I have a situation at hand when buying a car that hasn't been fully paid off. The pay off amount is 14K, the sales price is 10K The owner said she has the money to pay off on her own, and I gave her a $500 deposit til she get back to me with clear title. She calls today and says that I misunderstood her and she doesnt have the money to pay off the loan...so she would need me to pay the balance to her now before she can release the title. She has offered to give me posession of the car, keys, sign on the back of Certificate of Title, and have notarized Bill of Sale. The price is too good to pass up a car but even if I give her the money now, I still cant ensure she pays it off and not run with my money. If the bank still has the lien, the MVA wont issue a title no matter how many Bills of Sale I have, it will be void.

Is there a way to protect myself yet still do a transaction?

Anyone's help is appreciated!!

 

Write it out and get it noterized that she owes 14k on the car your paying her 10k and shes going to pay off the other 4k . Have dates on when you gave her the money when shes supposed to pay everything have her sign it you sign it and noterize it ! simple... she back down at the end, you got a paper stating that she agreed to pay it off, at the end the judge will grant you the $$$$$$$$$

 

sounds like she is playing you.

 

that may work but will suck out $$ for legal expenses, time, etc.....trying to take an assumption of seller's loan, with seller paying $4000 to me in cash, then I will be responsible for paying off the loan.

 

No, make her take out a personal loan for the balance. Do your transactions at the bank that holds the note on the title.

For example, go to Bank of America if that is who has the title on the car. Tell them of your $10 grand on the car deal, and they'll tell you she still owes $4000 more. From there, she'll have to take out a personal loan through the bank to pay it off. Meanwhile, the bank has been paid, between your $10g's and her $4 g's. So then they can release the title to you.

Otherwise, do not buy this car, unless you're willing to spend $14,000. If then, is it still a great deal? I wouldn't trust her further than I could throw her. Going after someone for money is better left to the bank. Not you.

 

Too messy for me, I would just walk away.

 

Do what Swee said.

 

Things that seem to good to be true usually are... get your $500 back and leave that mess behind.

 

Negative equity is a bummer. Run, good sir, evacuate the premises and get your $500 back.

 

Subject-to the loan staying in place, and you assume the loan, plus deeding the title to you. She pays u the $4k (how she comes up w/the 4k is her problem), and everybody walks away happy.

If you default on payments, no problem, because the loan is still under her name. But she can take the car back at any time, which she probably wouldn't really care cuz she's in a hole anyways.

Buying cars is like buying houses... u name the price, I name the terms. And don't get emotionally attached to property. Some will, Some won't, So what, NEXT!

Jae

 

Uhhh....no. You're just opening yourself up to being screwed over. Keep what you owe/own seperate from her. Do what Swee said or get your deposit back and walk away. Simple as that. No need to get creative.

 

Of course he wouldn't go in blindly. There's papers to be signed to keep things legal and orderly, with a lot of "just in case" type clauses.

This's a great reason why I have pre-paid legal service... they take care of all that legal "what-if" stuff for me.

I like swee's idea too, and that works great if the buyer has $10k+ closing costs on hand and assuming the bank is local. I wanted to do it cheaper, w/o credit check. At least now the buyer has options seeing it 2 ways. Good luck!

Jae

 

I like Swee’s idea. Have her get a $10,000 loan from anywhere. It could even be a credit card. The loan will exist for only as long as it takes for her to get her title. Once she combines her $10,000 loan with her $4,000, she can pay off her $14,000 car loan. When she gets the title, you complete the car sale and give her the $10,000 for her car. She uses that $10,000 to immediately pay off the $10,000 loan. At 15% interest, the $10,000 loan will cost her about $4 per day. That’s a small price for her to pay to sell the car. And in no way do you risk getting screwed.

 

Why don't you find out where she financed the car? If its local, they should have the title on hand or could get it with little difficulty. Go with her to the bank, she pays $4000, you pay $10000, you sign your name on the title right then and there and walk away. While there, have them notarize the bill of sale and call it a day!

If it isn't local, the two of you call up the lender, let them know whats going on, and agree to pay the 10k with them once they have verified funds on her 4k.

 

This isn't an uncommon situation. Best idea is to pay your money to the bank in return for the title, not her. Talk it over with her, let her know it's just good business. If she's for real, she should have no problem with those terms.

 

Another

I would definitely try to go into the place and take care of everything through the actual title holder (bank or credit union). No way I would give her any money or mess around with her owing the extra $4k. You could be stuck with that, too, if you don't do things correctly.