Sales Agreement Violation

[anatron]

Jurisdiction

California

I had a motorcycle that I gave to my (now ex) boyfriend in December 2018, putting him on the pink slip, on the promise that he makes payments of $200 to me every month for it. After 3 months, he stopped making payments and we agreed that once he sells the motorcycle, he will give me money for it. We broke up recently and I got him to sign a Sales Agreement a few days ago stating that he will have to pay me $1250 for it by the middle of next month for the motorcycle. This would be approximately half of what the motorcycle is worth and I believe that it is a very reasonable request on my end. I have the signed contract and a voice recording of him (first agreeing to be recorded) stating that he will sign this contract and he agreed on the terms. I also have a spreadsheet listing the payments that he made and a list PayPal/Venmo transactions for this, showing that it was not a gift but a sale. He is now saying that he does not have to pay me because the motorcycle is in his name and that I "gifted" it to him, even though it was a sale.
What are my rights in this situation?

 

[Zigner]

Sue the bad guy in small claims court.

 

[zddoodah]

I had a motorcycle that I gave to my (now ex) boyfriend in December 2018, putting him on the pink slip, on the promise that he makes payments of $200 to me every month for it.

Was the promise documented in writing? "Every month" for how long?

After 3 months, he stopped making payments and we agreed that once he sells the motorcycle, he will give me money for it.

Was this agreement documented in writing?

We broke up recently and I got him to sign a Sales Agreement a few days ago stating that he will have to pay me $1250 for it by the middle of next month for the motorcycle.

So this agreement says he has to pay you $1,250 for something he already owned?

What are my rights in this situation?

Creating a list of rights would serve no useful purpose. If he doesn't pay you as agreed, you're free to sue him in small claims court. Whether you have any reasonable likelihood of winning depends on the answers to the questions I asked above and on what the agreement you mentioned and any other relevant documents say.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Sue in small claims court. You seem to have enough evidence to show that it was not a gift.

 

[army judge]

I had a motorcycle that I gave to my (now ex) boyfriend in December 2018, putting him on the pink slip, on the promise that he makes payments of $200 to me every month for it

Big mistake to allow anyone to buy anything in which YOU permit the "buyer" to "pay" you over time, rather than demanding payment in full at the time of the sale.

After 3 months, he stopped making payments and we agreed that once he sells the motorcycle, he will give me money for it

An even BIGGER mistake to allow a now KNOWN to you DEADBEAT to sell something and repay you with the funds the DEADBEAT gets from another sucker.

Hmmm, I wonder what happens next?

I got him to sign a Sales Agreement a few days ago stating that he will have to pay me $1250 for it by the middle of next month for the motorcycle.

My, my, my, my, my, my!

This would be approximately half of what the motorcycle is worth and I believe that it is a very reasonable request on my end. I have the signed contract and a voice recording of him (first agreeing to be recorded) stating that he will sign this contract and he agreed on the terms. I also have a spreadsheet listing the payments that he made and a list PayPal/Venmo transactions for this, showing that it was not a gift but a sale.

Meticulous record keeping can be beneficial.

He is now saying that he does not have to pay me because the motorcycle is in his name and that I "gifted" it to him, even though it was a sale.

He is correct.

Scammers are rarely incorrect, when it comes to knowing how a situation best benefits the scammer.

What are my rights in this situation?

Your rights don't matter.

Listing your rights will not get you one red cent.

You do have the right to sue the scammer.

The scammer won't care, and probably won't pay.

How do I know?

Scammers don't care about anything but their next scam, and grooming their next mark.

The lesson here is NEVER sell anything to anyone unless the purported buyer pays you in FULL (IN CASH) before you permit the buyer to take possession of the thing you are selling.

Selling things on credit are what banks do.

You're not a bank.

 

[anatron]

Was the promise documented in writing? "Every month" for how long? - It was a verbal agreement for him to pay me $3,000 total after 15 months.



Was this agreement documented in writing? No.



So this agreement says he has to pay you $1,250 for something he already owned? Yes, he owns it but that is why I had him sign the contract stating that he still agrees to pay me money for it since it was a sale nonetheless.



Creating a list of rights would serve no useful purpose. If he doesn't pay you as agreed, you're free to sue him in small claims court. Whether you have any reasonable likelihood of winning depends on the answers to the questions I asked above and on what the agreement you mentioned and any other relevant documents say.

Big mistake to allow anyone to buy anything in which YOU permit the "buyer" to "pay" you over time, rather than demanding payment in full at the time of the sale. It was not "anyone" but a boyfriend of 4.5 years that I thought I would spend my life with. Clearly not.





An even BIGGER mistake to allow a now KNOWN to you DEADBEAT to sell something and repay you with the funds the DEADBEAT gets from another sucker. Again, did not know that he would do this as we have been dating for 4.5 years and I had established trust in him. If it was literally anyone else, I would absolutely not do this.

Hmmm, I wonder what happens next?



My, my, my, my, my, my!




Meticulous record keeping can be beneficial.





He is correct.

Scammers are rarely incorrect, when it comes to knowing how a situation best benefits the scammer.




Your rights don't matter.

Listing your rights will not get you one red cent.

You do have the right to sue the scammer.

The scammer won't care, and probably won't pay.

How do I know?

Scammers don't care about anything but their next scam, and grooming their next mark.

The lesson here is NEVER sell anything to anyone unless the purported buyer pays you in FULL (IN CASH) before you permit the buyer to take possession of the thing you are selling.
Selling things on credit are what banks do.

You're not a bank.

Lesson learned, thanks.

WOW surprise. I totally thought that I was!

 

[army judge]

Lesson learned, thanks.

WOW surprise. I totally thought that I was!

You can look into taking the matter to one of the TV "court" shows (Judge Judy, People's Court, etc...)

If you get on those shows, you'll get money, win or lose.

 

[anatron]

You can look into taking the matter to one of the TV "court" shows (Judge Judy, People's Court, etc...)

If you get on those shows, you'll get money, win or lose.

Dude, what's your problem? I'm devastated that all of this happened and I just want some actual advice.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Dude, what's your problem? I'm devastated that all of this happened and I just want some actual advice.

That really isn't bad advice if you really need the money.

 

[zddoodah]

You have a couple of problems.

First, a contract for the sale of goods in excess of $500 "is not enforceable . . . unless there is some writing sufficient to indicate that a contract for sale has been made between the parties and signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought." Cal. Comm'l Code section 2201(1). It does not appear that any exception to this rule applies.

Second, it is a fundamental principle of contract law that a promise not supported by consideration is unenforceable. You indicated that the signed agreement was a promise to pay you money for an item that he already owned. That agreement lacks consideration (i.e., you didn't give up anything in exchange). Therefore, it might be unenforceable for this reason. I can't be certain since I haven't read it.

All that said, you have little to lose by filing in small claims court. Otherwise, chalk this up as a lesson learned.

 

[army judge]

Dude, what's your problem? I'm devastated that all of this happened and I just want some actual advice.

Problem?

I have ZERO problems, just oodles of blessings.

Thanks for asking.

That was most thoughtful of you.