So I saw a car on gumtree, decent price so I went over to check it out. Test drived and then made a commitment (verbal contract?) with the seller that pending checks I'll buy it. Paid a deposit and was meant to bring it to the mechanics the next day. Ran a ppsr and found out the car is encumbered. Asked him and he said he doesn't know anything about that. Tried to call the bank, and they couldn't give me any info. I remembered he said he got the car 6 months ago and saw the date was roughly six months. So alarm bells rang (too late) and pulled out. I requested my deposit back and the checks failed but he stopped responding to me. I go to his house and his wife always said to me he's out shopping etc. I ring his phone and it always rings out to voicemail. Is there anything I can do to get it back? It was 1000
Getting a Deposit Back on a Private Car Sale
Comments
Haha he'll just call the cops. A few times I've waited some hours for him to get back from 'shopping' but no luck.
Good and when the cops arrive tell them that he is with holding a substantial amount of money from you. He won't call the cops in case of this…
Also, he's probably home, his wife would just be covering for him. Go late in the evening and tell his wife that things will get escalated if you don't get your money back (take some mates again)!
block the driveway, early in the morning, stop him going to work. have a couple friends with you.
if the cops come, tell them you broke down, and explain the story about him holding funds
I called the non emergency line and they said it's a civil matter.
A $1000 deposit?
Seriously?
Now I haven't bought a car in some years now but last I did you could do a finance check on the phone on the spot.
Has that changed?
I'd personally never leave a deposit on a vehicle until I'd done the check and then it would only be in the realm of $100.
The reason being that there is lots of rip off merchants out there who will fleece you given the hint of a chance.
PPSR is online only. REVS (NSW) was replaced by PPSR some years ago.
Thanks for the heads up
dont bring ozb mentality buy now think later to a buying car from strangers…..
^
warning and note to myself…Judge Judy.
I was thinking small claims court but not sure if that'll help
Have you got any proof that you handed over the money? Receipt or bank transfer statement?
Yes bank transfer.
Call your bank and ask for a recall. Its not guarantee that you can get the money back but its an option.
Why didn't you do the ppsr on your phone then and there?
Why did you pay a $1000 deposit not $100?
It's probably going to be hard to get back. You might want to consider leaving it and moving on. I know it isn't ideal but not sure what else you can do…
Report the ad to gumtree though.
you really need a bikies option for this one
haha yeah I saw that and realized I had a similar issue and looking to get opinions
Private car sales are a dirty business I wouldnt of left them a cent until i done my checks i'd go over with a bat and a few mates
you know where the guy lives so my advice you do the threatening job on him
Good luck
Won't get any recourse from the bank or the police
take it as an expensive lesson learntcaveat emptor - buyer beware, it doesn't sound like the seller wants to refund you, nor he is required to. If there was a written receipt with some sort of clauses maybe? but given it's a verbal contract it's a bit hard to prove such clauses were agreed between both parties.
PPSR showed Finance Encumbrance or Previous Write Off?
You can pay the Finance off, and balance to the seller.
Correct. Just offer to take over the lease payments as payment for the vehicle
It's finance encumbered and he denies any knowledge of it
Find out which Financier the encumbrance is from and call them. I have had a couple of experiences where the old register (REVS NSW) hadn't been cleared due to an administration error.
Has anyone had experience with small claims? Any similar matters?
Devil's advocate here… isn't the point of the deposit to stop the seller from selling to another person? Could the seller here claim that he is owed money (or part of) because he was denied a sale to another in the time OP was doing his checks? Devil's advocate, that's all.
1) deposits are always refundable and in full (every car yard knows this) ~ its the LAW, makes no difference if its private or commercial.
2) down payments are not refundable, you made a commitment and then pulled out, once you passed over the money you screwed yourself
3) subject to checks, in a verbal agreement its a grey area but an encumbered car cant be sold as it does not have clear title (this trump all else)
4) even for $1000 (that was excessive for a car that was subject to checks FYI) voilence is never permissable, nor the threat of violence as it will mean jail for you.As i understand it, he bought the car and it seems has found it he does not have clear title and has decided to pass the buck (hence the 'good price' on gumtree (red flag)… So his 'honesty' level is a little lower than a polly or a reporter. Small claims, get a judgment and then use the law to put a lein on his house and you'll have your $1000 back. Its cheap and you can do most of the paperwork yourself.
What is he's renting??
Also, Sherriff's Office will only seize goods to the value of the judgement so house is out of the question.
Also, the car can be sold as the guy has title. The finance company has an interest in the vehicle but cannot stop the sale. The finance payments just move to the new owner.
If I have his bank details, can they charge it from there?
No they can't take it from his bank account. You can take him to small claims but you want to make sure he has some assets so you can get your $1K back. Enforcement of small claims matters takes a while also.
Maybe ask him how much he owes on the car and make a deal from there
@chumlee: He doesn't respond at all to any form of communication. He has the car so that's an asset I guess?
Do you know where I can find any document saying that deposits are refundable? I'm planning on bringing him to small claims court. He had the car for 6 months, said it's fine, no issues. The finance started 6 months ago so I strongly suspect it's him who owes the money.
I tried sending a letter of demand in registered mail but they weren't able to deliver so it's just sitting in the post office. According to small claims, I have to prove I sent him a letter of demand. Is there any other way to hand him the papers?
If you sent it registered then you have proof you sent it. Do you need proof he received it?
I'm not sure but I'll be having a word with Legal Aid to see if I stand a chance
As I understand, there is precedent with legal documents being sent via facebook.
Couldn't you have settled the deal even though the guy has finance on the vehicle? you just pay what is owing on the car direct to the finance company and any residual to him. People do that all the time. You might have got a better deal if the guy is selling after six months from purchase as he is probably a desperate seller. With all respect I think you have panicked here because of the finance on the vehicle however the guy should have refunded you your deposit.
maybe the guy is just trying to screw over someone as get the almost full market value and let some unsuspecting person get hit with the finance payments after paying for the car
Problem is, he is denying there is any finance owing even by him even though I showed him the ppsr. I can't get a figure as he denies it and the bank won't tell me and im not the one with the account
Of course he is going to deny it. He's taking you for a ride.
Submit an application to the small claims tribunal, if you get a judgment in your favour, your next step is to wait out the statutory period they give him to pay you back. In the event that he doesn't return your funds you take the small claims judgement to your local court (there is a small fee for this, in the late 90's it was around $55) and they will stamp an order that he must return the funds, they should also be able to stamp the court order to garnishee his bank account or if you hand it to the sheriff they can seize goods or cash to the value of the money owed.
PPSR is good enough as a reason to take your deposit back. Small claim was $185 for my company a few years ago, but this amount will be added to the final claim. After receiving the claim, he has a period to defend himself. If he doesn't respond to it (make payment or give valid reason to the court), a default judgement will be made (you win). And then you may request for a garnish order against his account in one bank (one bank a time), luckily you have his bank account detail so you can go to the right bank. Bank will take whatever amount of money from that account up to your claim amount once. If he has no money at the time, too bad you need to get another garnish order. But also you will have other options from the default judgement to get your money back.
Having said so much, if his defence is accepted by the court, you lose the fee paid to the court as well.
Camp outside his place and bring some mates!