Do I have any recourse regarding this loan?

Question

I sold a car to my Dad last year and he signed a "bill of sale" in which he agreed to make payments to me on a monthly basis over a two year period.

After paying on it for a few months he gave the car and loan to his girlfriends (40 year old) daughter, who needed transportation. He told me that if she got behind on the payments to let him know and he would take care of things.

Well, in August my Dad died unexpectedly. I have not received any payments from the gf's daughter since. I do not know if the car is still titled in my Dad's name or her name. My dad did not own much and his estate was not probated - girlfriend just cleared out his apartment and cleaned out his bank account to pay for funeral home expenses.

Is there any way that I can prove the car rightfully belongs to me, since $6000 is still owed on it? GF's daughter does not answer my emails and we do not live near one another.

Thanks for any advice in advance.

I owned the car outright. I paid it off, then sold it to my dad. My dad and I drew up a "bill of sale" between the two of us in which he agreed to pay me $8000 for the car, and I signed to title over to him so that he could register it without a lien.

I checked into estate lawyers and they weren't really interested, since my Dad's estate was so small, it was going cost me thousands to get things settled and didn't seem worth it.

Answer 1

You can file a claim against his estate. I don't know the laws of your state, but in most states, things have to be done according to the law, and just cleaning out someone's apartment and bank account without court approval is probably illegal. You need to talk to a lawyer specializing in estate matters.

Answer 2

The sad part is the loan is in your name and the bill of sale is in your dad's name. Technically you can get a certified letter delivered and tell her that if she doesn't make the payments by a certain date that you will reposses the car. In the mean time keep making the payments or else it will reflect badly on your credit. If she does not return the car or make the payments then you can report the car stolen. I would ask a manager at the bank their opinion as well.

Then if she decides not to make the payments then once you have the car you can sell it....hopefully if they didn't trash it. The trick is to reposses while they are using it so they don't do anything to it.

Good luck - its a mess.

Answer 3

this is confusing, how would the title be transferred to anyone else but you if you have a loan out on it? is this a car loan or a "personal" loan? This would be so hard to prove in court if you did not write a contract with your dad. Best thing is to talk it over with your loaner, they have an interest in your financial dealings and should have some advice. Good luck and sorry about your dad.