A customer brings their car in for repair, we repair the car, the customer gets the check for the repairs from their insurance company and then keeps the money for personal use. We have the car, but the “buy here-pay here” dealer is trying to get the court to order us to turn the car over to them even though the car is in the name of the owner. We’ve asked the dealer to pay us and they have refused to do so. What recourse do we have?
Asked by Otto Beatty, Robinson Body Shop, Columbus, Ohio.
The insurance company should have put the settlement check in the name of the customer and the finance company (or used car dealer), which would have prevented this from happening.
That not being the case, the shop has possession of the car, regardless of whose name it’s registered under. The encumbrance on the title will usurp any claim you may have, so the lender’s debt has priority. You should hold the car inside or within a gated compound so no one can just take it after hours. The customer and the money for the repair is probably a lost cause. He’s bad news by virtue of having to purchase a vehicle from that type of dealer (buy here-pay here). Once your storage rate exceeds the value of the car, you can use it for parts, but you’ll never get the title.
