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  1. #1
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    Mar 2017
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    Default What to Do if a Vehicle Buyer Stops Payment on the Check

    My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: Oregon

    I'm in quite a sticky situation. A few months ago I purchased a project van from a friend, with intentions of fixing it up. It ran well but needed just a few things to my knowledge. However, I recently picked up a new job and am also a musician on the side so I found that I didn't really have the time to put any effort into it. I decided to sell it.

    Now, the van did not pass the emissions tests, so I wasn't able to update the registration. It was also an auction title (my friend bought it in an auction) so it wasn't the simple sign your name and drop it off at the DMV deal. I never got around to actually registering the vehicle in my name.

    As the van sat, I was being pressured by the city and my landlord to get rid of it ASAP, facing fines and a tow (I don't have a driveway so it was on the street). So I was pretty desperate to get rid of it.

    The only people that were interested was a couple from Seattle (I'm in Washington County, Oregon). They drove down to look at it and loved it, deciding they would buy it. However they told me they wouldn't have the money for another two weeks and would have to come back then and get it. Being in my situation, and deeming them as generally trustworthy (whoops), I suggested that they leave me with a check for the full amount payable after the two weeks pass, and they take the van then and there. They drove away with the van.

    Two days before the check was to be cashed, I received a text message from them stating something to the effect of, "The van broke down and doesn't start. The mechanic says it will cost between 5 & 8 thousand to get it running again. We can no longer afford to buy this van. We have put a stop payment on the check, here's the address of the mechanic shop so you can pick it up."

    Now, here's why the situation is even more messed up. I have a bill of sale with their name and signature on it, however I wrote the name of the person I bought it from since the van wasn't in my name. I also have the check (written to me-my name) that clearly states it is for a "van", signed and everything.

    The van was never technically mine so it won't get traced back to me, but I don't want it to get traced back to my friend should they (and it seems they have) abandoned the van. What are my options here? I can prove that the van belongs to them, and that they legally owe me $2000, but I sorta kinda committed a fraudulent transaction. I'm not sure what to do.

  2. #2
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    Sep 2005
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    Default Re: What to Do if a Vehicle Buyer Stops Payment on the Check

    Try to find a salvage yard near the van's present location that is willing to buy it, and then arrange for it to be towed to the salvage yard. You may need to get your friend's help with the paperwork, given your failure to register the vehicle.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
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    18,340

    Default Re: What to Do if a Vehicle Buyer Stops Payment on the Check

    What to Do if a Vehicle Buyer Stops Payment on the Check
    Take a 2 by 4, stand in front of the mirror, each time you hit yourself in the head with it say "Never take checks. Cash only."

    Do it until you are convinced.

  4. #4
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    Nov 2013
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    7,056

    Default Re: What to Do if a Vehicle Buyer Stops Payment on the Check

    Stopping payment on a check after the person accepts deliver of the merchandize is a crime. And once a check is signed, the date has no affect, post-dated or otherwise.

    OP sold the van as-is but title jumped. So nobody here has clean hands. Settle for $1,000 and let the buyer get rid of the van.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: What to Do if a Vehicle Buyer Stops Payment on the Check

    Stopping payment to somebody who commits a sham sale of a vehicle to you, and cannot legally convey title to you, is not going to be deemed a crime. It's perfectly legitimate to stop payment after discovering fraud by a seller, and the possibility that the seller is in fact selling you a stolen car. Looking at the facts, it's not even clear that the person who bought the vehicle at auction bothered to follow the law and register the vehicle.

  6. #6
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    Nov 2013
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    7,056

    Default Re: What to Do if a Vehicle Buyer Stops Payment on the Check

    Quote Quoting Mr. Knowitall
    View Post
    Stopping payment to somebody who commits a sham sale of a vehicle to you, and cannot legally convey title to you, is not going to be deemed a crime. It's perfectly legitimate to stop payment after discovering fraud by a seller, and the possibility that the seller is in fact selling you a stolen car. Looking at the facts, it's not even clear that the person who bought the vehicle at auction bothered to follow the law and register the vehicle.
    So seller doesn't have a clean title and buyer stops payment not because of a fraudulent sale (or a stolen vehicle) but because of needed repairs to the van that was purchased as-is. They both have unclean hands.

    But to suggest that seller just take the van (that may be stolen as you post now) to a salvage yard without the title in his name is just as bad.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: What to Do if a Vehicle Buyer Stops Payment on the Check

    When you defraud somebody, accusing your victim of having "unclean hands" for falling for your fraud is not a winning argument -- even if I were to buy into your contorted argument that the buyer has "unclean hands".

  8. #8
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    Nov 2013
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    Default Re: What to Do if a Vehicle Buyer Stops Payment on the Check

    The only reason the buyer has unclean hands is for stopping payment on the check. The seller has the larger problem in selling the van in the first place. I think we can agree on that.
    My argument is not contorted. We are speaking of two very different legal concepts. One is jumping titles and one is stopping payment on a signed check because of required repairs.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: What to Do if a Vehicle Buyer Stops Payment on the Check

    Stopping payment on the check has absolutely nothing to do with the parties' entry into the contract. Further, even if we were to assume for the sake of argument that it were somehow applicable, unclean hands is applied to prevent an injustice, not to further an injustice. The argument, "The buyer should have to pay me for selling him a car I did not actually have titled in my name, even though I still can't legally convey title to him, because he stopped payment on his check" has a zero percent chance of prevailing in court.

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