Legal Question in Civil Litigation in North Carolina

I purchased a vehicle from someone that resides there in charlotte that had a craigslist add I responded to. He explained he was out of town but his roommate had the bill of sale and title. We are from Arkansas and did not realize that in this state paperwork had to be done in front of a notorary. This gentlemen wanted 1150.00 cash for the vehicle which we gave to him. This transaction was don't on the 10th of this month. We have been trying to get him to answer our calls and texts and finally Monday after we had involved detectives in charlotte contacted him to see if there was a criminal offense to have him arrested. The title was never transferred to this young mans name and we told him that it was not our mistake that he sold a car that was never registered to him. He is expecting us to pay to have the vehicle brought back to Charlotte when we reside in Rockingham NC and we have alredy lost work, ways to provide for our two year old, loss of going to see a family member before she passes. We even told him that we would reimburse him for his gas and pay a tow truck to go to charlotte but we would not give the title and keys until we had our money back. He wants this done on his terms and wants us to pay for his mistake and does not think it is his responsibility because it was his mistake. He is telling us that he may be leaving until Christmas and just is giving every excuse to not make things right. What can I do?


Asked on 11/18/15, 1:16 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

There is a Latin phrase "caveat emptor' that covers this situation and is generally considered the rule of law in situations like this, it means - let the buyer beware. So while you may believe this 'was his mistake' and maybe to some degree it was, the law is likely going to hold you accountable for failing to to realize the paperwork needed to be notarized. So there likely isn't anything you can legally do and if there is, you likely won't know how to do it and won't be able to afford an attorney to do it for you. So while I sympathize with you and your situation, the end result of all of this is most likely a $1150 plus loss and a car you can't register unless you can somehow work something out with this guy!.

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Answered on 11/18/15, 8:00 pm


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