AboutTimmy Chou Expertise I am a experienced Mediator and a partner in a management consulting firm. As a mediator I work as a third-party neutral and specialize in partnership/shareholder disputes, management/labor issues, company culture difficulties, and family-owned business problems. I can help describe why alternative dispute resolution may be a good choice for you. As an experienced management consultant I may be able to offer creative ideas to help resolve your organizational and business problems and disputes. "If you say conflict, I say opportunity".
Question My now girlfriend live in Maine and she has a problem and I am wondering if you could help us. She met this guy and had him move in with her and they stayed together for 5 years. At that time they took out a loan and both of their names are on. He kind a paid the bills and she collected a death benefit for her child. They split up and he gave her a Plymouth Van with no bill of sale and said he would give her the title when he got it. The house was put into foreclosure and sold it before it went through. The money they got went to pay some of the bills that they accumulated. She moved in with me and he went on his own. She has been paying the loan off but got behind but talked to the bank and made arrangements to pay it. The bank took him to court and he is to pay the last two payments of the loan. She has to pay court cost and I think he does to because there was two documents numbers. Now he is threatening to take the van back from her after she has had it for over a year and put a lot on money into it.
My question is, Does he have the right to take the van back? She has put over $900.00 into it, can she get it back from him before she has to give up the van? What can she do to keep the van?
Answer Thank you for your question!
Mediators act as neutral third parties to disputes and never "get
involved" in judging the merits of conflict, but merely use special
techniques to help the parties decide how to negotiate their own
settlement.
The case you describe here is unfortunately very typical. I am not a
lawyer, nor can I mediate your dispute with just you alone but I can
respond to your question from my business consulting experience. Note
that this issue will possibly develop legal implications and you may wish to consult an attorney.
Your situation is very common and consists of a number of simultaneous but unrelated agreements about various obligations and assets. Though it will seem very unfair (and it is) the question of the "ownership" of the van is determined by the title -- it would have been better to take care if that issue at the time. If the "owner" wishes to claim ownership, there will be little you can do if the police or constable shows up to take it. You do have a valid "oral" agreement if he gave her the van without strings, but you may have to enforce it in a court. If there is no witness it could be a difficult "he said, she said" problem.
If he repossesses the van, you will only have the option of going to court. You can go to small claims as the total amount of money involved is less than $7500. You would have to claim that he broke his agreement to give you the van and the title, and try to recover your investment.
You could try to tell more of the story in court, but the judge will not want to get into an argument about things which are not the subject of the dispute before him.
Her best bet is to try her hardest to persuade him to honor his original agreement. If you had to throw him a few hundred bucks to get him to go along, you would be money and hassle ahead.
I wish I had better options for you.
These are some ideas. Feel free to follow up with additional questions.
For your information, the pros and cons of the types of dispute resolution methods follows.
GOOD LUCK!
Arbitration, Mediation, and Litigation
Arbitration: the referral of a dispute to one or more impartial persons for final and binding determination outside of the judicial system
Benefits of Arbitration:
Confidential, no public record
Limited exchange of documentation, information
Quick, don't have to wait for a court date
Arbitrators have expertise in the subject matter and are trained in conflict resolution
Cheaper than litigation
Preserves business relationships
Negatives of Arbitration
It's a compromise, no %100 winner
Complex arbitration can be costly
If not satisfied, may litigate the arbitration procedure
Poor results with an unskilled arbitrator
Both parties must agree to cooperate in the process
Mediation: the process by which parties submit their dispute to a neutral third party (the mediator) who works with the parties to reach a settlement of their dispute.
Benefits of Mediation:
Neutral mediator can objectively suggest alternatives not considered before
Parties are directly engaged in negotiating the settlement
Can be quicker than litigation
Less costly than litigation
Preserves business relationships
85% of American Arbitration Association cases mediated find
successful solutions
Negatives of Mediation
may not reach a binding decision
unskilled mediator
Litigation: using the judicial system to resolve disputes
Benefits of litigation:
a clear winner and loser
uses a prescribed set of procedures
more predictable outcomes
is final
Negatives of Litigation:
waiting for court dates can do more harm
usually more expensive than mediation and arbitration
part of the public record
