charges to account by unauthorized user

[Hm2]

What is the name of your state? ca
I own a trucking company and a man was leasing one of my trucks from me for his own business. He went to the tire company that I have an account and charged $1500 worth of tires to the account. I never authorized him to use my account and the tire company has nothing in writing stating that the man who signed had any type of authorization from me to do so. I have a copy of the invoice showing the man signature. Needless to say I refuse to pay this bill and now a year later the tire co. is taking me to small claims. Should I be held responsible for the fact that the tire co. never checked with me before letting someone make charges to my account?

 

[nowpastdue]

I am NOT an attorney.

#1 Is this man still leasing the same truck or a different truck from your company?
#2 Were the tires this man purchased placed on the truck he was renting from you?
#3 How soon after the unauthorized purchase did you become aware of the transaction?
#4 When you became aware of the transaction, did you return or offer to return the tires if they were on your truck?
#5 What did the police find in their investigation when you reported this?
#6 In the lease agreement is there anything about anything that could be construed by a reasonable person to authorize the renter to charge the tires to your company?
#7 Since you have been doing business with the tire company has there been times when you sent someone over to get some tires that these people never saw before?
#8 Is your company a corporation?
#9 Is either the tire company or the truck renter's company a corporation?

You can rest assured if it gets to court these questions might come up.

 

[racer72]

Heard almost the exact thing in a SMC about a year ago. The owner of the truck had to return the tires or pay the $960 he was being sued for. The tire company had to supply usable tires and do the mount and balance for no charge if the tires were returned. The owner of the truck offered $500 because he didn't want to take the truck off the road and the guy representing the tire company agreed.

 

[Hm2]

I have sold the truck since this all happened. So, returning the tires is not an option. I actually had the truck up for sale by the time I found out about this charge to my account. It turns out the guy leasing my truck wasn't paying me so I made him bring the truck back & I sold it.

 

[djohnson]

But you also sold at that point tires that you claim did not belong to you. You benefitted from them so you will probably be held responsible and if your contract with the leased diver said he was responsible for tires and maintenance it would be up to you to sue him. What chance you may have had you lost when you sold property in dispute and when your arguments is that they didn't belong to you.

 

[Hm2]

So eventhough i did not know that the tires on the truck that i sold were not paid for by the guy leasing my truck i am liable for them? I can understand what you are saying but when did it become ok to charge things fradulantly and the person who was defrauded has to pay?? Why doesn't the tire company go after the guy who signed illegally for the tires? Shouldn't the tire company have checked with me before letting someone else sign on my account? Aren't they some way responsible?

 

[djohnson]

There are separate issues going on her at this point. Fraudulent charges aside. If they sue you for these tires you can't claim fraudulent charges or your guilty of selling stolen property or at the very least someone else's property which can take what would have been a civil matter to a criminal one, depending on how they want to press it. You said yourself it was up for sale when you found out about the tires. You sold it even though you were disputing the charges of them. You messed your self up in doing that. What did your contract say with the leased driver? Was he responsible for tires and maintenance or were you to provide a furnished truck? If he was and you have that contract you may have something to work with. But by selling them you benefitted. I think you should just pay it at this point because your chances of winning anything but high legal fees could be slim.

 

[nowpastdue]

I am NOT an attorney.

No, it is not OK to commit a fraud.

It is also NOT OK to benefit from fraud even if you are an innocent party, if memory serves I think the legal terminology is called "unlawful enrichment".

If you had, or if you can still involve the police, and the person is found guilty it would immeasurably further your case against him in a civil suit.

You didn't answer my question #7, so can we assume that you always 100% of the time picked up any needed tires yourself?

If they allowed unauthorized persons to sign on accounts, at the least it is bad business practice. To what extent they are responsible the courts will decide.

How are you now handling the purchase of parts, tires, etc? I hope not in the same way. Get a business or corporate credit card where you will have some protection.

I would suggest that you perhaps make a counter offer to the tire dealer if the two of you can keep it on a professional basis. Then I would go after the guy who charged the tires to you.