Can a Garage Legally Sell an Abandoned Car
My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: wa
I can't get anyone on the phone at the dmv or dol. I'm very busy and cant go there in person anytime soon. So I'm asking here. I apologize for starting a new thread. I think this one is more understandable. Thanks.
Someone abandons a car at an auto shop because they don't want to pay for needed repairs. An ad is put on craigslist. A buyer meets two men at a residenc 20 miles from the shop. One claims to be the owner and said he didn't want to pay for repairs and doesn't know where the title is. The other man is the one who put the ad on craigslist.
The buyer pays $1500 cash. He immediately receives a bill of sale and a registration document. He is told that's all he needs to transfer ownership. He is not told anything about the auto shop.
The registration document is dated 6 weeks prior to this transaction. It shows the car's registration effective one year prior. Registration expires one week from today. The auto shop is not listed on this document anywhere. It is signed by someone who's signature is not legible.
The bill of sale lists sale price of $350. The buyer claims it would save him taxes. It was dated one month prior to this transaction, in pen, underneath a typed date that is faded and the paper is damaged there, but what's still legible appears to possibly be the same date.
Also, for seller's info section, the bill of sale lists the auto shop's address but lists the owner's name. The buyer's info section is left blank. And the seller's signature appears to be a forged from the registration document. It's obvious someone tried to copy the signature.
The buyer decides he doesn't want to fix the car. He doesn't register the car either. He never signs the bill of sale. He places an ad on craigslist to sell for $1500, then $1200. I show up, test drive, and offer him $300. After haggling and walking away he says ok. I say I'll give him $50 now and the rest later, if I get it inspected and decide I want it. I calk next day, after examining the documents and the car in more detail. I say I don't trust the either sale. He said I can keep the car.
I tell him I need the title and a phone number of the seller. He eventually learns the title has been at the auto shop. He goes there and gives the auto shop my info and they complete a report of sale with my info.
The buyer calls me to tell me this and that I have two weeks to register the car to avoid a $100 fee. He has the title and wants to know when I can take it from him.
The car likely needs an emissions test to register it. The speedometer is broken. The odometer appears tampered with and is not working. The mileage is extremely low for the car's year. 98,000 for a 1991. There's a gauge control unit, to replace the broken guages, in the car, purchased from a junk yard, by the auto shop, evidenced by a receipt, after date of sale on the bill of sale. The driver's door doesn't shut well and the lock and key hole don't work well, but it works. The driver's door vin has been stripped off.
The national insurance crime bureau website says it had a salvage title in 2006. The buyer is telling me the title is completely clean and looks new. There is nothing that says salvage or rebuild.
Re: Can a Garage Legally Sell an Abandoned Car
Focusing only on the repair shop, see Washington's lien laws, including:
Quote:
Quoting RCW 60.08.010 Lien authorized.
Every person, firm or corporation who shall have performed labor or furnished material in the construction or repair of any chattel at the request of its owner, shall have a lien upon such chattel for such labor performed or material furnished, notwithstanding the fact that such chattel be surrendered to the owner thereof: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That no such lien shall continue, after the delivery of such chattel to its owner, as against the rights of third persons who, prior to the filing of the lien notice as hereinafter provided for, may have acquired the title to such chattel in good faith, for value and without actual notice of the lien.
Quote:
Quoting RCW 60.08.040. Enforcement of lien — Limitation of action.
The lien herein provided for may be enforced against all persons having a junior or subsequent interest in any such chattel, by judicial procedure or by summary procedure as set forth in chapter 60.10 RCW within nine months after the filing of such lien notice, and if no such action shall be commenced within such time such lien shall cease.
It does not sound like the repair shop followed proper procedure.
The rest belongs in your existing thread.