Value Of Stolen Property

[XJFA]

I live in Illinois, purchased a car on 10/18/01 from one of those lots that promises to get you financed. I was told I was financed and drove my Dodge Intrepid for 6 weeks. On 11/26/01, the car disappeared from my driveway; I thought it was stolen and called the police. They called the dealership and told the officer they had taken it because my loan wasn't approved. I was shocked...I had made a $1000.00 down payment, which I still haven't gotten back, and the first payment wasn't due until 12/01/01. I have since heard many terrible things about this dealer.

My problem is now this...I had a lot of personal property in the car; CD player, CD's, my laptop, a work uniform and a few other things. I tend to "live out of my car" since I am a flight attendant. I have tried to get my personal belongings back, even sent a certified letter to the dealership.

It looks like I am going to have to take this fraudulent dealer to court to get my property back as well as my down payment. How do I arrive at an amount to sue for my property? Is it the replacement value or depreciated value? If the dealer would have been decent enough to call me and tell me the loan wasn't approved, I would have taken the car back to the lot myself and none of this would have happened. But he chose to be sneaky about things...an attorney that I briefly spoke to about this recommened punitive damages as well since he was so malicious in stealing my property. I still cannot understand how they allowed me to drive off their lot with the car if my loan wasn't approved at that time. I was lead to believe it was and even signed all of the papers.

Anyone with any insight about any aspect of this mess is invited to post and many thanks to you if you have advice.

 

[vrzirn]

Items stolen from your car are usually covered by your Homeowners or Renters Insurance.

 

[XJFA]

Thanks for replying so quickly. I have already checked into my renters insurance covering the items; because there was not a police report filed, my renters insurance will not cover the stolen property.

Once the police officer called the dealership and was told the car was reposessed he claimed he was unable to do anything because it became a civil matter (even though I had proof of down payment and proof of the date the first payment was due (5 days later)). Sadly, because the dealership lied, I was unable to obtain a police report. It seems my only course of action now is to sue since my attempts to retrieve my personal property and my down payment have been in vain.

I just want to know what value do I place on the stuff that was in the car? Is it the value to replace or the depreciated value (my laptop was 2 yrs old, but the CD player was only 1 month old)?

How is it decided what amount is fair for punitive damages?

Any further input will be greatly appreciated!