History STOLEN - 1932 Ford Woody Wagon - John A. Good

Do you have title?

 

this makes no sense whatsoever.

 

Don Corleone could fix it. Newc

 

I know that you didn’t have much to do with the initial conversation/sale but unless I had the cash in hand that car and its parts would still be sitting in the garage. All that deposit does is say that I m good for the deal and I’ll bring the rest of the money upon pick up. Otherwise I would have kept the deposit and sent him down the road empty trailer

 

This. Who has the title? If it was given to him when he gave the deposit, I don't think there is much that can be done.

 

Yeah, I agree. Seems like the deal was a handshake gone wrong...

 

I understand how things like this happen, especially back in the old days when we were all a bit more trusting. My father taught me to take what I pay for, and they do not take it until they pay for it. I have a lot of friends with stories because they did not follow those rules.
Your story basically says there was an agreement of some sort on the sale of the car. That is why the police will not help you. It is not stolen. Maybe theft by deception. But I doubt it.
For some reason the terms of sale changed. So now it becomes a civil matter. If there was anything written down or proof of money exchange it would be helpful.

 

Possession is nine-tenths of the law.

The phrase means that when someone physically possesses something, there is a stronger legal claim that it belongs to them than anyone else. In other words, custody presumes ownership. The phrase is used in reference to being caught committing a crime. For example, if the police arrest you for possessing drugs, they might say, “Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”

If the man has the car and the title I'm afraid your fighting a loosing battle. HRP

 

Terms were never met and a sale was not completed or formalized, no contract entered into.

The title remained in my family and is now transferred onto me.

You can willfully possess something but that does not give you rights to ownership. All I see is intent to compel and then deprive the owner of their property over an offer that was rejected.

There are legal channels to settle sale/contract disputes (such as filing the writ of mandamus through the courts/DMV), with no formal contract drafted or a completed bill of sale and the only provision being a informal deposit receipt (that doesn’t even state the potential buyers name or the VIN to the vehicle)

This person had options, just as I do, to navigate and prove ownership over the 18 years he’s possessed it, instead he chose to keep it hidden and be unresponsive to ways of reconciliation.

Why would anyone hang onto a car they don’t have the title to and not make lawful efforts to correct ownership issues or reconcile?

Why go to an online forum and talk about ways to circumvent proper titling practices:
“There are always titles 4sale on eBay. just search paperwork, as you cant use the word title in the auction ad”

 

Don't know about your state but buying a title in South Carolina is illegal, You have the title in your name why have you waited 18 years?, Drag him into court. HRP.

 

If what you say is true, go find a lawyer and process it through legal means. Coming on here with hearsay and accusations of theft won’t do your case any favours.

 

I assume you are coming here to get this guy come to his senses and return the car. Hoping a bit of weight/pressure from the Hamb community will motive him in some fashion. Hopefully it does and I wish you luck.

 

Considering his identity is already known to the world, why not post his username?
Let the forum call him out and at least give him an opportunity to defend himself. There is always 2 sides to every story.

 

i have always been told there is three sides to every story, his, theirs and the truth.

 

I don't ask lawyers for their opinions on traditional hot rods.
Nor do I ask hot rodders for legal opinions.

 

I’m asserting my rightful and lawful ownership.

The plot has continually thickened in my pursuit of recovery.

I appreciate the inputs fellas, and I look to resolve this with a positive outcome. There are lessons to be learned here and I am learning them one step at a time and will continue to do so until I have expressed all options given to me as a property owner.

I’m not asking the HAMB members for anything other than history on the car, beyond that I am only expressing my experience in the Wild West of antique car ownership.

 

Your family should have "lawyered up" a loooong time ago. You are likely never going to get that car back on your own unless you go OJ on the guy and take it back, we all know how that ended up. I am not a fan of attorneys, but they have their place in a society where people have no ethics, morals, tenets, common sense or common decency.

Like Bob Lewellyn used to say every week, "If you've been wronged don't take the law into your own hands, take them to court, The People's Court".

 

If this was done in the county you reside in talk to the prosecutor's office, they may be able to help you more than the police

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...tion-by-nevada-prisoners.638664/#post-7090101

Is this the post/person of interest?

 

I guess if your father gave him the car voluntarily due to some verbal agreement and then he refuses to pay the full amount, it is not theft but fraud if he never had any intent to pay.

The guy was last seen here 11 years ago ... I would say he is gone for good.

 

Pretty sure it is. Lists the car on his profile page and posted the same picture shown in that magazine article here on post 269;
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/surfer-style-wagons.312373/page-9

His HAMB name sums it up well.

 

Lawyer up, go to court

 

It shows him as a “Property Manager “ or better known as a slum lord judging from his user name and the way he brags about working the system. Let’s face it you lost the car…..

 

Ask a lawyer if you can slap a lien on his dead beat a$$

 

You have the title? I must be missing something.
If it were my car...and I held the title...it would be back in my garage...period.

 

ditto on that... had my 71 El Camino SS stolen... knew whom the guy was .. Police wouldn't do anything unless I had proof.. they wouldn't even go over to his shop... good luck... should have got a lawyer .. sorry ..... and went after him. been a long time...

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/writ-of-mandamus.458801/

??

 

All the should haves and could haves during a time my family couldn’t afford a lawyer even if they wanted to, and after reporting stolen in 2007 and assuming justice was in action they didn’t think they needed a lawyer as well.

I was a teenager at the time it went missing, it wasn’t my business then. From what I have learned in this process going back and fourth from attorneys, authorities, jurisdictions, it’s complex.

For all the should haves all I have is the title and the passion to recover what I see as lawfully owned.

There was plenty of time and options for reconciliation.

Someone didn’t want to take no for an answer and has since willfully chosen to deprive the owner of their property rather than taking the high road by completing a sale or returning the property to the rightful owner after the aborted sale.

 

But it’s cool for a collector to hang on to a vehicle in his private collection with no title and call it their lawn ornament?

So long as no one wants to ever drive the car in the future and it’s held privately apparently someone can just keep a persons legally owned property “hidden away”