What if the mechanic moves to a new location and takes my car with him, doesn't provide the address then just stops returning my calls? In this specific situation, he was doing some mechanic work to the car, finished and was paid. Then he agreed to do some paint/ body work way back in September (I know, bad idea) I paid for the material, he messed up, I paid for more material, he was going to collect the rest of the money from the insurance company after completing the repairs but never did. I haven't sign anything for the paint work yet, kind of a handshake deal to do it for what the insurance company estimated but he has my signature from previous transactions. The insurance company actually ended up just sending me a check even though he never finished, I text him to let him know I had more money and ask when we could wrap things up, he said he would call me back but never did, that was over a month ago. I asked a friend who is in law enforcement if I should report it stolen, he thought it would likely be a "civil matter" instead. I've read many articles online about people winning court cases but still not getting their cars back or compensation awarded in court, the mechanic simply says they can take him to court again... not getting a warm fuzzy feeling about this whole situation. Does the consumer have any real recourse here or would it be better to hire a private investigator and a repo man or something? Trying to decide if I should take my insurance money and hire an attorney/ private investigator or just buy another car and cut my losses 🙁 ANY insight is welcome and appreciated, be gentle.
If the guy absconded with your car then he stole it. Call the police.
Wanted to post an update here just in case it helps someone else in a similar situation. I learned a few things throughout this process that might help someone else. First, make sure you're working with a licensed accredited repair facility, turns out my mechanic wasn't licensed even though he'd worked on my cars for years at another facility. I guess he worked under the license of his previous employer or something, after a little digging I discovered there was no record of him being licensed as a mechanic nor did he have any registered businesses. Oddly enough, this worked in my favor because there was no longer an argument for a mechanic's lien. Not even a sorry mechanic or businessman, he's just a criminal.
I actually could have employed the services of a repo man for a pretty reasonable price but, after a little digging I found out the mechanics home was behind not one but two locked gates in a very remote area. Repo men don't care for this sort of challenge since they are not allowed to break in and would have to literally stalk him and follow him in, not safe since this guy carry's a pistol everywhere he goes.
There was also the possibility of the court assigning a bailiff to retrieve the vehicle, if I were to win a civil case against him. A bailiff would have the authority to get a warrant and go beyond those locked gates but I didn't have any luck finding out from any of the attorneys or county court personnel if this was something the court would do for cases where individuals like myself were wronged or if they only do this for businesses and debt collectors. The bailiff actually has the authority to take other stuff from the property and sell it to pay the amount awarded by the court. For instance if the mechanic owned tools, boats, RV's etc.; the bailiff could simply take them and put them to auction to pay off whatever amount the court awarded. Never heard back from any of the attorneys though, guess it wasn't important or profitable enough for them to answer those questions.
Lastly, I shouldn't have been so slow to act against him, shouldn't have given him so many opportunities to do the right thing and redeem himself. I took a chance on him, saw an opportunity to do a little extra work on a car I was going to gift to my son as a reward for working hard in school and pursuing a promising career and help a mechanic who was down on his luck in the process. But he got in over his head with the paint work and instead of working it out with me to finish the car he ghosted me. Now he's a felon... lesson learned, for me anyway. Next time we'll start with a licensed accredited business and be much quicker to request help from law enforcement if necessary, settle our differences and demand our car back when things go south.
On the bright side, once it was determined he wasn't a real business and a police report was filed, the insurance claim was settled pretty quickly. I had to go a couple rounds with the adjuster to get the value of the car where it should be but in the end they paid double what they originally offered and we got a really nice car for our son to take with him to college next year.
Hope no one else ever has to go through this but if you do, hope this information helps someone.
God bless ya'll!
thanks for reporting back
he messed up, I paid for more material
why would you do that? This is guy has loser written all over him. This is a little bit your fault.
I agree with Chuck. A crime was committed: You were robbed.
Call the police.
You can also start a small claims court order against him (in case you don't get the car back) if that falls within that jurisdiction. For example here they handle claims up to $35,000. Above that you should get an attorney. Your state laws may differ.
