How to avoid legal robbery....

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,391
1,780
126
I got this story from a local online posting..... I felt it had an important message at the end on how to avoid situations like these.


I have never done business with a check cashing place, but I have personal knowledge of an incident with one of the local car title places.Awhile back, a man called the Sheriff's office and said his car was stolen. Information was taken and learned that the car wasn't stolen, but had been seized by a car title place.He had just bought his wife a new Lexus SUV just 2 months ago. The cost was around $42,000. The car was in his and his wife's name.Unknown to him she had gone to a car title place and needed money for drugs (which he did not know she was using) and pawned the title (he had paid cash) for $5,000. Payments were due on a weekly basis, but she had not been paying.The title shop sent a repo team to their house and took the car. The husband rushed outside to confront them. They weren't violent, but firm in their actions. They showed the husband a certified copy of the transaction which stated that if 3 or more payments were late, they would take the car. He offered to give them a check for the car, but they refused.They took the car for a unbelievable bargain and left.This is more than legal robbery.Please be careful what you sign and how you get major items titled. On something like a car or a joint account, I would suggest having the account listed as "Mr. and Mrs.", not "Mr. or Mrs.." By opting for the "and" account the car could not been pawned legally without both signatures.Just thinking and trying to help someone.
 

Wapp

Golden Member
Jun 5, 2003
1,648
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Did anyone else get the Easterns Motors' theme song in their head after reading this?

At Easterns Motors, your job is your credit!
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,655
4,172
126
Whenever I've entered a contract or any legal document with multiple people I've been very clear about the "or" vs. "and". I don't know if the difference is legally binding. But it certainly makes my intentions clear.
Originally posted by: daveymark
or better yet, keep everything separate. Bank accounts, cars, everything.
That wouldn't have solved this problem at all. With the car solely in her name, she could still have signed it away.

Separate is a good idea for some couples, but it really doesn't fix the problems that people think they are fixing by being separate. It just makes it a bit harder for the problems to surface. It is like being stabbed in the chest, with gushing blood, and putting a bandaid on it. Sure, it may be a bit harder to bleed, but you didn't do a thing to fix the problem.
 

daveymark

Lifer
Sep 15, 2003
10,573
1
0
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: daveymark
or better yet, keep everything separate. Bank accounts, cars, everything.
That wouldn't have solved this problem at all. With the car solely in her name, she could still have signed it away.

Separate is a good idea for some couples, but it really doesn't fix the problems that people think they are fixing by being separate. It just makes it a bit harder for the problems to surface. It is like being stabbed in the chest, with gushing blood, and putting a bandaid on it. Sure, it may be a bit harder to bleed, but you didn't do a thing to fix the problem.


The car would have been in his name, not hers. problem fixed.

 

d3n

Golden Member
Mar 13, 2004
1,597
0
0
Originally posted by: Wapp
Did anyone else get the Easterns Motors' theme song in their head after reading this?

At Easterns Motors, your job is your credit!

Strangely enough, it did. Despite the high end cars that place comes off no better than a fly by night setup imho.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,655
4,172
126
Originally posted by: daveymark
The car would have been in his name, not hers. problem fixed.
What if she wants a car? What if she bought the car (she does all these things behind his back anyways)? Etc. I could go on and on forever. Separte doesn't fix anything here.

 

sixone

Lifer
May 3, 2004
25,030
4
61
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: daveymark
The car would have been in his name, not hers. problem fixed.
What if she wants a car? What if she bought the car (she does all these things behind his back anyways)? Etc. I could go on and on forever. Separte doesn't fix anything here.

If they live in a community property state, it doesn't matter whose name is on the title, it's still joint property. There would have been more paperwork involved before the car could be repo'd, but they still could do it.

 

SpecialEd

Platinum Member
Jul 18, 2001
2,110
0
0
Originally posted by: mugs
This is not robbery, this is stupidity.

Exactly, these people a idiots. Reasonable people do not put themselves in these situations.
 

daveymark

Lifer
Sep 15, 2003
10,573
1
0
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: daveymark
The car would have been in his name, not hers. problem fixed.
What if she wants a car? What if she bought the car (she does all these things behind his back anyways)? Etc. I could go on and on forever. Separte doesn't fix anything here.


If she wants a car, she can buy one. If she bought the car, then it's hers. The issue here is her husband bought the car. If he wanted to really give her the car (which he didn't, since he signed his name on the title as well), he would have had her sign the title by herself. He should have signed the title himself, and let her have the car to use.

The problem is she was able to get a title loan on the car. WIthout her name on the title, she cannot get that loan. Problem fixed.

We can get into other problems that keeping things separate might cause, but then we might as well get into the reason she got the loan in the first place.

This relationship was doomed from the start, and that is all the more reason to have everything separate.
 

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
How is this legal theft? Nobody stole anything. I the wife lost a car with nothing to gain, the husband got screwed. The fault was the husbands for not being more involved with his wife's personal life. Just like a child, if you ignore them, they will got out and get into trouble.
 

BornStar

Diamond Member
Oct 30, 2001
4,052
1
0
You don't want everything to be Mr and Mrs. If you have a joint checking account both signatures have been on the check for it to be any good. The same would go for a withdrawal slip. Certain things really should be "or" or just in one name.
 

dainthomas

Lifer
Dec 7, 2004
14,738
3,652
136
Originally posted by: daveymark
Originally posted by: dullard

If he wanted to really give her the car (which he didn't, since he signed his name on the title as well), he would have had her sign the title by herself. He should have signed the title himself, and let her have the car to use.

