Legal Question in Real Estate Law in North Carolina

I sold a car privately. The buyer agreed to make payments of 300/month. I told them the car would stay in my possession until the agreed upon $2500 was paid in full. After making the first 2 payments totaling 600. They have missed the last 3 payments and are now wanting to back out of the deal and want the 600 back. We did have a hand written contract stating that the car would stay in my possession until paid in full but there are no provisions in the contract concerning cancelation. I told the buyer that I would list the car for sale again and would try to sell it for 2500. If i in fact do sell for 2500 then I would give them the 600 back. They are threatening to take me to small claims. My first question is do I actually owe them the 600 in return? And my second question is can I counter sue for degradation of the value of the vehicle since it has been sitting since May and now has mechanical problems? Also if I have a viable lawsuit against them, what documentation would I need to prove the value of the mechanical problems?


Asked on 9/21/12, 10:10 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kenneth Love Ken Love Law

Your counter claims are not very likely to succede. Since the property stayed in your possession and you gave them time to pay, you can't blame them because the car stayed idle. The law would say that only you had the ability to solve this since they didn't have access.

Because the contract did not have a default or cancellation claus, then this could go either way. You could countersue for their breach of the contract, i.e...they owe you the rest of the contract.

Because you kep possession of the vehicle, it will really depend on what the judge/magistrate feels is equitable in this situation. If they had the vehicle, I have seen judges assing a rental value. Because there was no change of possession, rental value is inappropriate. It is safest to always have a contract that deal with default and cancellation and how money will be dealt with in those events. Without that, this is a 50-50 situation at best.

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Answered on 12/07/12, 3:52 am


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