QuestionQUESTION: My situation is one that could have been avoided, and I take responsibility for my actions. My question is in regards to if there is any way I can get myself out of the predicament I got myself into.
About 6 months ago I sold a boat/trailer combination to a couple on craigslist in Las Vegas, NV. I signed all the titles and permits, received payment in full, and went on about my business. MY mistake was trusting that couple to return my plates so that I could surrender them to my local DMV. We never signed a bill of sale; everything was verbal. A week passed by and I sent a friendly reminder via text that I needed my plates. A few more weeks and I completely forgot about the plates and continued on my merry little existence.
Last week, I received a notice in the mail that my boat (not THEIR boat, which at that point I immediately realized they never registered the boat and trailer in their name) was in an impound lot and I am being charged $3200 for towing and storage fees. Apparently, the boat had been towed and had been sitting there for quite sometime for there to be such a high bill. The notice also stated that the boat was ready to be auctioned and that the proceeds would go towards the towing bill, and the difference I would still owe and would be placed in collections, and that my drivers license might also be subsequently suspended. After speaking to the towing company and asking them what my options were on how to release liability from myself, they told me that only the bill of sale would suffice (bear in mind, we never signed one).
So, here are the specifics, 1) I only received notice when the boat was up for auction, never any notice that it had been towed in the first place. 2) We never signed a bill of sale. 3) The couple never returned my plates.
Can the towing company have my license suspended? Is there anyway for me to get my liability for the boat and the bill severed?
I will take any and all advice
Thanks.
ANSWER: Do you have any of the correspondence from the sale of the vehicle and the listing on Craig's list? If not it will be difficult to prove you sold the boat. Do you still have any contact info for the people that purchased the boat?
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QUESTION: Yes, I forgot to mention that part. While the craigslist ad is still available to me, the couple with whom I dealt with contacted me directly via phone, so there are no written documents between us, apart from the signed titles that I provided. I tried checking my cell phone statements back to the month when I made the deal, but my service provider only hold digital copies of statement for a max of 5 months, therefore I no longer have contact info for the other party, only the craigslist ad.
ANSWER: Can you contact the people that purchased the items? If so, I would contact them and find out why the items got impounded. If not, I would recommend advising the towing company (in writing) that the items were sold (provide a copy of the add) and advise them that you had no control over the items once they were sold. I would also ask who had the items impounded and why. If law enforcement was involved then I would contact them also and advise them of the situation.
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QUESTION: I cannot contact the other party (no info).
About the written notice to the towing company, should I include that I do not have a bill of sale or contact info for the other party? It would seems rather fishy on my side one, one would think, that I do not have any of that info.
Would coming up with a bill of sale on my own help at all? I'm not quite sure I remember the other party's name at all so it may turn out to be a ficticious name that I would come up with. Not that I'm trying to con my way out, just wondering what the rammifications of such an action would be.
AnswerI would present the information that you have. I definitely would not make up a bill of sale. That would be a criminal offense. I believe Nevada has a process to contest a tow. I would contact them and explain the situation and find out if the have a dispute resolution process.
