ponies4kids
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
I was told by a criminal investigator that charges of Theft over $1500 had been filed on me and a warrant was issued for my arrest. He said that I needed to come and turn myself in. It's over a horse that was brought to me by a man I met while showing horses to him and his wife that was said to be beginner safe. I buy and sell horses and agreed to sell his mare for him. He called and asked me if I would, I said yes so he brought her to my place after picking her up from the trainer where she had been for 30 days for a tune up since she had been turned out for months when he bought her. Since I had tried to sell them a horse and knew how thorough they were and the type of horse they said they wanted, I assumed this mare was exactly the type of horse that I specialize in selling. I asked him why he has decided to sell her and he said that it was because of her height. She was 15.3 hands. Said that he fell in love with her because of her disposition, she was very smooth moving and handled great but now realizes that he had jumped the gun when buying her forgetting that he needed a horse that was closer to 14 hands tall. I had just moved when he brought her so my computer was not set up yet which meant I did not have my printer in order to type a contract. Told him this before he brought her and he said that was fine, he wasn't worried about it. I rode her that night and she seemed fine and appeared to be exactly what they said she was so I listed her. We never had an agreement on what she would have to bring in fact when asked how much he wanted for her he said he just wanted some of his money back and to use my own judgement. She was here about two months before someone called to come try her. The whole family was new to horses and the daughter the horse was for was terrified of them since they had been to try a horse the weekend before that threw her. The mare did fine the day they came so they decided to buy her on a payment plan and asked that I ride her three times a week for them the next month or so until she was paid off so she would not go without riding which I agreed to. The paid $1000 down and the weather that week prevented me from being able to ride...another $1000 was paid and I was able to ride her...had a little trouble with her the first day but she ended up working o.k., the next day she was terrible! She bucked, drug me when putting on her bridle, thought something had to be wrong so I put her up and tried again the next day which ended up worse. I decided there was no way I was going to sell them this horse! I sell enough horses that I must follow the Uniform Commercial Code which obligates me to insure that a buyer is in no way misled or purchases a horse that I know has behavior issues so I cancelled the sell and their $2000 was returned. I asked the owner if he wanted to come pick the mare up and he said he did not want her back just wanted some of his money back so I had a man looking for a horse to use as a broodmare only so I sold the mare to him for $1500. I then took the $1500 and bought a gelding to try to sell the people, the owner of the mare knew about this. However, the people would not even come to look at the gelding so I told the owner that I would list him and chances were he would sell for more than the mare did. He said that was fine. I understand that I should have gotten everything from day one in writing and was wrong for not from day one but he could have picked his horse up at any time, knew what was going on, did not insist on a contract so in my eyes he is just as guilty as me. He has now gone to the investigator with the paperwork from the $3000 sell that had to be cancelled and I was told that I could either pay the man the $3000 i could have gotten for the horse immediately or theft charges would be filed. I told them that he was welcome to come get the gelding that was purchased with his knowledge for the $1500 which was gotten for the mare or he would have to wait until the gelding sold and still I was not in agreement about the amount he was owed because we never had a set price which he was owed. Said the gelding was not his horse and I should have went ahead and sold them the mare and let them worry about how she acted when they got her home since they had already tried her and agreed to buy her. That is not how I do business! I feel this is a civil case and the only thing I did wrong was not getting everything in writing. We had no set price for his mare, he brought her to me, I did not steal his horse and did not sell her without his knowledge so how is it they can file Theft Charges? I have not gone to turn myself in and suppose I will hire a lawyer but is there anything I can do legally to keep from having an arrest for theft against me????What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
I was told by a criminal investigator that charges of Theft over $1500 had been filed on me and a warrant was issued for my arrest. He said that I needed to come and turn myself in. It's over a horse that was brought to me by a man I met while showing horses to him and his wife that was said to be beginner safe. I buy and sell horses and agreed to sell his mare for him. He called and asked me if I would, I said yes so he brought her to my place after picking her up from the trainer where she had been for 30 days for a tune up since she had been turned out for months when he bought her. Since I had tried to sell them a horse and knew how thorough they were and the type of horse they said they wanted, I assumed this mare was exactly the type of horse that I specialize in selling. I asked him why he has decided to sell her and he said that it was because of her height. She was 15.3 hands. Said that he fell in love with her because of her disposition, she was very smooth moving and handled great but now realizes that he had jumped the gun when buying her forgetting that he needed a horse that was closer to 14 hands tall. I had just moved when he brought her so my computer was not set up yet which meant I did not have my printer in order to type a contract. Told him this before he brought her and he said that was fine, he wasn't worried about it. I rode her that night and she seemed fine and appeared to be exactly what they said she was so I listed her. We never had an agreement on what she would have to bring in fact when asked how much he wanted for her he said he just wanted some of his money back and to use my own judgement. She was here about two months before someone called to come try her. The whole family was new to horses and the daughter the horse was for was terrified of them since they had been to try a horse the weekend before that threw her. The mare did fine the day they came so they decided to buy her on a payment plan and asked that I ride her three times a week for them the next month or so until she was paid off so she would not go without riding which I agreed to. The paid $1000 down and the weather that week prevented me from being able to ride...another $1000 was paid and I was able to ride her...had a little trouble with her the first day but she ended up working o.k., the next day she was terrible! She bucked, drug me when putting on her bridle, thought something had to be wrong so I put her up and tried again the next day which ended up worse. I decided there was no way I was going to sell them this horse! I sell enough horses that I must follow the Uniform Commercial Code which obligates me to insure that a buyer is in no way misled or purchases a horse that I know has behavior issues so I cancelled the sell and their $2000 was returned. I asked the owner if he wanted to come pick the mare up and he said he did not want her back just wanted some of his money back so I had a man looking for a horse to use as a broodmare only so I sold the mare to him for $1500. I then took the $1500 and bought a gelding to try to sell the people, the owner of the mare knew about this. However, the people would not even come to look at the gelding so I told the owner that I would list him and chances were he would sell for more than the mare did. He said that was fine. I understand that I should have gotten everything from day one in writing and was wrong for not from day one but he could have picked his horse up at any time, knew what was going on, did not insist on a contract so in my eyes he is just as guilty as me. He has now gone to the investigator with the paperwork from the $3000 sell that had to be cancelled and I was told that I could either pay the man the $3000 i could have gotten for the horse immediately or theft charges would be filed. I told them that he was welcome to come get the gelding that was purchased with his knowledge for the $1500 which was gotten for the mare or he would have to wait until the gelding sold and still I was not in agreement about the amount he was owed because we never had a set price which he was owed. Said the gelding was not his horse and I should have went ahead and sold them the mare and let them worry about how she acted when they got her home since they had already tried her and agreed to buy her. That is not how I do business! I feel this is a civil case and the only thing I did wrong was not getting everything in writing. We had no set price for his mare, he brought her to me, I did not steal his horse and did not sell her without his knowledge so how is it they can file Theft Charges? I have not gone to turn myself in and suppose I will hire a lawyer but is there anything I can do legally to keep from having an arrest for theft against me????What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
