Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Ohio

Verbal Contract

I needed a car and my friend offered to sell me his. He gave me the coupon book from the bank which showed 26 payments remaining ($163.69 per mo). He said all I had to do is give hime $500 upfront and make the remaining payments on the loan. I gave him the down payment & have made 20 payments so far. Since I thought the car was almost paid off, I asked the bank for a payoff amount. They told me the remaining balance is $3,100. It turns out that before the transaction, my ''friend'' missed some payments and also didn't purchase insurance, so those missed payments, interest and insurance premiums were tacked on to the balance. My friend didn't inform me of this when I first agreed to the sale. He now claims that his wife was responsible for the car payments & that he was unaware. Now that I've confronted him, he is not willing to pay the extra amount owed and unfortunately, though I drew up a promissory note, it was never signed or notarized. I now realize that he put off signing it for just this reason - he was not being upfront about the actual amount owed on the car. I regret not getting it signed or checking the balance, but I regarded him as friend and didn't expect to be deceived. What kind of recourse do I have? Help!


Asked on 10/11/05, 11:03 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Joseph Jacobs Jacobs & Lowder

Re: Verbal Contract

That deal needed to be in writing...Why would you have done that without having a minute conversation with an attorney???!!!

Call me directly next time!! 216.952.1990

Joe Jacobs

Read more
Answered on 10/12/05, 1:23 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More General Civil Litigation questions and answers in Ohio