Legal Question in Consumer Law in Virginia

Re: Lost deposit at auto sales company

The answer, of course, is that you must have dropped the receipt on the dealership floor, otherwise how would they know you did not retain it? Good luck telling your story to the judge, and do try to be more careful next time.

Re: Lost deposit at auto sales company

Hopefully, you didn't make the $2000 down payment in cash and that, therefore, you should be able to secure a copy of your cancelled check to the dealer or a copy of the credit card transaction if that was the mode of payment.

Re: Lost deposit at auto sales company

On the initial court date, almost always, this is only a scheduling date. You do need to look at the middle right area of the Warrant in Debt to see which box is checked, but almost always this is simply a date on which the court asks whether or not you dispute the claim. If you dispute it, the court will set another date when the trial will be held. On the one hand, it gives you more time to get your evidence together. On the other hand, yes, it is inconsiderate of your time away from work. After you carefully check the Warrant in Debt to be sure there will be no trial on that day (and you are entitled to call the Clerk of the Court and ASK them; they are loathe to give legal advice but they WILL tell you what exactly is scheduled on that day), I would suggest the following: BOTH of you write a statement and BOTh sign it and say "We dispute this charge and ask the Court to set the case for trial. We also demand a Bill of Particulars." You can then suggest dates that are good or bad for you for scheduling the trial, which will be 1 to 3 months in the future. THEN mail 1 copy to the Court and 1 copy to the lawyer for the other side. Then only one of you needs to show up on the first court date, not both of you. Having your dispute in writing, the Court should set a trial date without both of you having to take time out from work.

Then, on the trial date, the car company will have to PROVE that you owe the money. They have the burden of proof. Their only evidence is that they don't have any record of receiving the money. But bookkeepers make mistakes. Companies make mistakes. So their only evidence would be "We never make mistakes, so our records must be correct" which is of course a weak argument.

But you need to find any evidence you can of paying. Did you pay by check? Go to your bank and get a copy. If you withdraw money from your bank account and paid in cash, you can prove that you took $2000 out of your bank account. Did someone give you the money? Maybe they can come and testify that they paid you approximately that amount of money about the same time.

Your testimony that you paid does count for a lot. You simply need to find if there is any additional evidence to add to that.