Stolen but not reported

[Karma.chris]

What is the name of your state? Washington state

You
I have a series of questions I suppose, first one is, about 8 months ago or so, I was taken to jail for 10 days for a DOC violation. And while I was locked up, an acquaintance took my truck and got pulled over, and arrested and my truck was impounded. I wasn't able to get it out of impound when I got released. Too much money. And they kept my truck and sold it at auction. I was stupid and didn't report the truck stolen at the time because the guy said he would make it right and I didn't want to get him in trouble. (I thought he was a friend) Can I still report it stolen? Or is there any possible way I can hold him responsible? I had some collateral, but I some clothing of his and he recently agreed to give me a good chunk of what he owes me in exchange for his stuff. But he lied, It was an elaborate ruse to trick me into giving him everything for free. And then he left and blocked my number.

 

[FlyingRon]

First off, reporting it stolen doesn't mean you'll get a dime out of him. Crimes aren't a you vs. him thing. It is society as a whole that his harmed by criminal activity and the state prosecutes on behalf of the people.

You could sue him for the impound fees accrued until you got out of jail, but he isn't responsible for the fact you didn't go get your truck out of impound before it got sold. Of course, once you have a judgment, you still have to collect upon it (the state will not do that for you). If he's as big of a deadbeat as you say, the whole effort may be futile.

 

[justalayman]

How was it he was able to even start your truck? That may determine whether you have any valid action against him



I disagree with Ron a bit about what claims you might have. The issue about you not retrieving your truck when released from jail is an argument the other party can make in attempting to reduce your claim against the other guy. The fact is the eventual sale of your truck was the result of actions initiated by your friend. Your inability to pay the impound fees does not mean you failed to mitigate your damages. Mitigating damages means taking actions to minimize your damages. If it was not possible to reclaim the truck because you did not have the ability to do so, you did not fail to mitigate your damages. Refusing to mitigate your damages is not the same as not acting because it wasn’t within your power to do so.


Whether you truly failed to mitigate your damages is something that would have to be reviewed based in light of facts not presented.

 

[westside]

All true, but the fact is, the OP is not going to see a dime from his "friend".

 

[not2cleverRed]

What is the name of your state? Washington state

You
I have a series of questions I suppose, first one is, about 8 months ago or so, I was taken to jail for 10 days for a DOC violation. And while I was locked up, an acquaintance took my truck and got pulled over, and arrested and my truck was impounded. I wasn't able to get it out of impound when I got released. Too much money. And they kept my truck and sold it at auction. I was stupid and didn't report the truck stolen at the time because the guy said he would make it right and I didn't want to get him in trouble. (I thought he was a friend) Can I still report it stolen? Or is there any possible way I can hold him responsible? I had some collateral, but I some clothing of his and he recently agreed to give me a good chunk of what he owes me in exchange for his stuff. But he lied, It was an elaborate ruse to trick me into giving him everything for free. And then he left and blocked my number.

No. You cannot report it as stolen. Your friend did not steal it.

 

[Litigator22]

. . . You could sue him for the impound fees accrued until you got out of jail, but he isn't responsible for the fact you didn't go get your truck out of impound before it got sold. . . .

I agree with justalayman as there is seems to be no justification for randomly concluding that this "joy rider's" responsibility for the OP's loss ended with the latter's release from incarceration.

It is true that the doctrine of avoidable consequences, also known as mitigation of damages, prevents recovery for damages the injured party could have avoided through reasonable efforts. (See: Cobb v. Snohomish County, 86 Wash. App. 223, 230, 935 P.2d 1384 (1997) (citing Kloss v. Honeywell, Inc., 77 Wash. App. 294, 301, 890 P.2d 480 (1995)

However, the phrase "reasonable effort" has been defined as meaning without undue risk or burden.

Furthermore, the doctrine must be pleaded as an affirmative defense or is deemed waived. (Washington Court Rule (c). Plus, the onus of showing failure to exercise reasonable efforts to mitigate is on the party asserting it. (Robblee v. Robblee, 68 Wn.App. 69, 841 P.2d 1289 (1992).

Whether paying the hauling and storage charges would have amounted to an unreasonable financial burden on the part of the OP thus surviving such a defense is an issue of fact. And one that would only need to be addressed should the defense be pleaded, which seems rather improbable.

Also, perhaps worthy of mentioning is that the duty to mitigate will not arise, or may be suspended, if there is a basis for a reasonable belief by the injured party that the breaching party will perform. See cases involving repeated promises to perform, e.g., Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Grant, 49 Wash. 2d 123, 298 P.2d 497 (1956); Beeson Bros. v. Chambers, 155 Wash. 564, 285 P. 433 (1930).

Lastly and somewhat foremost there are Sections 4.22.005 and 4.22.015 of Washington' Revised Code. There we find that the defense of failure to exercise reasonable efforts to mitigate damages does not bar recovery, per se. But is only seen as a contributing fault that proportionately diminishes the claimant's damages.
.

 

[Zigner]

...my truck was impounded.

Just for clarification: Why was your truck impounded?

 

[Karma.chris]

Just for clarification: Why was your truck impounded?

Because he had a warrant, and had no license

 

[quincy]

Because he had a warrant, and had no license

That could do it.

