Personal Property Rights

[kmsdesigns]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio
I recently had a vehicle taken from my possession. I have been making payments, keeping insurance, and maintaining the vehicle for over 14 months. The vehicle was not in my name, my ex-business partner and I purchased it with the verbal agreement it was my truck and I had to pay and maintain it. Which I did. After the end of our partnership I continued to maintain and pay for the vehicle for over 6 months. They asked me to try to refinance it under my name which I was unable to do, due to my credit and the value of the vehicle. They since have decided to take it with no forewarning to me. Do I have any legal recourse?

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by kmsdesigns

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio
I recently had a vehicle taken from my possession. I have been making payments, keeping insurance, and maintaining the vehicle for over 14 months. The vehicle was not in my name, my ex-business partner and I purchased it with the verbal agreement it was my truck and I had to pay and maintain it. Which I did. After the end of our partnership I continued to maintain and pay for the vehicle for over 6 months. They asked me to try to refinance it under my name which I was unable to do, due to my credit and the value of the vehicle. They since have decided to take it with no forewarning to me. Do I have any legal recourse?

Yep - go buy your own car.

[kmsdesigns]

Thanks, I know I have to buy a new vehicle. But the question is do I have any Legal Rights in this matter?

[sandyclaus]

You don't own or have title to this car. When the owner asked you to refinance it in your own name, you weren't able to.

The owner has concerns about your ability to keep paying, and he doesn't want to end up holding the bag. If anything happens, i.e. You stop paying or you get into an accident, as the owner, he remains responsible. He no longer wants to bear that burden since the business relationship no longer exists. And that is his choice.

And the agreement between you ain't in writing, so its like it never happened. That's what a court would tell you. They would call what you've paid to date the cost of using the car and that would be that.

Think about it this way. Since now you aren't paying for his car, you'll better be able to afford one of your own.

[haplesshome45]

I would suggest the answer is not quite so dogmatic as sandyclaus would represent. Certainly, autos are titled goods and belong to whoever holds the title. You do not, so it is not your auto. However, that does not mean that you did not enter, or would be construed to have entered, into an Agreement for Purchase and Sale with your ex-. If you did, then there is some dispute over your Performance, since you did not re-finance the car and obtain the Title. However, you DID make the payments, as a good-faith part of performing some part of the Agreement, and the Vendor your ex- certainly tolerated your continued possession of the auto. And you kept it insured. So it can be reasonably argued that you were in continued efforts to perform.

Now part of those payments are recapture of principal, so equity is building up in the auto. The "vendor" your ex- is being "unjustly enriched" by taking that part of the money that went towards the equity. Not all of your payments were for the "use and possession" part of the costs of the auto.

If your ex- ran off with the auto, without notice, then a reasonable claim can be made of unjust enrichment. You get "something," but not a lot.

Since it looks like you did not "perform" in a timely fashion in your original arrangement, the "vendor" ex- has the right to his remedies, which includes taking back the auto; but that assumes that you were not granted "forbearance" by the vendor to give you more time to perform. Ultimately, the stalled arrangement has to come to a finality; but that does not imply that he can do so perfunctorily, and enrich himself in the process. You probably have grounds for some claim, but not all that much.