Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
Bought a car in my name for a friend
A friend gave me money to purchase a car in my neighborhood for him. The seller insisted, and rightly so that the car be signed over to me and then I could sign it over to my friend.I signed the car over to my friend the next day.He was supposed to take care of the registration with the DMV immediately. Months went by and the next thing I know I am getting notices from the sheriff's office that someone was stopped in a car with the registration in my name. Unknown to me, my friend had given the car to someone else without registering it in his name. Now I am being pursued by a collection agency. I have tried to explain the situation to the collection agency, but they insist on coming after me for the bill of over $1000. I filed the release of liability after all this happened and now the DMV cannot find a record of it. What do I do? I am the innocent party in the middle here. I have told the collection agency, if they ruin my credit, I will sue them. They have the wrong person. I have given them the name of the person who gave me the money to purchase the car for them. The car was never registered in my name in the first place. Who do I take to small claims court over this?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Bought a car in my name for a friend
It's not clear to me where the collection agency comes in.
To whom do they contend you owe money? In any event, don't
worry too much about the collection agency. Mostly all
it can do is bother you. The collection agency can put
a negative reference on your credit, so you should watch that by regularly checking your credit reports, or it could sue you, which is unlikely
over a disputed $1,000 debt. You could sue your "friend"
for whom you bought the car in small claims court. He or she breached a contract
with you by which he or she promised to register the car. The fact that
the contract was oral and not written doesn't affect its enforceability. You'd better also
re-file with the DMV to make sure you're not on title.
Re: Bought a car in my name for a friend
California law relieves you of liability for the car once you sign the pink slip and hand it to the new owner.
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