Sold car with notarized written agreement now owes

[misscj]

My jurisdiction is: Hawaii

Hi here is my problem. I hope I can get some good advice. I moved from Hawaii to Texas and needed to sell my car. The only potential buyer I had was a friend of mine, so reluctantly I sold him the car for $600 down and a notarized written agreement that he'd pay $200/month for the remaining $1000 ($1600 selling price).

Before I left (end of June) he gave me $610 and I signed the title over to him and gave him the car. The next month (July) he deposited $190 to my account (since he gave $10 extra in down payment).

Since then he has not deposited any more money to my account. I have texted him a few times. I talked to him twice and left a message once letting him know that he needs to pay something, anything. The times I talked to him he said he was getting paid the next week and that he'd pay me something. No payments and no responses since.

He did not pay August and September. Our contract said that payment would be due at the end of the month and a $25 late fee would be added if he did not pay within 10 days of due date. Therefore he now owes me $450 and will be $650 if he does not pay at the end of October.

I would like to know now that I got myself in this bind what should I do next? I was thinking about taking him to small claims court to get the money, but I'm not sure how likely it would be that I would win. Also, I would have to fly from Texas back to Hawaii though I am currently living off my credit cards. So I'm kind of at a lost for what to do. Am I pretty much screwed or is there still a way for me to get my money?

Thank you so much!

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Did you give him title to the car? With regard to small claims court, you're correct. The only place you could sue him would be in Hawaii. You might be able to file a case online and have representation at the court - I'm not sure whether this is permissible but you do have a written, notarized agreement for a straightforward breach of contract action. You can always call the small claims court or look online to find out the rest of the rules. Essentially, this isn't going to be easy as you'd like it and I'm guessing he'll probably not be on your friends list much longer. Best of luck.

 

[misscj]

title

yes, I signed the title over to him. Since I was in fact giving him the car I didn't want him driving it around if it were under my name.

Thank you for your help. Hopefully I can get this resolved. So much for trust and friendship.

 

[hayesb69]

I have the same problem

I have the same problem but the car I sold is still close to me. Person I sold it to said they would pay me first of the year havn't seen anything. I did have the person sign a contract and it is noterised. They owe me $400 will I be able to get this? I'm going to ask the person one last time to see what answer I get from them. But what can I do legaly?

 

[dee_dub]

Same as above, but easier but because you're in the same jurisdiction as your purchaser. If you didn't keep title to the car, sue in small claims for the missed payments. You might want to give him the opportunity to get up to date first. Make it clear that if satisfactory payments are not made, you will sue.