Buyer has paid finance off but disappeared

[kevinpiper]

Confused person in need of advice here

I agreed to sell my car to someone (without viewing) and he has proceeded to pay off my finance. I have confirmation that the finance is cleared however i have not heard from the chap since (this was 8 days ago). I have sent him 4 or 5 text messages asking when he would be free to complete the deal but been met with silence. I don't know how to proceed at the moment other than wait until he contacts me.

Has anyone experienced this before and if so what happened?

I am probably getting ahead of myself here but what if he never shows up, what are the legal implications of him paying off my finance (approx £15k). How long do i have to legally wait until i am entitled to sell the car again?

Or, what if he is unable to complete the deal (still has to pay approx £7k in cash), is he entitled to a refund from me or is the payment effectively a non refundable deposit?

Any help would be massively appreciated even if it is to tell me to wait a little longer (he could be on holiday!)

Cheers

[Jakarta]

Sounds like he's dead. If he isn't, go and hammer frozen sausages in his lawn till he gives you more free money.

[Slyjoe]

Seconded, I reckon he's dropped dead. But, seriously I'd wait at least 6 months myself.

[Grandad7184]

3 post including mine on the day shift. is there some stty RWD v FWD argument going on somewhere???

[oilslick]

Phone him and ask him?

[kmpowell]

Wait a little longer (he could be on holiday!).

HTH

[Terminator X]

So you've been "paid" £15k and want to know how long to wait until you can sell it for a 2nd time

TX.

[Matttracker]

There's no replies as no one has a clue, I doubt anyone has been in this situation before !!

[P-Jay]

That's an odd one!

Something might have happened, he might have been hit by a bus, or his wife / kid is seriously ill and he's got better things on his mind - any number of things, or he might have jumped the gun a bit, paid £15k he has, before he gets the rest of local unknown - he might have been let down by a buyer or something - not contacting you is odd though.

Personally I'd give him a week or two to reappear before I re-advertised it, if/when it sells you'll have to hold onto the £15k for at least 6 months - you wont have a leg to stand on if he takes you to court.

[Hammerhead]

Secret millionaire?

[Matthen]

Matttracker said:

There's no replies as no one has a clue, I doubt anyone has been in this situation before !!

I remember a thread which was the same sort of scenario - don't think there was ever a conclusion though. Think the buyer was abroad or something.

[Jasandjules]

Have you actually telephoned rather than just texted?

[GregK2]

Tried calling?

Edit* beaten to it

[eltax91]

Wait a bit longer, enjoying your payment holiday. Then in a few weeks, readvertise the car and keep £15k back to recompense him when he finally shows up.

[kevinpiper]

Thanks for the feedback although my sausages are not frozen and therefore difficult to hammer into his lawn. very messy.

I have tried calling, just rings and rings. I'll give him another week, as you say may have family problems to resolve, then i'll re-advertise it. If someone else comes along, i'll refund him his money.

in the mean time would it be fair the rag the car silly?

[ging84]

Guy paid £15k to a finance company without even viewing the car
sound very much like a scam, be very careful what you do now

I suspect he paid with a stolen check or some other fraudulent method and is waiting now to see if it gets discovered before completing

The interesting thing here would be who ends up being scammed, you or the finance company, i guess they still could have a claim on the car, which would effect the current owner, so perhaps the scam is to temporarily clear the finance, so they can sell it to someone else before it all catches up

[SydneyBridge]

Do you have his address? Google his name and home town, try and find him on facebook/twitter
Your finance company should pay the money back to him if there is an issue

[kevinpiper]

The finance company have clarified with me that the money has cleared, he paid via chaps. I have a letter stating that nothing is owing and my direct debit has been stopped by the finance company.

All a bit strange but appears above board.

I'll give him some time. annoying but hey, i'm not paying any finance charges now! Every cloud and all that.

[surveyor]

kevinpiper said:

The finance company have clarified with me that the money has cleared, he paid via chaps. I have a letter stating that nothing is owing and my direct debit has been stopped by the finance company.

All a bit strange but appears above board.

I'll give him some time. annoying but hey, i'm not paying any finance charges now! Every cloud and all that.

I think I would speak to someone higher up in the finance company. This is not normal behavior, and I am sure somehow this would come back to you, although you'd have had to release the car to have any loss I suppose.

It's odd.

[eltax91]

ging84 said:

Guy paid £15k to a finance company without even viewing the car
sound very much like a scam, be very careful what you do now

I suspect he paid with a stolen check or some other fraudulent method and is waiting now to see if it gets discovered before completing

The interesting thing here would be who ends up being scammed, you or the finance company, i guess they still could have a claim on the car, which would effect the current owner, so perhaps the scam is to temporarily clear the finance, so they can sell it to someone else before it all catches up

If it is a scam, it's a stupid one as the guy still pays of £7k to collect the car from the OP. Criminals don't do that, if they can't blag the whole lot out of you, then they move onto the next sap from whom they can!

My vote is on family trouble/ death.