Tips on Buying Cars: Im pretty sure we got screwed..., small claims court, bill of sale

Question
Hi There Steve,

I will try and keep this short but it is a very complex situation. I hope you can help as my husband and I are at a total loss of what to do and are reaching out to ANYONE for some help and advice.

My husband and I bought a car off Craigslist in April. After a test drive, the seller said he was selling the car for a friend and handed us paper work along with a signed bill of sale and said we just had to turn it into the DMV to get the title. We went to the DMV 5 days later and the DMV said we were missing paperwork. We called the seller and he said we would have to go to the lien sale company in L.A. A week later we drove out to L.A. and they told us they couldn't do nothing unless the original owner came down. We called the seller again and he said he would take care of it. After not hearing from him for 2 weeks, we called him again and his number was disconnected. I did a Craigslist search on his number and found this guy selling a few other cars which are now deleted.

The cars temp registration has now expired as of May 31st and the car is no longer drivable because we can not register it. On June 1st my husband stopped by this guys house and he wasn't home but we were able to obtain his new number from his wife. We have since left SEVERAL messages on his phone and one with his wife and he has not returned any calls. And now that number is disconnected.

My husband and I are looking into filing with small claims court to try and get our money back, while the car is racking up tickets in the street by code enforcement because we live in Downtown Riverside and do not have a driveway or garage to take it off the public street. However, we can not file small claims because we only have the FIRST name of the guy who sold it to us and his address. We need his LAST name as well. We could sue the guy listed on the bill of sale but we don't have his ADDRESS.

We know the car is okay because some cops insisted on running the vin while we stayed in a hotel a few weeks ago, and they said everything checked out okay.

PLEASE, WHAT ARE WE TO DO NOW? Is there a possibility of filing for loss of title? Is there anyway to get the sellers last name, or the original owners address? We now have a car that we can not drive, and a seller who has completely avoided us.

PS/ I know we were VERY stupid in not getting the sellers full information, it was night time, it was raining, we were idiots, so please don't kick us while we are down as we are now learning from our mistake. Thank you for ANY ADVICE you can give us.


Thank you.
Diana

Answer
Hi Diana,
Bad situation, there is not much to do, does the motor vehicle office offer any suggestions??? I think with his home address, and whatever info you have i would go to the police and see if you can speak to the fraud division. Unfortunately i cannot offer any other advice on this situation...Good luck!

STEVE