Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Georgia

My vehicle was stolen in Georgia in January. At the time, I was paying Title Max monthly. I needed my vehicle to take my children back and forth to school and to be able to go to work. I notified title max my vehicle was stolen and stopped paying them to in able to purchase another vehicle after a month of begging an borrowing rides and being told I was about to be fired for being late.

They recovered my vehicle in Alabama and Title Max came to repo it. I was told that the police pulled over a 14 year old in my vehicle and are arresting the mother who owns a dealership because she owned my vehicle and it had a fake VIN # on it which she couldn't account for or explain where she purchased my vehicle. I have spoken with the detective and have explained that I just want to sue for the price to recover my vehicle from Title Max because if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be in this mess and would have paid off Title Max with the tax money I had to go get a new car with. Is this something I should pursue or just leave alone and if I should pursue, what type of lawyer would I need to look for in Alabama? Any assistance is deeply appreciated.


Asked on 4/28/12, 6:31 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Glen Ashman Ashman Law Office also dba Glen Ashman Attorney

Unless you completely mismanage you affairs (and to be frank, NO one with any sense should do business with loan sharks, and title pawns are loan sharks), anyone with a car loan should always carry full insurance coverage. If you had done so, the insurance coverage would have paid the claim. So this was a self-caused problem by you not making proper choices: (1) NEVER ever pawn titles - that is a way to simply lose your car and pay loan rates even the Mafia doesn't chartge, and (2) carry full coverage on cars.

As the rest of your post, can you sue a thief? Probably. But think about it. How do you expect to collect from a thief in a jail cell? Talk to a lawyer in the state where the thief is, but I suspect the odds of recovery are small. Bear in mind that unless you sue pro se as a small claim, you'd need at least a few thousand dollars as a retainer fee for a lawyer.

I know this is a tough answer but sometimes a reality check is needed. Use this as a learning experience.

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Answered on 4/28/12, 6:57 am


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