Posted on 09/23/2022 4:21:06 PM PDT by Not_Who_U_Think
Fellow FReepers, I welcome any and all advice on a sticky situation.
I sold a small camping trailer through FB Marketplace. The buyer, a guy about 30, was almost obnoxious in pleading to come see it. After others fell through, I gave him the address and he came over. He was enthusiastic, but seemed somewhat naive to camping. We got along well.
He had asked before if I would take a Zelle bank transfer, I pointed out that the $3000 price was more than Zelle would allow. So how about cash? He agreed, texted me that he was at the bank before arriving, but shows up with a $1000 in cash and then wants to do Zelle for the difference. Whatever, I guess, we do the transfer, I take his cash, we sign a bill of sale that I've prepared and I sign over the title.
All good. And then...
He says he's having transmission trouble, he's going to have it worked on next week, but he's afraid to pull the camper home today. Can he leave it here until his car is fixed? The camper is sitting beside the driveway, a little in the way, but I agree and he leaves.
For the first week, he's responsive but vague, bad sensors, parts on order, sorry for the trouble.
It's now over two weeks. I'm still getting the runaround about repairs, but I'm not sure why. During our transaction he mused about where could park it at his apartment complex, and I suspect that may be part of this.
But it just reeks of a con somehow. In the meantime, I've put a lock on the hitch, so that it can't easily be moved while I'm not home.
So FReepers, I'm trying to figure out what to do. I've never had a situation like this!
I've gave him an ultimatum a few days ago to get it moved by 9/30, and if not I would take to a storage lot. But that means I would have to pay the rent, for at least a month or two, and then what if he still doesn't show?
Thanks for your advice, I wondered about that, that he might want to back out. He can’t do anything about the bank transfers but he could be plead for his money back, since he hasn’t taken possession. When he spun out the transmission story I thought about that.
I don’t know if it makes any difference legally, but I’m wary of this going past 30 days. It’s like the house guest who won’t leave.
Look into having it towed away as abandoned property.
I would move the money and cancel your Zelle act in case he calls fraud and they reverse the charges.
I would give him 24 hour notification to remove or it will be towed to a recovery lot.
I’m trying picture how that would work. There’s a place close by that stores RVs and such, I could take there. But, I can’t just drop it and say, charge the other guy! I’ll have to pay at least two or three months in advance.
It may be what I have to do, just to get it off the property. In the back of my mind is the scenario where I come home and it’s gone. Who took it? And I’m ultimately responsible.
I believe Zelle is a money transfer electronic system. Did you give him your bank account number? Make sure the money is there....and maybe close the account and start a new one at a different bank. If all the motor vehicle documentation is done and in good order, it is his property. Get a lawyer to find out your liability for having his property on your property. Then ship his property off yours if possible. You don’t want liability. Can he live in the camper on your property? Lots of potential issues here.
My neighbor let a guy stay in the guys motor home. First in the neighbors driveway, then parked in the street. Took him over a year to get rid of the guy. It is illegal to park a motor home in the street in l.a. but cops don’t do much.
The guy could just be a naive flake,or a druggie, or some psycho. Get the law behind you Good luck. IMHO, IMHO
That is my suggestion. As long as there is proof the camper no longer belongs to you, have it towed away.
Notify him that he has three days to remove it, then have the police involved in towing it. He can settle up with the lot. Videotape everything, get it in writing, save emails.
Buy ammo.
Send him a notice of immediate fee for service, charging rent for storage. After 2 months of non payment file in small claims court. Your bill of sale, letter informing him of rental charges, and dated pictures will validate the debt. The court will find in your favor.
‘move the money and cancel your Zelle act in case he calls fraud’
I think that way too, and when we communicated before the sale he was reluctant to do an all cash deal - he was worried about carrying that much cash. It struck me as odd. He had the money in the bank, so why?
so is the $2k zelle money secured as yours??
Ever hear of civil forfeiture? Car jacking?
I'm glad you got fully paid. I didn't get that from my first reading of your post.
Those thoughts came to me too. What if I came home one day and he’s in it? Like you, I know a friend of a friend had a lady camped on his front porch for months.
Now you’ve got me a little worried!
It seems you have been paid, you have transferred ownership
So legally, from what I can see - it is HIS PROPERTY that is taking up valuable space on YOUR PROPERTY
Perhaps you could charge him $6,000/day rent, with a 10/1 date. You can tell him that if he doesn’t remove it, you will repossess it, just as a storage unit would do for failure of paying rent
Thank you for the well-thought plan.
At this point, I am still accepting his story of car trouble as fact. I’m understanding of his situation but concerned about his property being damaged.
If I threaten to charge him, I’m afraid it raises the risk of a confrontation and a bad outcome. For reasons I won’t go in to.
He already paid you in full? Have you signed off the pink over to him and notified DMV about it? If so, then that’s one of the weakest scams I’ve ever heard of. It is sometimes very hard to get parts for an older trans on used vehicles and the repairs can take quite a while.
If you already got paid in full and did all the proper paperwork then it sounds like he’s really is in a tough situation and you are indeed helping him out. If you don’t like it you can always have it towed to wherever, you’re not responsible anymore. Tow it and tell him where he can find his ‘new’ vehicle.
You got paid for it? You’ve signed over the title, and HOPEFULLY did the paperwork to release yourself from liability with your state’s DMV? If so, call the police, someone’s left a trailer partially blocking your driveway. Why do you have a lock on someone else’s property?
IF you’ve not been fully paid for it and still have all the paperwork, eh, up to the buyer to complete the sale, the grand in your pocket was their good faith deposit, you’ve set an ultimatum, they fail to complete the sale by then, move on and sell it to someone else.
I suspect this guy isn’t just “naive” about camping but that he intends to use the trailer as his new domicile. He’s making arrangements to get someone to move it and also figuring out where to park it.
Might want to check into having it declared abandoned property.
Never meet someone at your house for in person deals.
Never. Never. Never.
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