Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: Verbal commitments to payment of vehicle

Yours is a contract question, not negligence. Negligence is where someone has a duty to watch out for a risk of harm to others and carelessly allows the harm to come to pass.

A contract requires an offer ("I'll pay you $$$ for that car."), acceptance of the offer ("OK, here's the keys.") and consideration (the $$$ from one party, the car from the other). If the value of the car was more than $500, the contract has to be in writing to be enforceable. If you turned the title over to the buyer already, you can sue for the purchase price if you have an enforceable agreement; if you haven't turned the title over yet, just go get your car back. Once title has been transferred, it's not your car anymore, and your only recourse is for the money you're out. If you can prove that the buyer intended to take the car without paying the full amount due at the time of the agreement, you can sue for fraud, but that's a tough thing to prove.