Failure to Provide Title

[malach]

My daughter bought a car from her friend. She was given a title and a bill of sale. When she went to the DMV in North Carolina she was told the VIN numbers on the bill of sale did not match the VIN numbers on the car. She called her friend back who told her there must be some mistake and it was our problem not hers. So we did a title search online and found out the car my daughter bought is not the same as the VIN number on the title, and that it was never owned by the seller (her friend). We contacted our local DMV office and requested there help and they sent an inspector out who agreed we were not given the correct title and that the seller does not own the car she sold. The DMV inspector contacted the seller and they would not return the money or pick the car up so the DMV inspector contacted the DA and charges were taken out on the seller. The seller was charged with failure to provide a title. We have court March 28th 2007. My question is what should we expect when we go to court. Will the seller be ordered to pay my daughter back and pick up the car or will we get a judgment and a car that we can't get titled or will she be placed in jail (my hope)? Any advice would be appreciated, thanking you in advance,
Ron

[Mr. Knowitall]

Where is the car now? Who actually owns it? How did the friend come to have somebody else's car in her possession?

[malach]

Thank you for the reply,

In short the car is sitting in my yard. The inspector has not told us who actually owns the car except to tell us that the "friend" does not own the car never has. I guess we will find out how the "friend" came to think she owned the car when we goto court. So far the "friend" is pleading ignorance and/or mistake. The DMV inspector told me he did not believe a word the "friend" was saying and went to the DA and the DA took out the charges on the "friend". My daughter has to appear in court as a witness for the DA. The "friend" was given the opportunity to return the money and pick the car back up before the DA took out the charges but the "friend" has failed to do this.
Hope this information helps and again thanks for the reply.
Ron

[aaron]

I would expect that the friend will be ordered to repay the money paid as restitution, and that the police will ultimately attempt to return the car to its rightful owner.

[malach]

thank you for the reply Aaron. I hope it goes that well, but i have a feeling they will claim they have no money and my daughter will get a worthless judgment.. Me i just want this car outta my friggin yard..
Again thanks and i will post what happens after court date the 28th..
Ron

[aaron]

If there is a criminal prosecution, payment of restitution may be made a condition of a plea deal or sentence.

I'm still very curious to learn how this all came about - where did this car come from, and where did the one identified on the title go?

[malach]

Ok, went to court today. After sitting for 2 hours the "friend" was called before the judge. The judge informed the friend of the charge facing her and asked if she had or wanted lawyer as she is facing 1-3 years jail time. The friend said she had no representation and the judge offered her the opportunity to ask for a court appointed lawyer. The friend said she would get her own lawyer and the judge has set a new court date 4-17-2007. The friend was made to sign a paper stating that she turned down the offer of a court appointed lawyer and the friend promised to return to court on 4-17 with her representation. So a continuance was issued.
My daughter was not given an opportunity to say anything but I did talk with the DA before the start of trial. The DA informed me what was going to happen and it pretty much did as he said except for the friend who is facing a rather serious charge turned down an opportunity of a court appointed lawyer. So i guess everything is going along and if your interested i will post an update soon as we go to court on 4-17-2007....
One funny side note - The friends husband came also, he was asked 2x by the cops to take his hat off in the court room. When he did not respond they escorted him from the room and you could hear the cops yell at him asking him if he was stupid.. so funny.. He did not return to the court room Nor did we see him on our way out.
So i guess the wheels of justice do indeed grind exceedingly slow, but grind they do...
Ron