Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

In California, I bought a car thinking that it has no issues as seller advertised on Craigslist and told me in person when viewing the car, all of which turned out to be lies. I have solid evidences to prove this in small claims court and want to sue the seller. It turns out the seller was not the registered owner of the car. The title has two registered owners and he lied to me one is his brother and the other his wife and he signed the title himself when he sold it to me. Later I realized that I needed two signatures to be able to transfer the title since there are two registered owners. When I called him he told me to sign the other one myself, meaning, that I fake it. On refusing, he had registered owners sign Vehicle Transfer/Reassignment form and sent to me. Seller claimed that he used to own the car but he sold it to his brother and was selling it for his brother. So, in effect, seller is selling agent. I am sure both seller and owner knew about the issues. I want to sue only the selling agent who used to run auto flipping business and should have expert knowledge about cars, so I don’t have to serve two parties. My concern is, in this case, he may lie in the court saying he told me whatever the owner disclosed to him and he is not responsible for the issues. Should I sue selling agent, owner or both in this case?

Asked on 2/23/23, 9:19 pm

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Never leave out necessary parties. You're more likely to lose to the "empty chair" defense than lies.

Answered on 2/23/23, 9:41 pm

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