Friend vs. friend over truck

[crashcrad]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ky
my son sold his truck to a friend , she took over the payments and was late on making them several times till the company took my son to court over it, and then he told his friend either pay the payments or he will take back the truck. so she finally caught up and even though she was late again she paid the payment until recently when she owed $400. left on the truck and never paid it. so the company came and repoed the truck . and called my son andtold him that he needs to come and bring $1700. to pay for towing and other expenses , so he did . and then he and her ex which are friends went to get the truck and bring it back to my sons house . he told both of them that until the $1700. is payed to him they will not get the truck back. but instead of folowling him back to my sons house ,they decided to take the truck and run and now they wont bring it back.. what can he do ? the title is still in her name and since he had to pay her late tags ,in order to get his tags for this month.

 

[racer72]

the title is still in her name

There is nothing he can do. He does not own the truck anymore, he is just responsible for the payments. This is what he gets for likely violating the agreement he had with the lender when he bought the truck.

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ky
my son sold his truck to a friend , she took over the payments and was late on making them several times till the company took my son to court over it, and then he told his friend either pay the payments or he will take back the truck. so she finally caught up and even though she was late again she paid the payment until recently when she owed $400. left on the truck and never paid it. so the company came and repoed the truck . and called my son andtold him that he needs to come and bring $1700. to pay for towing and other expenses , so he did . and then he and her ex which are friends went to get the truck and bring it back to my sons house . he told both of them that until the $1700. is payed to him they will not get the truck back. but instead of folowling him back to my sons house ,they decided to take the truck and run and now they wont bring it back.. what can he do ? the title is still in her name and since he had to pay her late tags ,in order to get his tags for this month.

How on earth did she get the title in her name? Your son had no right to sell that vehicle in the manner in he did.

 

[latigo]

YES THERE IS SOMETHING HE CAN DO! Definitely.

He has a solid cause of action against her for the breach of her agreement to assume his position as obligor under the loan agreement.

His damages would be the expense he was put to as the direct result of her failure to make the loan installments.

Nor would she be able to assert the statute of frauds as a defense on grounds that the agreement was not documented. There is ample independent proof that she agreed to answer for his debt.

 

[swalsh411]

YES THERE IS SOMETHING HE CAN DO! Definitely.

Since when can you sue somebody for breaching a contract that was invalid from the beginning? He had no authority to transfer the title to her name or to make her liable for the payments.

And even if he could sue her, that would not relieve his obligation to pay the loan.

 

[crashcrad]

yes thanks for all the reply's to this messy situation.. I know my son thought he was doing the right thing by doing this . the truck was bought by him through a payment company and his ex wife was trying to get it from the divorce even though it was not in her name and she was incarsareted . the judge told him to either finish paying for it or turn it back over to the company . so that's when this girl he knew came and asked him if she could take over the payments. so they both went down to talk to the company which owned it and he signed it over to her and she was on the contract to take over the payments. and she has had the truck for several years and we had thought that she had got it changed through the motor vehicle tags and license by the last 2 years my son had to pay the late charges to get the tags up dated .

 

[latigo]

Since when can you sue somebody for breaching a contract that was invalid from the beginning?

Let’s just disregard the OP’s supplemental post and the status of the certificate of title -

AND you please explain to me why an individual’s promise to the borrower to assume an exiting secured auto loan is an unenforceable contract!

Although when accomplished informally it leaves the promissor at the mercy of the promissee to endorse over the title once it is released by the secured lender. YET IT'S DONE THOUSANDS OF TIMES A DAY!

You might just as well have written that a person can't sell their home if there's a mortgage against it.
_____________

And this is too trite and self-evident to need comment.

And even if he could sue her, that would not relieve his obligation to pay the loan.