Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

This is practically a law school problem, but here goes. From what you've said, I am going to assume that the title was never actually taken out of Mr. X's name. He just signed it and now Party B has possession of it, and I am going to assume both Mr. X and Party A have endorsed it along the way, but Party B has never taken the title to the DOL to put it into his name.

I am also going to assume that you have a written contract to make payments for the pick up for which you now owe $350 out of the original $2,000 sale price from Party B.

If that is the case, then I think you are out of luck between you and Mr. W and here's why. Mr. X already sold this truck one time on a payment plan, but the contract was not completed and therefore he had a right to get the truck back in lieu of the payments being made. This would be just like in any case where a car serves as security for a car loan.

When Party A sold the truck to Party B, Party A did not convey a good title, which is one that is free of encumbrances, such as a lien for payments he owes on the truck. Since A did not convey good and clean title to B, that means B conveyed bad title to you as well. X is the only one who has a clean title to the truck and therefore, his conveyance to W is the only valid one between you and W.

Now, a lot of what I've written is based on several assumptions. For example, I am assuming that there are written contracts between all the parties. If there are not, then that can significantly alter my answer, depending on which particular transactions lack a written contract.

What puzzles me is why does Party B hold the title and on what basis did Mr. X sell to Mr. W? Meaning, how did he make the sale without a title? You don't have to answer me, but just bear in mind, answers to these questions could influence my conclusions above.

Also note that it is possible to sell cars without titles, but the buyer takes a big risk when he files for a lost title replacement that the original title was still in the seller's name. If it is not, then that buyer is out of luck. So, depending on whose names are on the title in Party B's possession, that may make a big difference in my answer.

Best of luck.

He had no right to sell it a second time