Bad Luck Truck

[NJMOPAR]

Give the attorney the phone numbers, email and snail mail addresses.
Dealership is ignoring you, they won't ignore him.

 

[HAL9001]

Hello all! Again, I want to thank you all for helping and advising.
Yes- the dealership is over 3 hours away.
The only update I have is I called three more times today and left some messages with the manager of the title department and the used car department manager. I doubt the gm came in on a Saturday. I'll most likely wait until Monday before I have a phone call with the bank and forward all other calls to my attorneys (yes, two, who are husband and wife).

Redd,
Please keep in mind here that the dealer is indeed in trouble and they know it. The reason they're not getting back to you as fast as you want is probably because they're consulting with their own legal counsel to explain to them exactly what their liability is in this case. They certainly don't want to make a bad situation worse for themselves by saying or doing anything incorrectly and will probably wait until they understand the legalities fully before they finally contact you for a settlement.

This is also probably why they didn't tell you right up front. They have to be very careful. They sold you a truck they didn't even own, albeit it innocently. Without clear title, the truck is actually still the legal property of the husband and wife since the title cannot be transferred to the dealer or to you without her consent. The husband is potentially in both criminal and civil legal trouble. He basically sold the dealer the equivalent of a stolen vehicle. If the dealer presses charges, he could possibly face jail time and if you and/or the dealer decide to sue him, he could be in civil jeopardy as well.

But you need to be careful too. Please take the time to create the paper trail. This will secure your position with documentation you can take to court if necessary and will put the maximum pressure on the dealer to settle quickly and to your satisfaction. You want to settle quickly because you basically purchased the equivalent of a stolen vehicle that you now do not own. Now of course this is not your fault, but the law usually states that if you purchase anything that was stolen or illegally sold, even if innocently, you simply do not own it. This is especially true in this case because vehicles are titled. Without a clear title to the truck, it's not yours. You can't permanently register it, and without a registration, you can't drive it. And you certainly can't sell it.

So, it's in your best interest to get all of your money back asap from the dealer before you get dragged into this any further. You can then repurchase the truck if the dealer ever properly gets the title. But for now, you paid a lot of money for something you cannot legally own and you should concentrate on getting your money back and not worry so much about keeping the truck. That's not up to you, or the dealer. That's entirely up to the wife and you don't want to be caught up in any way with her while she's going through a divorce. Just get all of your money back right now and worry about the truck later.

Consult with your attorneys about this and the possibility of getting more from the dealer. Have them contact the dealer in writing and demand all of your money back immediately. If you then want to try to get more from the dealer for your obvious inconvenience and trouble, feel free to do so, but the most important thing right now is not to get dragged into someone else's divorce and to get all of your money back asap.

 

[gfh77665]

WOW
This sucks
Sorry for all the trouble

I think its awesome. The OP has a hassel for sure, but it needs to end up with a brand new truck in hand.

The OP needs to tell the dealer, "fix me up with a nice new ride to compensate me for all my trouble, and I will go away" or you can deal with my lawyer.

Win!

 

[danoday]

Redd, keep in mine you don't own the vehicle, you own the payment plan until you reach $0 balance. The loan is secured through a title lein. No title, no lein and thats a cause for breach of contract on the banks behalf. Don't feel sorry for the dealership. They parlayed risk to you and you lost. You may have bigger issues with your auto loan reconciliation then anything else, especially if they cut a check to the dealership already for the truck.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[blahargoue]

The dealer may have cut off direct communications with you since you "Lawyer'd Up." That was the advice I received from my employer's attorney whenever I was investigating complaints. Once the complainant let it be know that they had an attorney, all further direct contact with complainant ended unless the attorney's were present.

Further negotiations with the dealership might be out of your hands at this point.

 

[Doug Ram]

I would want out of this mess as quickly and inexpensively as possible. The dealer got robbed by the husband and is caught in the middle. Too bad for them, that's their problem. They screwed up, they should have at least called the wife. Since your transaction was with the dealer, and the state has refused to give you clean title, the dealer misrepresented that they had clean title, so go back to the Dealer. Demand that Dealer cancel the transaction, refund money back to you and the bank (if they cashed the finance check). They can afford the loss. They are big boys and girls.

If they don't go for this, complain to the state's attorney general, go to the media, hire attorney. In the meantime put the car in a secured location where it can't be "repossessed".

 

[Doug Ram]

How is it that the "bank" doesn't know that something is wrong by now? Doesn't the bank retain title, or at least get a copy so they can slap a lien on it, in your state? I'd think that eventually they are going to figure out something's not right.

 

[Bob1313]

The signature should have been notarized. Whoever performed that function broke the law. They are also supposed to be bonded and insured.
Get a high dollar lawyer and sue. Bigly!

