Chadkessin45
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? = Virginia
I have a family friend who seems to have gotten himself in a legal situation with one of his family members and needs some help. The situation is as follows.
The family friend, Fred, purchased a car some years ago nearly new and has owned and paid on the vehicle since 2004. Within the last year his eyesight and mental capacity have begun to fail him resulting in him having a few minor accidents with the car. The most recent one involved him backing into a parked police car in front of the officer. Minor damage less than~ 500 dollars worth. At that point in time it was recommended by his daughter that he “give” the truck to her to take care of since he couldn’t be trusted to drive anymore. His daughter was with him at the time of the accident, the police officer and daughter applied some pressure for Fred to give the truck to his daughter. Fred did so begrudgingly but did give his daughter possession of the car. The car remained in Fred’s name and the lien on the vehicle also remained in his name. It was relayed by his daughter that she would be taking over the payments on the car and ownership. Fred did not agree to that verbally or in writing..
Subsequently the bank that has a lien on the car began calling Fred saying that his car payment had not been made. He called his daughter asking her to return the car and asked why the payments had not been made if she was going to keep the car. She replied several times that the bank was incorrect that she was making the payments and assured Fred that she was not going to harm his credit. Fred stated then that he wanted her to bring the car back to him so he could sell the vehicle as he was attempting to get disability because of his diminished physical capacity and would need the money to live on. The car payments continued not to be made by his daughter and the car was re-possessed by the finance company. Once the car was repo’ed Fred contacted my mother telling her about the situation and his diminishing capacity and asked my mother to help him with his finances and become his power of attorney. My mother talked to the finance company and tried to determine what they needed to do to catch the truck payments up and get it out of delinquency; so Fred could then sell the car and pay off the small lien and use the rest for living expenses. Meanwhile Fred’s daughter talked to Fred and promised that she would pay the catch up payments and pay the truck off for him if he would give the finance company permission to talk to her so she could get the truck out of delinquency. He gave her permission to discuss the situation with the finance company but told her that he needed his truck back so he could sell it for living expenses. His daughter was successful in getting the truck back and took possession of the vehicle once again. Within the first month after his daughter regained possession of the car the finance company was calling Fred again about his delinquent payments. Being unemployed and unable to make his car payments because of his medical conditions. Fred asked his daughter once again to bring the truck back so he could sell it for living expenses and to pay off the lien and save his credit. His daughter refused. Fred then calls local law enforcement and asked them to come with him and a friend so they could get the truck since he was the legal owner at the time. Fred was successful in retaining possession of the car.
He then asked my mother to sell the car, She did and paid the lien off and kept the remaining funds to live on.
His daughter now is bringing a lawsuit against her father for the ownership of the car or financial compensation. She is claiming that she was the rightful owner of the car although she was not the registered owner and did not have the title. She also claimed she is due attorney’s fees and repayment of interest of 6% and repairs she made on the car while she possessed it. She did have a clutch put in the car while she possessed it and used it daily as she has no vehicle of her own. She also had it detailed and installed a high quality radio. While she possessed the car she made no timely payments and allowed the car to be repossessed which hurt Fred’s credit. Although she did pay the catch up payments and fees to get the truck out of delinquency allowing her to regain possession. She then did not make another payment and the car once again was delinquent when Fred took the police to go get the vehicle and pay it off. Does his daughter have a claim for the car or damages at all? During this whole period the car was registered in Fred’s name, the lien was solely in Fred’s name. The repossession really damaged Fred’s credit. When Fred sold the truck he paid the liens off and transferred the title to the new owner.
Does his daughter have any legal claim? In my opinion she took possession under duress did not make any timely payments on the car until it was repossessed. After paying to get it out of hock she then failed to make any new payments after that allowing the lien to become defaulted again. Sorry to be so long winded but I wanted to show the repeated attempts by Fred to regain possession in an peaceful manner and make right his lien even though he is jobless and woefully short of money because of his diminished capacity. Thanks in advance for your advice/opinions
I have a family friend who seems to have gotten himself in a legal situation with one of his family members and needs some help. The situation is as follows.
