- Jurisdiction
- California
Hello,
I have a fraud case against a car dealership in California, but I am not very happy with the representation I have received, and I am considering changing attorneys if that is at all possible.
I purchased a used car with cash in December 2014, and was never given a smog certificate. I didn't really know any better as I had never bought a used car before. I was told by the dealership that my license plates and pink slip would come in the mail via the DMV. They did tell me to bring the car back in a day or two so it could be smogged and registered, which I did. I sat there for several hours, and they finally put a temporary registration sticker on the windshield and I went on my way, still thinking that I would get the title in the mail, which ultimately never came. They did not give me a smog certificate at that time either.
A couple months later I was pulled over by the police for lack of plates. The officer told me that a different dealership than the one that I bought the car from was actually the registered owner, which the DMV verified when I later went in to ask them about it.
I went back to the dealership and told them about this, and they referred me to a person there who handles these things, who looked at the files and said to me "oh..you were supposed to bring it back to have it smogged." I told her that I already did that months ago, and at that point knew that something was wrong.
I then contacted an attorney who promptly took the case. I was happy at first to have representation, but I am wondering now if there are some issues. The attorney never asked me if I had asked the dealership to rescind the sale before taking the case. He charges a $3,250 fee to take on cases like mine, instead of billing gradually, or doing it completely on contingency. I didn't have to pay anything up front however. After sending the dealership the initial complaint letter, my attorney called me and told me that the dealership had responded and had offered to rescind the sale, but he told them no because "that would not cover the attorney's fees." I was never consulted in this decision. My attorney also said during that phone call that he would forward a copy of their response letter to me, which he never did. I had asked him during that call if there would be punitive damages and he told me "yes".
Due to not receiving my title for over 100 days, I know I'm entitled about $7,500 according to 5753 of the California Vehicle Code, plus the value of the car back. I can not register the car (or get the title) until it gets smogged. However, the check engine light has always been on since I bought the car, which I didn't notice until several weeks after buying it because a friend was driving it instead of myself (my license was not valid until a few weeks later).
The dealership filed for bankruptcy in June of this year but it got dismissed because the dealership never followed through with their paperwork. My attorney called me around that time and said "I don't think we're going to get too much in damages from these guys. We should settle for whatever they offer us. If it goes to trial, they'll just file for bankruptcy again." I asked him how many other people were making a claim against the $50,000 bond and he told me about 6 or 7, and he told me "all we will get is the value of the car back, plus attorney's fees."
I'm kind of upset now, because looking back, if he had just accepted their offer to rescind the sale, or given me the option to accept that offer, I would have gotten my money back a lot sooner. And if he had only just charged me for sending the complaint letter, instead of tacking on an automatic $3,250 right at the outset, the fees would have been much smaller, and it would have made sense for me to accept their offer. But instead this has dragged out a long time (17 months) and the defense attorney's position is that they want to proceed to trial. I will have to check my retainer agreement, but somewhere in there it says that by signing I acknowledge that if a case goes to trial, there is no guarantee that I will get anything (depending on the total fees and other variables).
I did some research on my own recently, and discovered that this dealership is now operating under a new license and has opened two new locations (for a total of three). I told my attorney this and he asked me to forward the info over to him (which I got from the California DMV website). As a result of this new information that I provided my attorney with, the original court date was pushed forward by over 3 months, so that they could add the new defendant to the case (via the new license). A settlement conference was very soon set, which is coming up. I have two questions for my attorney which he has avoided answering by both email and telephone for over one week now. The questions are:
1) Are we going after a different bond now that we have added the new defendant (under the new license #) to the case?
2) Does the defense attorney have to make some kind of good faith offer now in writing ahead of the settlement conference, or can they still state that they wish to proceed to trial (which was their original position)?
I feel like i need some advice, to make sure what he says sounds right when he finally does get back to me, and as to whether I have received adequate representation or not. I feel like a better attorney would be able to get me the additional $7,500 that I am entitled to, and that this present attorney isn't very interested because his retainer only allows him to collect 50% of punitive damages, which I think are of a different nature.
Any help or input at all would be greatly appreciated! I am really frustrated I am sorry this is so long, but I felt like I had to tell the whole story.
