ex boyfriend says he will take my car

[garnet]

What is the name of your state? MI
I live in MI, my ex boyfriend lives in IN. While we were going out he paid cash for a car for me purchased in IN. I agreed to make monthly payments- he set the amt I would pay. I paid for insurance, tax, title and license. He put his name on the title along with mine. I have made the monthly payments as agreed upon. He decided money I made from an extra job shouldalso go to him which was not part of our original agreement but I have paid it to date. the total cost of the car was $4600. I have paid off almost $2000. I recently broke up with him and he is threatening to take the car. We have no contract or anything else in writing. I have my cancelled checks to prove I have made payments all along. I have offered him my volvo to apy off the remainder of my loan. The offer is way below blue book for the car. He doesn't want it and says I need to get a bank loan using the car as collateral. I can't get a loan because my credit was trashed by my ex husband. I would have gotten a loan to get the car in the first place if I could have. i am a teacher solely supporting two teenagers. I would like to know if he can take me to court to get the money that I still owe on the car- I intend to pay him every penny, but on a monthly basis as I have in the past.
any assistance is greatly appreciated!

 

[Veronica01]

You don’t have written contract with him, we understand. Do you plan to deny the loan? I hope not.

What do you wanted to say you have the canceled checks, did he cash the checks or did he not?

He can take you to the court to get his money. If you are paying regularly the amount you agreed upon, this is all he will get. If he did not cashed the checks because you did not have enough funds in your account, you are exposed to a problem here considering you have two cars. What compromise the judge will come up with I do not know. There are jurisdiction issue that may complicate the situation.

 

[djohnson]

The jurisdiction issues is about the only thing in that response that I understood. There will jurisdiction issues that will make it tougher on him. If you are following the terms of your verbal agreement then he doesn't have anything to sue you over. If you default on those terms then he does.

 

[JETX]

Wow, both of these responses are wrong.... and ignore the obvious legal issue(s).

"If you are paying regularly the amount you agreed upon, this is all he will get."
*** Wrong. If a judgment is rendered against you, the creditor can seize any non-exempt assets that you have, including garnishing wages, accounts, etc.

"If he did not cashed the checks because you did not have enough funds in your account, you are exposed to a problem here considering you have two cars. "
*** Where did you get this one?? There is nothing in the writers post that even suggests that checks were NSF. In fact, the writers post says, "I have my cancelled checks to prove I have made payments all along."

"What compromise the judge will come up with I do not know."
*** Judges don't "come up with compromises".

"There are jurisdiction issue that may complicate the situation."
*** What jurisdiction issues are you talking about?? There is nothing in the post to even imply that the parties will have any issues.....

"If you are following the terms of your verbal agreement then he doesn't have anything to sue you over. "
*** This is ridiculous. Parties often make contradictory claims about verbal agreements that become lawsuits.

So, lets get back to the original post and answer correctly.....

"He put his name on the title along with mine."
*** Does the title read "or" or "and"?? If 'or' then either person has the rights to possession and ownership and can sell without the other persons signature. If 'and', then both persons equally own the vehicle.... and both persons must sign for sale.

"I recently broke up with him and he is threatening to take the car."
*** See above as to what rights he has.... and you have.

"We have no contract or anything else in writing."
*** And that will be the huge problem here. Neither of you can prove what the agreement was. Your checks can be used in court to support your version of the agreement, but he may make some type of counter to that (and we have no idea what that might be.... only that he can).

"I have my cancelled checks to prove I have made payments all along. I have offered him my volvo to apy off the remainder of my loan. The offer is way below blue book for the car. He doesn't want it and says I need to get a bank loan using the car as collateral."
*** Not relevant to the issue.

"I can't get a loan because my credit was trashed by my ex husband. I would have gotten a loan to get the car in the first place if I could have. i am a teacher solely supporting two teenagers."
*** Not relevant.

"I would like to know if he can take me to court to get the money that I still owe on the car"
*** Yes. He can take you to court. Whether he would win or not would be largely based on your ability to convince the court that there was an agreement and that you are not in breach.

"I intend to pay him every penny, but on a monthly basis as I have in the past."
** Good. Continue to do that and do not give him any reason to claim that you have breached the agreement. The fact that you have a consistent record of payments will greatly help your claim of an agreement.