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In Calif, motel owner take car for motel bill???

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ispi1

Guest
In California, If motel guest owes $200 motel bill, can motel owner just take guest's car and demand the money or keep the car without legal presentation? As it turns out, the car was not even legally titled or registered to the guest that owed the money, but to her mother in another state.

The motel owner supposedly sold the car in a "lien sale", without any notification to the legal owner (the mother). Mother was notified by a friend they'd seen her car driving around still with her out of state plate. Mother calls the police department in Ca, where car is seen, and police told her if it was titled and registered in her name, and she had the keys, she could go get the car. So she got her car back, signed over the title to the people she sold the car to. Now, after this car has been registered in the new owners name for the last 7 months, it was impounded as a stolen car. So now the pd who said it was okay for the mother to go get her car, are claiming now that she stole the car!! She'd been the registered, title owner for ten years.
What is the legal process a motel owner would have to go through, if he had a guest that owed him $200? Surely, he can't just take the law into his own hands and take the car? Is there any recourse in this matter without having to pay big bucks for an attorney? The dectives are of no help what so ever, they claim what the motel owner did was legal in the state of California???
 



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