I have a fraud case against a car dealership in California, but I am not very happy with the representation I have received, and I am considering changing attorneys if that is at all possible.
I purchased a used car with cash in December 2014, and was never given a smog certificate. I didn't really know any better as I had never bought a used car before. I was told by the dealership that my license plates and pink slip would come in the mail via the DMV. They did tell me to bring the car back in a day or two so it could be smogged and registered, which I did. I sat there for several hours, and they finally put a temporary registration sticker on the windshield and I went on my way, still thinking that I would get the title in the mail, which ultimately never came. They did not give me a smog certificate at that time either.
A couple months later I was pulled over by the police for lack of plates. The officer told me that a different dealership than the one that I bought the car from was actually the registered owner, which the DMV verified when I later went in to ask them about it.
I went back to the dealership and told them about this, and they referred me to a person there who handles these things, who looked at the files and said to me "oh..you were supposed to bring it back to have it smogged." I told her that I already did that months ago, and at that point knew that something was wrong.
I then contacted an attorney who promptly took the case. I was happy at first to have representation, but I am wondering now if there are some issues. The attorney never asked me if I had asked the dealership to rescind the sale before taking the case. He charges a $3,250 fee to take on cases like mine, instead of billing gradually, or doing it completely on contingency. I didn't have to pay anything up front however. After sending the dealership the initial complaint letter, my attorney called me and told me that the dealership had responded and had offered to rescind the sale, but he told them no because "that would not cover the attorney's fees." I was never consulted in this decision. My attorney also said during that phone call that he would forward a copy of their response letter to me, which he never did. I had asked him during that call if there would be punitive damages and he told me "yes".
Due to not receiving my title for over 100 days, I know I'm entitled about $7,500 according to 5753 of the California Vehicle Code, plus the value of the car back. I can not register the car (or get the title) until it gets smogged. However, the check engine light has always been on since I bought the car, which I didn't notice until several weeks after buying it because a friend was driving it instead of myself (my license was not valid until a few weeks later).
The dealership filed for bankruptcy in June of this year but it got dismissed because the dealership never followed through with their paperwork. My attorney called me around that time and said "I don't think we're going to get too much in damages from these guys. We should settle for whatever they offer us. If it goes to trial, they'll just file for bankruptcy again." I asked him how many other people were making a claim against the $50,000 bond and he told me about 6 or 7, and he told me "all we will get is the value of the car back, plus attorney's fees."
I'm kind of upset now, because looking back, if he had just accepted their offer to rescind the sale, or given me the option to accept that offer, I would have gotten my money back a lot sooner. And if he had only just charged me for sending the complaint letter, instead of tacking on an automatic $3,250 right at the outset, the fees would have been much smaller, and it would have made sense for me to accept their offer. But instead this has dragged out a long time (17 months) and the defense attorney's position is that they want to proceed to trial. I will have to check my retainer agreement, but somewhere in there it says that by signing I acknowledge that if a case goes to trial, there is no guarantee that I will get anything (depending on the total fees and other variables).
I did some research on my own recently, and discovered that this dealership is now operating under a new license and has opened two new locations (for a total of three). I told my attorney this and he asked me to forward the info over to him (which I got from the California DMV website). As a result of this new information that I provided my attorney with, the original court date was pushed forward by over 3 months, so that they could add the new defendant to the case (via the new license). A settlement conference was very soon set, which is coming up. I have two questions for my attorney which he has avoided answering by both email and telephone for over one week now. The questions are:
1) Are we going after a different bond now that we have added the new defendant (under the new license #) to the case?
2) Does the defense attorney have to make some kind of good faith offer now in writing ahead of the settlement conference, or can they still state that they wish to proceed to trial (which was their original position)?
I feel like i need some advice, to make sure what he says sounds right when he finally does get back to me, and as to whether I have received adequate representation or not. I feel like a better attorney would be able to get me the additional $7,500 that I am entitled to, and that this present attorney isn't very interested because his retainer only allows him to collect 50% of punitive damages, which I think are of a different nature.
Any help or input at all would be greatly appreciated! I am really frustrated I am sorry this is so long, but I felt like I had to tell the whole story.
