GD member desperately in need of So CA LEO help.......

Chummin said:
Not sure. We donated a car and I failed to send in the release of liability. Auction sold the car but never did anything with the title and a month later I had a detective call me from 3 states away that the car was involved in felony crimes.
I had to jump through a bunch of hoops with the org that I donated the car to prove it was out of my possession when the crimes happened.
Was not cool at all. Now I fill out that release of liability on everything and dont trust anyone to do their part in transitioning titles like they are supposed to.
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This at a minimum. ^^^
 
But to legally sell a car you are claiming is YOURS when it's not in your name, is a lengthy lien process. Sounds like the storage yard could be on the hook for this if they didn't do the proper lien paperwork.
 
I've been thinking about this and have a theory.

1. Sketchy lease company leases the car to a "foreign soccer player" who is in on the scam.
2. Soccer player makes no payments and puts the car in storage. Storage yard is in on the scam.
3. Storage yard auctions the car due to nonpayment to the wealthy dude who is in on the scam and wealthy dude registers the car and gives the sketchy lease company the ok to report it stolen.
4. Wealthy dude sells the car to unsuspecting righteous dude who finds out the car is reported as stolen when he tries to register it.
5. The car is impounded then returned to the sketchy lease company.
6. Rinse and repeat.

Just a theory. But I got caught up in an attempted scam by Romanians (gypsies) back in the '90's. Lucky for me I realized something didn't smell right about the deal and got out of it with no loss.
 
@THD I think you are close. I don't think the wealthy guy I bought it from is in on it; but there is a shady auto dealership in TX that bought it from the guy who bought if from storage auction. I suspect the auto dealer is in on it or at least knew something was fishy. There does seem to be a lot of romanians or people from that part of the world involved with this chit show.
 
1newbie said:
@THD I think you are close. I don't think the wealthy guy I bought it from is in on it; but there is a shady auto dealership in TX that bought it from the guy who bought if from storage auction. I suspect the auto dealer is in on it or at least knew something was fishy. There does seem to be a lot of romanians or people from that part of the world involved with this chit show.
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My reasoning behind thinking the wealthy guy was in on it is that timing of when it was reported stolen is critical. It had to be reported after wealthy guy registered it. If it was reported prior to him registering it he would be sitting in your spot right now.
 
No real substance to add, but I did do repo for a few years and I can tell you for 100% fact that some of the "wealthy" people in the car game are that way because of fraud. If I was in that scenario, I wouldn't trust a single person involved. Also, what THD described lines up pretty well with how people steal/strip/dump cars as well.
 
The wealthy guy ($2m in cars, $5m ski cabin in Park City, etc) seems to be doing everything in his power to help me. We txt every day. I'm very polite, but I did tell him that I want (1) my car, (2) my $ back or (3) I'll see him in court. I'm fine with any of those outcomes. Even though he's probably not criminally liable for selling stolen property; he is still liable from a civil standpoint.
 
I’d lawyer up if I had that kind of $ on the line.
 
1newbie said:
The wealthy guy ($2m in cars, $5m ski cabin in Park City, etc) seems to be doing everything in his power to help me. We txt every day. I'm very polite, but I did tell him that I want (1) my car, (2) my $ back or (3) I'll see him in court. I'm fine with any of those outcomes. Even though he's probably not criminally liable for selling stolen property; he is still liable from a civil standpoint.
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Wealthy guy, but doesn't want to give you a lousy 125k, cause he feels bad?

Oh yeah. He's definitely involved in this scam. 🤬
 
rivermobster said:
Wealthy guy, but doesn't want to give you a lousy 125k, cause he feels bad?

Oh yeah. He's definitely involved in this scam. 🤬
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Then he is out the 125 plus what he paid for the car. Whoever washed the titled thru Florida is the one who needs to pony up the cash first. If you don't have a direct line to that individual, you need to find some lube you're going to need it.
 
I hope you get resolution on this. I can't imagine the stress this has caused you and your wife.
I have a deep seeded hate for scammers and crooks!
 
1newbie said:
The car was impounded and was released to the person who reported it stolen (it was a leasing company when lessee missed two payments)
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This part is really bothering me. A lessor cannot report it stolen just because their lessee missed payment. They can generate a repo order, but not report it stolen.

Sorry you are going through this. I worked in car sales for 16+ years and have had to dodge some situations here and there. You're being jerked around and will need pro help. No law enforcement will have any weight to help. There are some seriously good attorneys here in San Diego but mostly are focused on Dealer Fraud. This may be a case against the Lessee company. Fraud for profit situation for sure.
 
MWB said:
Then he is out the 125 plus what he paid for the car. Whoever washed the titled thru Florida is the one who needs to pony up the cash first. If you don't have a direct line to that individual, you need to find some lube you're going to need it.
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All true. But that's not the buyers problem.

But I'd be going straight after the guy who sold it to me. If it was me anyways.
 
Chingon619 said:
Is it possibly a theft recovery that hasn't updated? Where is the seller? Was it a real title? Was his name on that title? How did LEO get a hold of it? Did they ask you to bring it to DMV? This is fucking crazy! Only reason I don't buy private party. Hopefully it was a dealer and you have some recourse. Good luck.
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Yes it's not the same anymore with buying from private parties. This story is a good example/reminder for me. And @1newbie did so much research on the seller too. Dealers are greedy, but with the proper research and negotiating you can still get a good purchase.
 
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