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Loaned Vehicle Trouble

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scouture

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? New Brunswick, Canada

Four years ago, my mother was involved in a terrible accident that greatly disabled her and claimed the live of her best friend and her boy friend. Since then she has been waiting for her settlement from the responsible party's insurance company.

About a year ago, I was living with a close family friend. As I was having a hard time financially she took me in and let me live in a room in her house at no charge for 4 months (provided that I helped around the house and pay my own food). During this period, the close family friend (who we will call Martha), let me drive her car to run errands and on occasion, I would take it to work. After about 4 months of living there I was ready to move in on my own as I was now more financially stable. Around the same time she decided that she didn't like her car anymore and wanted to buy a different one. The problem was she was stuck in a lease. As a great personal favor, she offered to loan me the car and pay for the lease payments and insurance until my mother received her insurance settlement. At that point it was agreed that my mother would pay her back for the buy-out value and the cost of payments and insurance during the time I was driving it. Martha offered to keep paying for the lease payments and insurance in her name until my mother would settle. She made it clear that this would not cause her a great financial burden.

When the car needed to be serviced or needed oil change, I would take it in and pay for those things to be done. I also paid my own gas. I drove the car to work and to run errands.

After about 10-11 months, Martha called me and asked me to get an insurance quote so I could pay for my own insurance. I got the quote and told her to let me know when she wanted me to start paying my own insurance on the car. I didn’t from her for about a month. Then one day she called me and told me that she was having a hard time to pay for both cars and she asked me to try to get a small loan for $5,000 to pay for part of the payments. I immediately went to 3 banks and as a 23 year old who has only been accumulating credit for 6 months, naturally I was turned down. I explained this to her and kept trying to get a loan as my mother’s case experiencing delays. She kept pressuring to give her $5,000 or she would loose her house. I offered to give the car back to her but she refused and told me that it was my responsibility now even though the car and insurance is still under her name. Now she is threatening to take legal action against me if I don’t give her $26,000 my next month (the remaining lease payments on the car plus the buy-out value).

Yesterday she came to my house and asked me for the keys and took posesion of the car.

Does she have a leg to stand on given the fact that this is her car and my name has never been listed anywhere? Also, taking into consideration that the verbal agreement was that my mother would pay for the car when she would settle with the insurance company.
 
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JETX

Senior Member
scouture said:
Does she have a leg to stand on given the fact that this is her car and my name has never been listed anywhere? Also, taking into consideration that the verbal agreement was that my mother would pay for the car when she would settle with the insurance company.
Based solely on your post.... I doubt she would be able to force you to 'buy' the car.... however, she may have a case to get you to reimburse her for 'reasonable' costs (damages) she incurred during your 'borrowing' her car.
 

scouture

Junior Member
There are no damages to the car. I've put less then 6,000 miles since I've had it and it's been just over a year. I would be more then happy to pay her every penny that she paid over the last year, if I could get a loan; I'm trying to find a co-signer.

Thank you.
 

BL

Senior Member
Small Claims " damages" , does not mean Damage per say , It means monetary award for cost incurred.
 

JETX

Senior Member
damages
n. the amount of money which a plaintiff (the person suing) may be awarded in a lawsuit. There are many types of damages. Special damages are those which actually were caused by the injury and include medical and hospital bills, ambulance charges, loss of wages, property repair or replacement costs or loss of money due on a contract. The second basic area of damages are general damages, which are presumed to be a result of the other party's actions, but are subjective both in nature and determination of value of damages. These include pain and suffering, future problems and crippling effect of an injury, loss of ability to perform various acts, shortening of life span, mental anguish, loss of companionship, loss of reputation (in a libel suit, for example), humiliation from scars, loss of anticipated business and other harm. The third major form of damage is exemplary (or punitive) damages, which combines punishment and the setting of public example. Exemplary damages may be awarded when the defendant acted in a malicious, violent, oppressive, fraudulent, wanton or grossly reckless way in causing the special and general damages to the plaintiff. On occasion punitive damages can be greater than the actual damages, as, for example, in a sexual harassment case or fraudulent schemes. Although often asked for, they are seldom awarded. Nominal damages are those given when the actual harm is minor and an award is warranted under the circumstances. Liquidated damages are those pre-set by the parties in a contract to be awarded in case one party defaults as in breach of contract.
 

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