Legal Question in Consumer Law in Georgia

What does your bill of sale say? You failed to tell us, and that is what answers the question.

Goods are generally sold with a limited warranty or "as is." It is always a good idea to specifically statee in the bill of sale the magic words "sold as is, where is" or something similar. You want to do this to make it clear that you are excluding all of the implied warranties under the Uniform Commercial Code (Georgia has adopted a version of this as have the other states).

So start by reading your bill of sale to see if it clearly states those magic words. Know that you are not an insurer. You had no control over the jet ski after this guy bought it. He could have filled the tank with sand or beer for all you know. Or he could have abused the machine in some way. Given these circumstances, you should not pay at all.

If you want to be a nice person (and this is a moral issue, not a legal one), then you could offer to pay something conditioned upon your having the jet ski examined by your own mechanic to see what is really wrong with it and why something like that occurred. If it could only have happened by say, running the machine without adding oil or some other kind of abuse, then I would not pay at all and let him sue you if he dares. In such case, I would be happy to send, for a reasonable fee, a letter of rebuttal to the buyer or the buyer's attorney explaining just why you do not owe any money under these circumstances. You can still offer to pay something just to make this go away, but before you paid a penny, you want this guy to sign what is called a "release" in which he promises to give up any claims he has in exchange for your payment.

My guess is that if you demand an inspection by your mechanic, that will end this. He is not going to want to go through this hassle unless big bucks (over $5000) is at issue.

Feel free to contact me if I can be of further assistance to you.

Rachel Hunter

Attorney at Law

[email protected]

(678)-687-9693