The family friend, Fred, purchased a car some years ago nearly new and has owned and paid on the vehicle since 2004. Within the last year his eyesight and mental capacity have begun to fail him resulting in him having a few minor accidents with the car. The most recent one involved him backing into a parked police car in front of the officer. Minor damage less than~ 500 dollars worth. At that point in time it was recommended by his daughter that he “give” the truck to her to take care of since he couldn’t be trusted to drive anymore. His daughter was with him at the time of the accident, the police officer and daughter applied some pressure for Fred to give the truck to his daughter. Fred did so begrudgingly but did give his daughter possession of the car. The car remained in Fred’s name and the lien on the vehicle also remained in his name. It was relayed by his daughter that she would be taking over the payments on the car and ownership. Fred did not agree to that verbally or in writing..
Subsequently the bank that has a lien on the car began calling Fred saying that his car payment had not been made. He called his daughter asking her to return the car and asked why the payments had not been made if she was going to keep the car. She replied several times that the bank was incorrect that she was making the payments and assured Fred that she was not going to harm his credit. Fred stated then that he wanted her to bring the car back to him so he could sell the vehicle as he was attempting to get disability because of his diminished physical capacity and would need the money to live on. The car payments continued not to be made by his daughter and the car was re-possessed by the finance company. Once the car was repo’ed Fred contacted my mother telling her about the situation and his diminishing capacity and asked my mother to help him with his finances and become his power of attorney. My mother talked to the finance company and tried to determine what they needed to do to catch the truck payments up and get it out of delinquency; so Fred could then sell the car and pay off the small lien and use the rest for living expenses. Meanwhile Fred’s daughter talked to Fred and promised that she would pay the catch up payments and pay the truck off for him if he would give the finance company permission to talk to her so she could get the truck out of delinquency. He gave her permission to discuss the situation with the finance company but told her that he needed his truck back so he could sell it for living expenses. His daughter was successful in getting the truck back and took possession of the vehicle once again. Within the first month after his daughter regained possession of the car the finance company was calling Fred again about his delinquent payments. Being unemployed and unable to make his car payments because of his medical conditions. Fred asked his daughter once again to bring the truck back so he could sell it for living expenses and to pay off the lien and save his credit. His daughter refused. Fred then calls local law enforcement and asked them to come with him and a friend so they could get the truck since he was the legal owner at the time. Fred was successful in retaining possession of the car.
He then asked my mother to sell the car, She did and paid the lien off and kept the remaining funds to live on.
His daughter now is bringing a lawsuit against her father for the ownership of the car or financial compensation. She is claiming that she was the rightful owner of the car although she was not the registered owner and did not have the title. She also claimed she is due attorney’s fees and repayment of interest of 6% and repairs she made on the car while she possessed it. She did have a clutch put in the car while she possessed it and used it daily as she has no vehicle of her own. She also had it detailed and installed a high quality radio. While she possessed the car she made no timely payments and allowed the car to be repossessed which hurt Fred’s credit. Although she did pay the catch up payments and fees to get the truck out of delinquency allowing her to regain possession. She then did not make another payment and the car once again was delinquent when Fred took the police to go get the vehicle and pay it off. Does his daughter have a claim for the car or damages at all? During this whole period the car was registered in Fred’s name, the lien was solely in Fred’s name. The repossession really damaged Fred’s credit. When Fred sold the truck he paid the liens off and transferred the title to the new owner.
Does his daughter have any legal claim? In my opinion she took possession under duress did not make any timely payments on the car until it was repossessed. After paying to get it out of hock she then failed to make any new payments after that allowing the lien to become defaulted again. Sorry to be so long winded but I wanted to show the repeated attempts by Fred to regain possession in an peaceful manner and make right his lien even though he is jobless and woefully short of money because of his diminished capacity. Thanks in advance for your advice/opinions