advice........legal action?

so i recently (2 months ago) bought my first bike. i may have made a pretty foolish mistake when buying. this is the long story.

i bought the bike from a guy in my neighborhood for $1200. he had the title and even had the bill of sale from when he bought the bike. he wrote me up a bill of sale and then signed over the title. he told me that his daughter was a notary and that she was coming by the next night and i could bring the title back and have her notarize it and that would save us some trouble. i agreed and returned the next night. she wasnt able to make it that night but supposedly had agreed to stop by the next morning. he asked me to come back the next morning before i left for work. i told him that i was to busy in the mornings and offered to leave the title with him and i would come back for it the next night (my first major mistake). when i came back the next night the daughter hadnt come by, he said he would just go get it notarized by her. i agreed. i kept going back and he hadnt taken it but left it at his office. so on and so on. to end a long story, it has been almost 2 months and i still dont have my title. he has stopped returning my calls and doesnt answer the door when i go to his house.

anybody have any suggestions. the bike needs some work and i dont feel like starting the project until i have the title and full possession. i dont really know my options at this point. legal action? any advice would be appreciated.

If you have a buddy on the local PD or Sheriff's Dept. you could ask them to stop by and talk to him. Tell him he can be arrested for " Theft by Deception". If you don't know one ,go to a Sheriff's sub-station and talk to them. Do you know where he works?? I'd pay him a visit at work.
Otherwise go see a lawyer. You have the bill of sale.
I always make copies of everything before they leave my hands.
Good luck

Maybe take the Police and your own notary with you and pay him a visit. Then if he is home he has no choice but to give you the title and you can have it notarized on the spot.

Sorry Man! I just gotta ask? If you had the signed title & a bill of sale, what was there to notarize? Did the title come with a release of liability form?

How did you hear about the bike being sold?

call the cops.....

you have the bike..he sold it to you and then he stole the title under theft by deception.....

call the cops......

where are you located at?

really depends on the state u r in, most states will tell u its a civil court matter, dont expect the cops to help, if u signed the title then u have a leg up, it can then be verified that the transaction was made in an amicable/mutually agreeable fashion. now if u are in a state (like mine) where it requires a notary the signature must be done IN THE PRESENCE of the notary. Unless u get a notary to go along with it already being signed (and that aint as impossible as it sounds) then u are going to small claims court. (under 1500 to 2000 depending where u are)
a reciept and or witness would be nice.
do u have the bike ??? if u do hide it, the title aint worth a damn to him without the bike.
theft by deception, .WTF, they turn that one back on ur ass if u aint careful, and in alot of states u r just wasting ur time

Good Luck

PS there are OTHER ways to get him to come around, depends on have devious u r

u have a signed bill of sale I see. go to the magistrate and file papers (usually 20 dollar filing fee) the sheriffs dept is who delivers the summons, that should scare the shit out of him

what about a title 42? or you could buy all the parts to fix it and take the receipts to the title place and get a builders title...at least thats what the okie's do

Kick his Door In, than Kick his Face In...

Kraz1 wrote:

Kick his Door In, than Kick his Face In...

That would be my preferred way of handling it,,but common sense would prevail.

Kraz1 wrote:

Kick his Door In, than Kick his Face In...

:laugh:

For a fee, I know someone in Jersey that would do that very thing...

"...dirty deeds, DONE DIRT CHEAP!"

I don't think Bon is in business anymore though

You could always call Dave Mustaine though

"Killing is my business...and business is good"