How do you go about repossessing a car?

Question

My husband sold a truck to a fellow for $250 down and he gave my husband a check for the balance of $800.00, dated 7/1/08. He was supposed to pay off the balance and then we would give him the title. 2 weeks later, he came back, gave my husband $50 and asked for the 2nd set of keys, which my hb gave him. Now, he has paid nothing, we cashed the check-it was returned "Refer to Maker". How do we go about repossessing the truck?

Answer 1

Locate it, notify the police and go get it.  Tow it or have it placed on a truck.  It's done all the time and towing companies can probably do it for you.

Answer 2

Very simple. Go to your local law enforcement agency. Explain the situation, show them the returned check and file criminal fraud charges against this person.

Hopefully, you know where this person lives. That will be very helpful in the police arresting him and getting the truck returned to you.

You local police will decide the best way to handle this. They may arrest him, impound the vehicle and have you pick it up. Or they may want your husband to go with them, have the man return both sets of keys so he can drive his truck back and then they'll arrest the guy.

I've run into this problem a few times in my career. Someone looks solid enough on their credit report so we take a personal check for the down payment. The check is returned due to insufficient funds or the account's closed. We give them one phone to make good within 24 hours. If that isn't honored, we file fraud charges with the police. They show up in their patrol car and in uniform to the deadbeat's house. That always gets our car back immediately.

Good luck.

Answer 3

You are not in the business of financing vehicles, nor are you in the business of repossessing them. If the man had just stolen the truck, then the police would pursue this as auto theft. However, since your husband accepted money and gave him the keys, this is a civil matter and you will have to sue the buyer in court for the return of the vehicle or full payment.

Answer 4

If you didnt' give him the title, then it's still your truck.  If you can find it, then you just get in and drive it home.  If you can't find it, then you could just report it stolen.

You've just lost it, pretty much, but who cares, right? $800 is nothing.  That's not a problem.  You're dealing with the type of loser that gives out post-dated checks.  So you'll just have to hope he enjoys it in good health.

What might be a bigger problem is if he crashes into a china shop and does $250,000 worth of damage while you still hold the title.  I'm not sure what you do in that case.  That's why dealers do the titling for their cars.  They're not going to trust somebody else to file a title.