Expert: Timmy Chou - 2/9/2008

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