NEED HELP!Vehicle Ownership? Must I pay???

undefinedWhat is the name of your state? Hawaii

Hilo, Hawaii

*Ex brother-in-law has filed a notice against me in small claims court for the sale of a 1955 Ford pickup truck. In August 2002 I purchased the truck for $3200.00 (spent $310.00 as soon as I got it) with the intention of restoring it. However, within several days of obtaining repair & restore estimates, I realized that it was going to cost more than I had anticipated and could afford. Since I decided to sell it, I did not transfer the Certificate of Ownership in my name. On or about 8/23/02 (according to the small claims court notice), I sold it to my brother-in-law for $3500.00 and broke even. He had the truck for several months (unlike what he claims in the notice) and apparently had not transferred the Certificate of Ownership to his name. According to my brother-in-law, he had taken the truck to a local Midas shop for repairs, and while it was parked outside the shop, the original owner that I had purchased it from had gotten a duplicate of the Certificate of Ownership, and took the truck, claiming it was his. *I did not know the original owner personally, just did the transaction to purchase the truck. My brother-in-law has now, almost two years later filed a notice in small claims court against me falisifying the amout of purchase for $4500.00, but only asking for judgement in the principal amount of $3500.00. He has called me a couple of times and asked for his money back. Both times I told him I will not give him the $3500.00 due to his own negligence of not transferring the ownership papers sooner. I told him it was not my fault, and that I too paid $3500.00 for the truck, I did not get it for free. Court date is 5/18/04 Tues. I can't afford a attorney, how can I handle this myself and what our my rights regarding this matter? Thanking you in advance! Albert

"how can I handle this myself and what our my rights regarding this matter?"
*** Your post is missing some HUGE pieces of information.....
1) EXACTLY what documents do YOU have showing that you purchased the truck..... and your right to sell it???
2) EXACTLY what documentation do you have to show that YOU sold it to the buyer??
After you answer them, we will go to the next step... which may very well be the suggestion that you include YOUR seller into the lawsuit.

Hilo, Hawaii

Well, you have got me thinking now......I never thought of it that way unfortunately. I have no documentation of purchase because I received the ownership papers when I purchased the truck, and then within 3 weeks, I turned around and sold it to my ex brother-in-law, giving him that ownership without ever transferring it to my name.

To boot, he did not attempt to transfer it to his name until after the last owner of the truck took it from the Midas repair shop. That is when he went down to the DMV to get it transferred into his name, that was approx. 4 to 5 months after I sold it to him.

So in actuality, I have no documentation or paper trail at all regarding this truck, only a couple of witnesses.

Thanks for responding!

And let me guess.... of course you paid $3200 in CASH for the vehicle and have NO bank records to show that you withdrew that money or any other 'proof' that you paid anything, right??
And you have NO records of the $310 in parts that you claim to have purchased either, right??

Sounds to me like you will be paying your ex brother-in-law for the money that you gained from him.....
And after you pay him, then YOU can file suit against the person who 'sold' the vehicle to you.