 

[Karma.chris]

I agree with justalayman as there is seems to be no justification for randomly concluding that this "joy rider's" responsibility for the OP's loss ended with the latter's release from incarceration.

It is true that the doctrine of avoidable consequences, also known as mitigation of damages, prevents recovery for damages the injured party could have avoided through reasonable efforts. (See: Cobb v. Snohomish County, 86 Wash. App. 223, 230, 935 P.2d 1384 (1997) (citing Kloss v. Honeywell, Inc., 77 Wash. App. 294, 301, 890 P.2d 480 (1995)

However, the phrase "reasonable effort" has been defined as meaning without undue risk or burden.

Furthermore, the doctrine must be pleaded as an affirmative defense or is deemed waived. (Washington Court Rule (c). Plus, the onus of showing failure to exercise reasonable efforts to mitigate is on the party asserting it. (Robblee v. Robblee, 68 Wn.App. 69, 841 P.2d 1289 (1992).

Whether paying the hauling and storage charges would have amounted to an unreasonable financial burden on the part of the OP thus surviving such a defense is an issue of fact. And one that would only need to be addressed should the defense be pleaded, which seems rather improbable.

Also, perhaps worthy of mentioning is that the duty to mitigate will not arise, or may be suspended, if there is a basis for a reasonable belief by the injured party that the breaching party will perform. See cases involving repeated promises to perform, e.g., Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Grant, 49 Wash. 2d 123, 298 P.2d 497 (1956); Beeson Bros. v. Chambers, 155 Wash. 564, 285 P. 433 (1930).

Lastly and somewhat foremost there are Sections 4.22.005 and 4.22.015 of Washington' Revised Code. There we find that the defense of failure to exercise reasonable efforts to mitigate damages does not bar recovery, per se. But is only seen as a contributing fault that proportionately diminishes the claimant's damages.
.

I'm sorry, I appreciate your answer, you're obviously very intelligent. But I'm not a law student. So I'm not fluent on the terminology. So would you do me a favor and reduce your response to layman for me?

 

[quincy]

I'm sorry, I appreciate your answer, you're obviously very intelligent. But I'm not a law student. So I'm not fluent on the terminology. So would you do me a favor and reduce your response to layman for me?

Essentially, Litigator says you can sue. It will be up to your friend to raise defenses to your claim for damages.

 

[Karma.chris]

How was it he was able to even start your truck? That may determine whether you have any valid action against him



I disagree with Ron a bit about what claims you might have. The issue about you not retrieving your truck when released from jail is an argument the other party can make in attempting to reduce your claim against the other guy. The fact is the eventual sale of your truck was the result of actions initiated by your friend. Your inability to pay the impound fees does not mean you failed to mitigate your damages. Mitigating damages means taking actions to minimize your damages. If it was not possible to reclaim the truck because you did not have the ability to do so, you did not fail to mitigate your damages. Refusing to mitigate your damages is not the same as not acting because it wasn’t within your power to do so.


Whether you truly failed to mitigate your damages is something that would have to be reviewed based in light of facts not presented.

I get what you're saying. And he was able to start the truck with a screwdriver. The ignition was ripped apart when I saw it at the impound lot. And I did try to mitigate the damages. I was on the phone with the tow yard. I went there to try to get them to reduce the amount. I had to figure out what happened to my truck on my own. No one told me what happened to it. So by the time I tracked it down on a Friday, and scraped together enough loans to be able to pay to get it out, the place closed and wouldn't let me do so. And it accrued more fees over the following 3 day weekend and by the following business day I could no longer afford the amount. As it had raised another couple hundred dollars. So yes I did do my very best to mitigate damages. I didn't just say "oh well to heck with it" in fact the tow yard was very confrontational and rude and unhelpful and treated me as if I did something wrong. Not like a victim. However I haven't paid them a cent. And you're right. It was his actions that lead to the damages in the first place.

 

[quincy]

What you will need to do is gather together evidence to support your claim of damages and evidence that links your friend to the cause of these damages - then file suit against him.

As said previously, if your friend has no income and no assets, getting a judgment against him may be the easy part. Collecting on the judgment will be difficult.

Good luck.

 

[Karma.chris]

What you will need to do is gather together evidence to support your claim of damages and evidence that links your friend to the cause of these damages - then file suit against him.

As said previously, if your friend has no income and no assets, getting a judgment against him may be the easy part. Collecting on the judgment will be difficult.

Good luck.

Even so, I don't want him to think he got away with this. He actually had the audacity to blame me for the whole thing. Even if he is broke I still want this hanging over his head for however long he takes to pay.
How would I go about this? Where or how do I start the process? What kind of evidence would I need to gather? Obviously A statement from the tow yard. My girl has texts on her phone from him refusing to bring the truck back. But what else might be important do you think?

 

[quincy]

Even so, I don't want him to think he got away with this. He actually had the audacity to blame me for the whole thing. Even if he is broke I still want this hanging over his head for however long he takes to pay.
How would I go about this? Where or how do I start the process? What kind of evidence would I need to gather? Obviously A statement from the tow yard. My girl has texts on her phone from him refusing to bring the truck back. But what else might be important do you think?

I suggest you start with your damages (e.g., value of car). Support that. Then gather evidence to prove it was your friend whose actions resulted in your losses (e.g., police report, tow-related costs).

Or find an attorney in your area to assist you.

Good luck.