Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: friend owes for car payments

Take him to small claims court.

Re: friend owes for car payments

I guess you now know why your friend had bad credit. He doesn't pay his debts.

Who has possession of the car?

Who has possession of the pink slip?

Who has been using the car all this time?

If this was a typical car loan, the car cannot be sold without paying off the loan to clear the bank's lien from the title. Since you signed for the loan, the bank can go after you to pay any deficiency. The bank will not care about your side agreement with your friend, and the law will not require the bank to add him as a co-defendant if it decides to sue you for the deficiency.

If you have possession of it and can sell the car yourself for more than the loan balance, that is probably better than allowing the bank to repossess the car, since a bank sale of the car will usually yield low wholesale value, if that much.

Theoretically, you can sue your friend in Small Claims Court for his breach of his agreement to make payments, assuming the total loss you claim is not more than $7,500. But it may be difficult, because it sounds like you had no written agreement with your friend, so proof of exactly what the agreement was will be subject to doubt, if he denies there was such an agreement.

Finally, it may be hard to serve your friend with a summons and complaint, if he has moved and you don't have his address. And what do you know about his current financial condition? If you got a Small Claims Court judgment against him, can he pay it? Does he have a job with wages you can garnish?

I can agree that you were probably taken advantage of. Take solace from the fact that he has given you a rock solid excuse for not making such a foolish transaction with a "friend" ever again.