What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
My friend advised me that his acquaintance was selling his 2001 BMW. We went together to purchase the car and I issued the seller a check for 11,500.00. He advised me that he would take a portion of the funds to pay off the vehicle and keep the difference. He also explained to me that he would mail me the title when he received it shortly after paying off the lien. Since it was someone known to my friend, I trusted that it would get handled in a timely manner. As time went on it became more difficult to reach the seller and the one time I was able to communicate with him, he advised me that the title was at his mothers address and that he was sorry for the delay. Since then I have attempted to follow up with him and he is unreachable and nowhere to be found. It has been almost 2 years and I have even attempted to communicate with his mother who is acting like she does not understand me since her native language is foreign. I was contacted by an agent that was contracted by the lien holder to recover the vehicle to see if I knew anything about the seller. I was informed by the agent that the lien holder has been attempting to recover the vehicle since the time I purchased it nearly 2 years ago.
What are my options? Is there anyway to approach this where Im not at a complete loss (the funds to seller and returning the vehicle to lien holder).
What is my best course of action? What type of case is this? Is this considered a criminal case like fraud or embezzlement? Or is this simply a civil case. Any help, advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
My friend advised me that his acquaintance was selling his 2001 BMW. We went together to purchase the car and I issued the seller a check for 11,500.00. He advised me that he would take a portion of the funds to pay off the vehicle and keep the difference. He also explained to me that he would mail me the title when he received it shortly after paying off the lien. Since it was someone known to my friend, I trusted that it would get handled in a timely manner. As time went on it became more difficult to reach the seller and the one time I was able to communicate with him, he advised me that the title was at his mothers address and that he was sorry for the delay. Since then I have attempted to follow up with him and he is unreachable and nowhere to be found. It has been almost 2 years and I have even attempted to communicate with his mother who is acting like she does not understand me since her native language is foreign. I was contacted by an agent that was contracted by the lien holder to recover the vehicle to see if I knew anything about the seller. I was informed by the agent that the lien holder has been attempting to recover the vehicle since the time I purchased it nearly 2 years ago.
What are my options? Is there anyway to approach this where Im not at a complete loss (the funds to seller and returning the vehicle to lien holder).
What is my best course of action? What type of case is this? Is this considered a criminal case like fraud or embezzlement? Or is this simply a civil case. Any help, advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.