Buyer wants out of car sale.

What is the name of your state? North Carolina

Hey All,

I sold my pickup truck to a private party in October of 2006 for $1300 under a verbal agrement, no written contract made out at the time. The party wanted to make payments of $100 per month to pay for it, and I would transfer title to them upon completion of the last payment. I would also pay for liability insurance on the vehicle for the 13 months of payments, or for fewer months if they decided to pay off the entire amount early. I also turned down another buyer that had full payment available since this individual had committed to the purchase first.

The individual paid $200 for the first two months, but then did not make any payments after that and did not return a couple of messages I left. I sent a letter to the individual's home and after a couple of months received a message saying she was still interested but was in the process of moving and her boyfriend's grandma had passed away, so she was in tight times. After a few more months of not paying, her boyfriend called saying they probably could not afford the truck and wanted to get his $200 back.

So, it has been 10 months since they last made a payment. I have been paying extra insurance on the vehicle per my end of the verbal agreement and I passed up on another buyer due to the commitment of this individual making payments to me. I now have to relist my truck and may not be able to sell it for the $1300 I wanted...several offers have been made for it, but all well below my asking price. Do I have any grounds to keep their $200? I don't want to be a jerk since they had a family member recently pass, but I have lost out on some money here and stand to miss out on some more by agreeing to sell them the truck in the first place. Thanks for any advice.What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?

In essence, you rented the truck to them. Did they have possession of the truck?

Never do this again. Your name on the title. Your name on the insurance. You were potentially liable for any damage the 'renters' caused with the truck. You would have been sued. Your insurance company would have dropped you.

Ozark_Sophist said:

In essence, you rented the truck to them. Did they have possession of the truck?

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Funny - I looked at this as insurance fraud...

Thanks for your responses...I should clarify that they have never had possession of the truck and have never driven it except for the test drive. I was to keep possession until they paid it off, then transfer title and possession. In NC, I am required to carry insurance on it as long as I own it, so that is why I was covering the insurance, but was not covering it so they could drive it.

Thanks again for your responses and sorry I didn't clarify this better before.

Zigner said:

Funny - I looked at this as insurance fraud...

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I rewrote my post a couple of times. I had that in there once, but I took it out because I realized from OP's description, it was possible the 'buyer' never had possession of the vehicle.

You have no written contract, and a verbal contract is worth squat. Sell the truck for what you can get. You could attempt to sue for the difference between what you sell the truck for and $1100 (you did get $200), but I doubt you would win.

superFlyTy said:

Thanks for your responses...I should clarify that they have never had possession of the truck and have never driven it except for the test drive. I was to keep possession until they paid it off, then transfer title and possession. In NC, I am required to carry insurance on it as long as I own it, so that is why I was covering the insurance, but was not covering it so they could drive it.

Thanks again for your responses and sorry I didn't clarify this better before.

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The basic rule of law is this: A verbal contract for the sale of goods over $500 is not enforceable.

Exception to above rule: If one party admits in court that a verbal contract exists, or has already accepted the benefit of the verbal contract, it can be enforced against him.

A quick review of the facts reveals that you had the title to the truck, insurance in your name on the truck, and actual possession of the truck. I don't think there's an argument to be made that you performed on the agreement. If you sued, your only hope would be that the buyer admits in court that there is a verbal contract.

You should probably return the $200 and sell the vehicle ASAP.

BoredAtty said:

You should probably return the $200 and sell the vehicle ASAP.

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I don't see where returning the $200 would be to OP's benefit. In fact, if the 'buyer' wanted the money back, he would have to being a small claims action against OP and explain what the money was for. Then OP would have proof of the verbal contract and be able to turn counter-sue 'buyer' for breach of contract.

Ozark_Sophist said:

I don't see where returning the $200 would be to OP's benefit. In fact, if the 'buyer' wanted the money back, he would have to being a small claims action against OP and explain what the money was for.

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Buyer: "Your honor, I gave the $200 as a deposit on the truck. The defendant had possession of the truck the entire time, and is still listed on the title. I received no benefit from my $200."

Then OP would have proof of the verbal contract and be able to turn counter-sue 'buyer' for breach of contract.

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Judge: "I will not entertain evidence to prove the existence of a verbal contract, as verbal contracts are not enforceable with regard to the sale of goods over $500 unless the party to be charged admits that such a contract exists. He has not made such an admission."

Sure, he may as well keep the $200 if he was actually out some expense. Most likely he'll never hear from the buyer again anyway.