Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: lien sale

I can't believe some of these responses are coming from actual licensed attorneys; what a shame.

Anyhow, here's what you need to do; first find out if the lien sale did occur. If so, was the title transferred? You can find that out from the DMV. If the title is still with the bank, then the lien sale didn't take place because the bank would have stepped in to protect their interest.

Also, you should have received a notice of lien sale. If you were not informed, then you may have the right to set aside the sale. The fact that the shop owner is driving the car does not seem kosher. More like he misappropriated your vehicle.

Contact the finance company and find out if they are aware of it. If the car is not sold on a proper lien sale, then you have the right to recover it by any means necessary, including taking it back if you have the keys or hiring a repo guy. You are still considered the legal/beneficial owner of the car. As for the $ owed to the shop owner, at $588 per month, you do the math. He already got his $ back.

Lastly, you may stop paying the payments and the finance company will repo it; but they will pursue you for the deficiency and it'll mess up your credit.

Good luck.

Re: lien sale

Gee, too bad you didn't have insurance.

Re: lien sale

If it was in fact a phony lien sale then you can sue him for perhaps fraud, conversion, etc. You need to obtain all the documents you can as to the sale, how it was advertised, how many people took part, for how much was it sold, what was its value, etc. You may have some fault for not preventing the sale from occurring [comparative negligence], but that might not be relevant based upon what cause of action you are suing on. You may find it hard to get an attorney to represent you, as many attorney believe any case worth less than $15,000 [I assume your equity in and payments for the vehicle is less than that] is not worth handling. I do not think you will do too well on a fraud case in Small Claims Court; so you might need to find an attorney who will plan the general strategy on the case with your doing all the paper and leg work, the attorney making several appearances and charging by the hour. You also have to be willing to follow directions and be open to an early settlement demand. I might be willing to be at least somewhat involved but we would need to speak first. In general,for a number of reasons, you want an attorney in your own city.

Re: lien sale

You broke the law by driving without insurance and now you are whining about "being taken advantage of?" What if you had killed somebody? You are the one who committed a crime; stop feeling sorry for yourself and get a second job to pay the car payment.

Re: lien sale

Without the sarcasm of the other answers [which you deserve for not having insurance], if the lien sale was properly conducted, you have no gripe or rights to sue anybody. If it was not, then you may have a claim. The only way you'll know is to have an attorney review ALL the papers. That may require the attorney to spend time forcing the lien seller to provide copies. Feel free to contact me if you are willing to spend the time and money to get an educated answer. If you end up having a claim worth pursuing, then I'll be happy to discuss your rights and remedies.

Re: lien sale

Have to contemplated to file BK?