Winnar. Guy was an idiot, he pwned himself.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
65,280
13,555
146
/me hears the gentle strains of Tammy Why-Not in the background....:music:"Our D-I-V-O-R-C-E becomes final today...:music:
 

AZGamer

Golden Member
May 14, 2001
1,545
0
0
Originally posted by: d3n
Originally posted by: Wapp
Did anyone else get the Easterns Motors' theme song in their head after reading this?

At Easterns Motors, your job is your credit!

Strangely enough, it did. Despite the high end cars that place comes off no better than a fly by night setup imho.


I'm in Northwestern DC (American University), but I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually have a car with an Eastern Motors license plate decal (then again, if I bought a car there I'd probably remove the decal)... Maybe they're still singing the jingle on the commercial to pay it off ;)
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,655
4,172
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Originally posted by: daveymark
If she wants a car, she can buy one. If she bought the car, then it's hers. The issue here is her husband bought the car. If he wanted to really give her the car (which he didn't, since he signed his name on the title as well), he would have had her sign the title by herself. He should have signed the title himself, and let her have the car to use.

The problem is she was able to get a title loan on the car. WIthout her name on the title, she cannot get that loan. Problem fixed.

We can get into other problems that keeping things separate might cause, but then we might as well get into the reason she got the loan in the first place.

This relationship was doomed from the start, and that is all the more reason to have everything separate.
I'll agree that it was doomed from the start. But separate wouldn't have fixed anything.

Honestly, if you had a car in your name only and your spouse was to get a car, would you put the second car in your name only? Or would you put the second car in your spouces name only? Remember: everything in the marriage is good at this point as far as you know and demanding that everything is solely in your name will probably destroy your marriage and the person you love.

In virtually all marriages, if you get two cars and you are separate only, one will be in the husband's name and one would be in the wife's name. Thus, either one could still lose the vehicle. No problems were solved.
 

dabuddha

Lifer
Apr 10, 2000
19,579
17
81
Originally posted by: Wapp
Did anyone else get the Easterns Motors' theme song in their head after reading this?

At Easterns Motors, your job is your credit!

hahahaha yeah

I NEED A TRUNK DEMO!

God I hate those people
 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,391
1,780
126
Originally posted by: sixone
Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
Reason 1,032 not to trust women who do drugs.

Fixed.
I actually had a good friend of mine run into trouble with this. He married his high school sweetheart right out of high school. He immediately had to fund their living expenses....so he started working. She had an ATM card to the account and it took quite a while for him to notice that money kept disappearing in increasingly larger chunks. He was basically funding a drug habit and never knew it until it was too late. Some people have addictive personalities, I guess...but you never really know who's gonna get suckered into drugs. It's easier than you would think.

To finish my friend's story, he didn't pay off the debt from that marraige until 7 years later...it took him that long to catch up to the bills she left behind.q
 

daveymark

Lifer
Sep 15, 2003
10,573
1
0
Originally posted by: dullard
I'll agree that it was doomed from the start. But separate wouldn't have fixed anything.

Honestly, if you had a car in your name only and your spouse was to get a car, would you put the second car in your name only? Or would you put the second car in your spouces name only? Remember: everything in the marriage is good at this point as far as you know and demanding that everything is solely in your name will probably destroy your marriage and the person you love.

In virtually all marriages, if you get two cars and you are separate only, one will be in the husband's name and one would be in the wife's name. Thus, either one could still lose the vehicle. No problems were solved.


My uncle purchases a new cadillac for his wife every two years. The caddy is bought under his name. They live a happy, fulfilling marriage. They've been married for 20 years, and no damage has been done to their marriage as a result of a car purchase. He never demanded that the vehicle be purchased under his name. If you're shallow enough to bicker over who signs the title on a $45k car, then you shouldn't be in a relationship.

problem solved.
 

sixone

Lifer
May 3, 2004
25,030
4
61
Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
I actually had a good friend of mine run into trouble with this. He married his high school sweetheart right out of high school. He immediately had to fund their living expenses....so he started working. She had an ATM card to the account and it took quite a while for him to notice that money kept disappearing in increasingly larger chunks. He was basically funding a drug habit and never knew it until it was too late. Some people have addictive personalities, I guess...but you never really know who's gonna get suckered into drugs. It's easier than you would think.

To finish my friend's story, he didn't pay off the debt from that marraige until 7 years later...it took him that long to catch up to the bills she left behind.q

Unfortunately, men in general tend to ignore the warning signs until it's too late. Must have been a tough lesson for your friend. :(
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,655
4,172
126
Originally posted by: daveymark
My uncle purchases a new cadillac for his wife every two years. The caddy is bought under his name. They live a happy, fulfilling marriage. They've been married for 20 years, and no damage has been done to their marriage as a result of a car purchase. He never demanded that the vehicle be purchased under his name. If you're shallow enough to bicker over who signs the title on a $45k car, then you shouldn't be in a relationship.

problem solved.
What if your uncle goes on a drug binge and trades the caddy for a little money? Problem still there.

Let me reiterate what I said above. Seperate accounts can help in some cases, but if there is a fundamental problem, seperate accounts won't fix it. Separate accounts only give a false sense of security. If your uncle has a fundamental drug problem, it won't protect your aunt.

Heck, if your aunt develops a drug problem and racks up a massive debt, your uncle still may have to sell the caddy to pay for it all. Even your uncle isn't protected from any fundamental problem. The separate accounts just puts one small roadbump along the easy path to destruction. A roadbump so small that any problem can overcome it.