Motorcycle question

[mistercasinoguy]

Hi,
wasnt sure which forum to put this in but the best i could do. i live in arizona. my dirtbike was in california. my now wife purchased a dirt bike in california in 2004. we stored it at her parents house. her older brother wanted to use it which we agreed as long as he made some payments. at some point in 2005 he sold the bike to his friend. we did not receive any of the money despite continuing protest to this day. he agreed to continue making payments to us considering he did this without our agreement. now he has stopped contact and payments. my question is what can i do? i read a small post about bailment but searching the web find only articles about animal cruelty. only other option is that he has to go to court in a week for a dui in california and he may go into military. my wife tells me if he does we can seek payment through the military since it happened to her ex husband.
please respond,
thankyou

 

[stephenk]

In whose name was the bike registered?

 

[teflon_jones]

How did he sell the bike without a title if your wife was the owner?

Sue him in small claims court for the fair market value of the bike at the time he sold it.

 

[mistercasinoguy]

answer

i thought i included but the bike is in my wifes name. i dont know how he sold it i guess the guy he sold it to didn't know the law or something. her mother just called her one day and is all "well something happened but i cant tell you." and my wife is like "where's the bike?" and then her mom spilled it. i also see another typo that he is actually younger than her i dont know if that matters. but her mother acts like its no big deal and we said if we have to we'll figure a way to take him to court but her mother is like "you won't have a case!" so if the small claims is the thing to do then i guess we'll figure that out. question though if hes in jail for his dui he would still have to come to court? and how would we get the money back, because he doesn't have a job right now.

 

[justalayman]

I would tend to think you removed any criminal action against the brother once you agreed to accept payments for the bike.

The only thing I can see to do is to sue, in small claims if it will fit, to recieve a judgement. The do what you need to do to collect on that judgement.

As far as Teflon's ? on the title. When I was young (oh so long ago ) dirt bikes were sold very casually between friends. Since there was no intent to register the bike, a reciept, at best, was all that was used.