

Does the cousin own a home? Put a lein on their property for the amount paid on the car, plus reasonable expenses & interest. At least that way your g/f will in time get her money.

 

Last avenue is to sue; tell your g/f to take her cousin to municipal court (this is too big for small claims) and sue not for money back but for the cousin to give her the title, car, keys as orginally agreed; your g/f can explain her ENTIRE case to a judge in 3 sentences (I just did!) and with family there to back her up it will be literally a slam-dunk deal.

 

Mr. P.

 

ps - and don't wait to work it out through family before contacting the bank and filing leins - you can remove those later. Do the leins immediately while also working it out through family, then last resort is to sue. Hurry hurry hurry before the car gets wrecked, stolen, or sold.

Edited July 16, 2007 by Mr. P. (see edit history)

[Bad Bowtie]

Thanks guys, Mr.P good stuff as always. I now remember meeting u at the Denton Hooters/drag night a couple months ago...

Edited July 16, 2007 by Bad Bowtie (see edit history)

[brobradh77]

after hearing Stves response I honestly w/o sueing didnt think you had a leg to stand on but she kept up with all the money changing hands and that should help. People get crooked when it comes to money thats why I NEVER will lend that kind of money to family or atleast no more than I can afford to lose.

[misterp]

... thats why I NEVER will lend that kind of money to family or atleast no more than I can afford to lose.

You can't be that way Brad - don't be afraid to loan to family just make damned sure that it's all up-front and in writing and that you can easily get your end of the deal if situations or motives take a turn for the worst; there are easy legal ways to protect oneself from shit like this.

 

Mr. P.

 

 

Thanks guys, Mr.P good stuff as always. I now remember meeting u at the Denton Hooters/drag night a couple months ago...

Re-read please, I added a lot.

 

EDIT - I cannot stress this enough - I would take a day off work and a couple hundred dollars and tear multiple assholes into their credit that they cannot get out. And I would not bother calling the cousin until you've got leverage, they've already tried gaining the drop on you in this deal.

Edited July 16, 2007 by Mr. P. (see edit history)

[misterp]

Another note - if there is any risk of the cousin falling into bankruptcy you are going to have to go to court and get a settlement in your favor (you can do that AFTER filing the credit reports) and that way the bankruptcy judge will *probably* not be able to dismiss the debt in Ch. 7

[Bigdogx]

Nothing in writing = screwed imo, if the cousin holds the title and it was her name still on the loan i dont see how you can do a thing in court. It's a expensive lesson to learn but always document stuff like this, hand shake agreements never go well.

[usabodyguard]

for a small fee, i could make a call or two... you know what im sayin'???

 

sorry to hear about your BS situation... its always hard with family... you can choose your friends, you cant choose your family.

[CoolBlueSS]

Even though there's not a "contract" at least she has proof of payment via her cancelled checks. I would take P's advice and try to lock it up somehow before she does something drastic.

[TexaSS]

so was the cousin actually making the payments with the checks that your gf was sending?

[brobradh77]

You can't be that way Brad - don't be afraid to loan to family just make damned sure that it's all up-front and in writing and that you can easily get your end of the deal if situations or motives take a turn for the worst; there are easy legal ways to protect oneself from shit like this.

 

Mr. P.

 

Maybe i shouldn't be but as this shows family at times will screw you faster than any friend will. They take advantage thinking we are family and he'll get over it and yeah protect yourself legaly before hand but IMO that could cause just as much problems, if not more, because your starting out calling them a dead beat right off the bat even if thats not your intention most will think that. Thats why I wont do it unless its a life or death deal or something reasonable but not a car payment.

[Blk06Limited]

Goes without saying, Family is the first to fark you.

 

Even with proof of payment, it's your word against hers as to what those payments were for. She can say you owed her money and were paying her car note monthly instead of paying it back to her directly. Bottom line is the car legally belongs to her, end of story.

 

As some said above, without something in writing she's probably screwed.

[Bad Bowtie]

Even though there's not a "contract" at least she has proof of payment via her cancelled checks. I would take P's advice and try to lock it up somehow before she does something drastic.

 

We don't know "TexaSS", I'm kind of wondering if her husband is even aware of what is going on right now. My g/f has only spoken to her cousin so far....