Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
Used Boat sale gone bad
Sold a guy my boat. It was running fine the previous season with witnesses. It sat for 8 months - no use. I show him the boat, run it on the trailer. He pays cash and I sign over title and mail in DMV release form. He says, the 1st trip to the lake, he has no steering. He took it to a mechanic who says the boat has most likey been broken for some time. He tells me to refund his money on the grounds of fraudulant representation of the boats condition, or he will sue. CAN HE REALLY SUE ME? COULD HE WIN? I sold him a working boat; I'm not about to give back the $$ and get back a broken boat.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Used Boat sale gone bad
The failure to disclose known defects about the boat could be the basis for a fraud or rescission action. Further, if you should have known about the problem, and failed to disclose it, you could be liable as well. However, if the boat was properly working upon sale, and did for 8 months thereafter, it is likely the boat broke during the new owners timeframe. Boats break all of the time. That's the big problem with them.
The new owner would have to show that you knew or should have known about the problems. He can show this by a mechanic's testimony that the problems "must have" existed during your ownership and that the problems were such that you "must have" known about them. After 8 months....that's probably a hard sell.
Re: Used Boat sale gone bad
The answer to both of your questions is yes. If you properly prepare a defense you reduce the chance that he will win. You need to know what part is broken. Then you will need to determine how you can prove that the part was working when ou last used the boat. If he sues you then check out the small claims court clinic in your area.
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