 

[DieselMike29]

Firstly and foremostly (Is that a word?), you do NOT own the vehicle in question. Whoever/whatever you make payments to "does". Does in quotes because the validity of the ORIGINAL (person who allegedly forged his wife's signature) seller's transaction with the dealer is in question.

You NEED to contact your lender because A) the lender is the actual (or should be) owner of the vehicle until you pay off the loan, and 2) their legal department is probably bigger and better than the dealer's legal department. The lender will DEMAND their money back no matter what, and if you don't get your money back from the dealer, the lender will come after you for that money; and they will have the legal right to do so because they gave YOU the money to give to the dealer.

Again, my advice to you is to get your lender involved because they have the means (legal department) and reason (THEY own the vehicle, NOT you) to want to have this problem settled.

If you do not get the lender involved you could end up without the vehicle and still owe the lender the full amount of the loan (less payments already made, of course). With the lender involved, you may still end up without the vehicle, but most likely without owing the lender anything one the loan because the lender will fight to get their money back, and if the original owner is at fault, they will get their money from him.

GET THE LENDER INVOLVE BECAUSE THEY OWN THE VEHICLE, you DON'T!

 

[Hatchet Man]

 

[Doug Ram]

The bank got suckered too and they aren't going to be very happy about it. They are going to sue to get their money back. They may go after you, the dealer and the husband. Could get ugly. Assuming the no good husband has left the scene of the crime, and cannot be easily found, the dealer may never get its money back. They will be forced to pay the bank off, but that may not stop them from trying to stiff you. I'd be proactive, hire yourself a lawyer, to send them a certified letter with an offer to go away as long as you (and the bank) get your money back. You may have to sue both the dealer and the former owners.

 

[Mikethomas]

Seems to me you are about to get a great deal on a new truck!

 

[JeffLW]

Run, don’t walk, to a very good attorney. Don’t ask for advice here, or try to negotiate or figure it out yourself.

 

[Steven Ray]

Just some food for thought. If you hide the truck than the law will get you for knowingly hiding what is now considered stolen property . They don't care what your problem is with the title. They will take it and you will lose everything, same with the dealer. But you will sill owe the bank. I made a deal one time where I traded a 350 Chevy engine for a motorcycle and the guy said would bring me the title after he got it notarized. Two days later I got a visit from the sheriff's office and they told me the motorcycle was stolen and they took it. I lost the bike and my engine. The wife can get her truck back and leave everyone holding an empty basket and you owning a loan. That is why the names on all my car titles have (OR) between my name and my wife's name and not a (AND). At least in Arizona that's how we can title a car.

 

[retired]

lots of unknowns but if the husband had a power of atty in his wife's matters not really a crime, more of a civil matter between he and his soon to be ex and between you and the dealership. me personally I would just make sure I was compensated for my time and actual out of pocket expenses and tell them to come and get their truck..

 

[Dusty]

A dealership has to deal with all kinds of people and situations when buying and selling thousands of vehicles. They were presented with a signed vehicle title with both party's signatures present. How were they supposed to know the wife's signature was a forgery? Think about it, what are they supposed to do, hire an investigator or a law firm to check the legitimacy of each

First, I have to agree that the husband IS the bad actor in this situation, however, it may also be true the dealer did not complete due diligence in the transaction.

I consulted a friend who has sold cars and he tells me that in these circumstances (New York State) the title must be signed by both parties in front of the dealer's representative, or a notarized form be submitted to the dealer attesting to the transfer.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 042595 miles.

 

[brokenarrowjbe]

I am fairly certain the lender should be talking to the dealership. The OP should be talking with a lawyer and in good faith the dealership should be providing a courtesy vehicle until this gets sorted out. The truck is effectively the property of the wife who did not sign. Keeping it will only cause issues, not solve them.

 

[Crazyro]

Firstly and foremostly (Is that a word?), you do NOT own the vehicle in question.


GET THE LENDER INVOLVE BECAUSE THEY OWN THE VEHICLE, you DON'T!

This... The lender is the owner at this point and they will want to know what's going on...

 

[JS4024]

Call your attorney and ask for professional legal advice. Do NOT listen to some of these comments. Also be very careful that you don’t get a lean placed on your truck by the ex wife. The dealership messed up for sure, but remember they are not going to protect YOU, only themselves.

 

[gto64gto]

I guess every one has an opinion on this but but I've been reading this with a lot of interest and really feel bad for this individual. I line in NC but I'm sure it must be the same in each state but a signature has to be notorised to make sure whatever transaction is being executed is legal. If they weren't, can you imagine all the problems this would cause? It was the dealers responsibility to make sure this was done, not the buyer. I don't know who was responsible to make sure this was done but I suspect this was either or both the title clerk or financial person but they were acting as the owners legal representive and it's on the dealers hands. I think the dealer is in a lot of trouble.