Yeah Joe in retrospect, wish I would have just taken the car back the first time he messed up, or at least tried. Kind of between a rock and a hard place with the car and was really hoping he would just come back out of orbit and do the right thing. Only reason I gave him another chance on the paint was because he had done really well by me on the mechanical stuff over the last 10-15yrs. In the past he worked for a local family owned shop I frequented, this was only my third time doing business with him directly after he started his own shop last year. Pretty unfortunate
Isn't small claims court where a civil judgment would be made? I'm still learning but if I understand correctly, civil matters aren't considered criminal offenses. Would law enforcement be much help beyond "strongly suggesting" he return my car or pay any judgements the small claims court awards in my favor? I truly hope I'm wrong and things really don't work this way but what incentive would he have to rectify our situation other than out of the kindness of his own heart? Does something change after a civil court ruling as far as criminality is concerned? It seems the system is designed to protect the business owners more so than the patrons they might wrong. That's why I inquired about a private investigator and a repo man but I don't even know if repo works that way for consumers. Brand new territory for me I'm afraid 😕
I'm not a lawyer either, and far from an expert in legal matters so I could be totally wrong (especially on terminology). But it's my understanding that the police prosecute matters where the law is broken. Theft is illegal, and of course it can be broken down further by severity/amount. Punishment ranges all the way up to jail time. I think this is referred to as "common law."
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Small claims court is where you go to make your (non-legal) case where somebody's actions caused you or your business a loss (laws may have been broken in the process, but not necessarily), and the judge decides what you are entitled to.There usually aren't "punishments", just compensation to the harmed party. It's a dispute. I believe this is called "civil law"
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You definitely want to pursue the illegal theft avenue. That's your public duty to report. The thing is, you may or may not get your car back. It all depends on how it plays out. I don't think the police have the power to pull a car out of him if it really came down to it (like if he sold it for example). He would just be punished and the rest is on you.
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That's where the civil suit comes in ... that's where you try to claim back your losses. It's your personal choice to pursue. At minimum , you should be compensated for the value of the vehicle. If you lost income because of it , you could claim that too. And so on... You would have to gather documentation to prove the value, make your case to the judge, and he makes a decision.
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repo men usually retrieve items for the bank that have not been repaid. Now I'm not 100% sure how those contracts work. I don't know if the retrieved items are handed to the bank and a fee charged. Or maybe the repo company simply buys the debt from the bank, and then sells the reclaimed items to try and make a profit (most likely). But I'll bet their services are not cheap for one-offs, and probably not worth it for the individual. Same with PI's.
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But if you can, the cheapest and easiest solution is always to try and resolve it yourself. It should be the first course of action, and then you escalate if you don't get anywhere.
Thanks Joe, been digging around all over the internet trying to figure out if I have any real leverage. Seems that private parties actually can hire "repo men" for a little under $500, maybe an additional fee for the "skip tracing" they do trying to find the guy in my case. I've also been trying to find out if there's anything more I can do after winning, besides just file another suit against them, in case he just doesn't return the car or pay the awarded judgements. Some of the stuff I've read sounds like I may be able to apply for an exemption to paying the court costs for filing the suit myself and even request the court freeze his bank accounts and assign a bailiff to retrieve the vehicle, wonder if those fees would be exempted too? I can't seem to find anything specifically stating whether I can do that as an individual or if this only works for creditors and businesses collecting debts. Calling the courthouse wasn't much help, just referred me to an attorney but I'm hoping to get some advise from someone who's not biased or swayed by the potential to make a quick buck from an already costly situation. It's all pretty convoluted :hmm:
I'm pretty sure you can make the guilty party pay for all your fees (provided the judge finds him guilty of course).
The courthouse won't be of much help of course, except for telling you which forms to fill out.
For legal advice, it's best to call a lawyer. They're pretty good about giving free advice over the phone or if you visit, as far as telling you what your options are and best course of action. I don't think they stand to make much money off you. There were no injuries or anything, so there's not much possibility of legal representation in your case.
Good to see you've had it figured out. First time I've heard of such a case and it's crazy. I've heard of mechanics taking cars home or out on a non-work related trip, but they always gave the car back. It's crazy the guy just straight up stole your car. These are definitely the kind of people you don't want to deal with in person. Let police deal with them.
Make sure towing companies are licensed too. I've heard stories of them disappearing with cars too.
