My Lotus ownership is in PERIL, ADVICE PLZ

[Tracktimeplz]

Well, its official, I have THE WORST LUCK with cars. My last car(besides daily drivers) was a 1993 rx7. I forked over more than 50k for parts and labor to turn it into a 600hp supercar. Upgraded everything, from suspension, to interior, new paintjob with custom body. Problem was, everyone screwed me over. Long story much shorter, the car was tossed from shop to shop for 4 years until finally landing in the hands of a local guy doing the youtube famous "2jz S2000s"

The guy was a crook. He stripped my car, sold everything he could, and split town. Im left with a car thats scratched and dented after NEVER being driven since the new paintjob and out 50 grand.

Enter my Lotus purchase. This time, I wanted a car that already had the modifications I would want on it, so I found my car from a guy in Orlando with the Forcefed turbo, New wheels, Upgraded Clutch and flywheel, ect.

Well, he GETS BUSTED IN A TO CATCH A PREDATOR STYLE STING shortly after selling me the car. Now, he HAD NOT signed the power of attorney over yet, so my bank can not take possession of the title.

My bank calls the tag office and asks them what needs to be done when something like this happens. They state we have a bill of sale and I already have insurance on the vehicle and need to register the car. The lady at the tag office tells my bank that there is a "Law enforcement hold" on my title, but will not tell her anything else.

Sooooo, my bank sends a power of attorney to the prison hes at hoping that if we get that signed....it will clear the title and we can get it registered for me and everything will be fine, however, those law enforcement holds sometimes mean the want to impound the vehicle for evidence.

What the hell am I supposed to do now!

[RoadDad]

Get a bicycle?




That really s*cks. I'm sure that the lawyers at your bank will have the best chance of getting this taken care of for you as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I have no idea.

[lotusforsale]

Haven't you had this car since April?

[Chris Mackey]

Weird story. I'm glad they got the car in their photo.

[Exigest]

: You spent 50k on a 93' RX-7!

[yellowlotus]

i'd buy a toyota Yaris,and forget anything ever happened.
So let me get this straight-the guy was trying to get some pussy and you end up getting screwed.only in America.

[SIIK2NR]

Do more research....get a second opinion, do what ever it takes to be more thorough about your purchases and your decision making. Sounds like most of this could have been avoided. Including purchasing a heavily modded Lotus. $50K into an RX7 shows lack of judgement IMO.

[Tracktimeplz]

Originally Posted by SIIK2NR

Do more research....get a second opinion, do what ever it takes to be more thorough about your purchases and your decision making. Sounds like most of this could have been avoided. Including purchasing a heavily modded Lotus. $50K into an RX7 shows lack of judgement IMO.

1) **** you,

2) I was 19 when I spent that money on my rx7. I made alot of mistakes with that money, it was from my father passing away when I was 7 years old. Medical malpractice, I will leave it at that.

3) What does purchasing a modded lotus have to do with anything? Ive had bad luck paying people to do car work for me, so I wanted one FINISHED.

Dont bother responding on my thread again. After what ive been through I dont need dicks like you around.


To the others, Yes I have had the car since April. He never signed and returned the power of attorney to my bank. They sent him 3 of them, only to hear nothing back. Then, his phone was cut off and they started doing some research. It just so-happens that my bank(Credit union) is the one thats set up for all of law enforcement and firefighters in the area. They found out about his legal issues.

The guy was an engineer at Lockhead, I researched him and even read EVERY one of his forum posts here. He was an enthusiast, he did everything right with the car, thats why I bought this one.

Oh, and I drove many cars before settling on that rx7, the rx7 THOROUGHLY impressed me, I chose it because it was rare and had unlimited performance potential.

A lawyer friend of mine figures if the title is held by the state, then my sale is null. Meaning HIS bank would have to buy the car back from my bank. This sound right to any of you?

[doug_porsche]

Man, I hope this has a happy ending. I think your biggest ally is the bank.

I am pulling for ya.

[fishguy]

.

[smoseley]

Originally Posted by SIIK2NR

Do more research....get a second opinion, do what ever it takes to be more thorough about your purchases and your decision making. Sounds like most of this could have been avoided. Including purchasing a heavily modded Lotus. $50K into an RX7 shows lack of judgement IMO.

Dude, you better not believe in karma!

[m4mica]

Originally Posted by Tracktimeplz

My bank calls the tag office and asks them what needs to be done when something like this happens. They state we have a bill of sale and I already have insurance on the vehicle and need to register the car. The lady at the tag office tells my bank that there is a "Law enforcement hold" on my title, but will not tell her anything else.

Globally, my best advice would be for YOU to start becoming a pain in the rear at the tag office. Realistically, the person at the bank only cares about this issue just so much. You've signed their paperwork and are on the hook for the $. Whether you get a title or not doesn't change that fact. Similarly, I'm sure the person at the tag office is not the world's biggest go getter. I'd go to the DMV (or wherever it is in FL) in person and ask to talk to a manager to explain the situation. No result, ask for their manager. Once you find out what a 'law enforcement hold' is find out who there (police?) you can talk to. And so on, and so on, and so on.

Seriously, I'm not trying to be condescending at all. This situation really sucks for you. I just know that in situations like this there is no one better than YOU in pushing this through. You have the most invested (literally and figuratively) in this. You don't need to be a dick, but you do need to be persistent and not take 'no' for an answer. Someone, somewhere has a solution to this. But I can pretty much guarantee they won't find you, you need to find them.

Best of luck.

And BTW that generation RX7 was an AWESOME car. Very Lotus-like. I imagine with some mods, especially to the turbo timing, that would have been a real beast.

[m4mica]

One more thought, I imagine Mr. Pedophile is not having a particularly great time behind bars and unlikely to be answering mail. That being said, he obviously has an attorney who he likely speaks to regularly. You might try to track the attorney down, explain the situation and see if he can get it resolved. You have a better chance getting the guy to sign the title if the attorney hands him the paper then it just showing up in the mailroom. Heck, the attorney himself may have been granted power of attorney specifically to deal with this guy's credit, finances, etc. and may be able to execute it himself.

Again, good luck.

[SIIK2NR]

"Dont bother responding on my thread again. After what ive been through I dont need dicks like you around."


Quit feeling sorry for yourself. My advise was meant in sincerity. There is nothing wrong with having someone give you a second opinion on decisions that could be big ones.

Your lack of judgement I stated was "My opinion". Your ordeal with your $50K modding failure went on for 4+ years. Which I felt was 3 years too long.

I was only making the point that your wounds seem to be self inflicted and that you could avoid a lot of future miss steps by seeking advise from those with more experience.

If you fail to see the logic in that... than you will continue to be in the middle of what seems to be everyone elses fault but your own. Not saying that the two previous episodes were your fault but you should at least be aware that you have admitted that you seem to have bad luck. Coincidence?.....maybe.

Tim

[xxxotic]

Did the credit union finance the loan and give you a check to pay him?
If so they are on the hook, since they should have made sure that they had the signed power of attorney form and they should have checked to make sure that their were no liens on the title BEFORE giving the check for the loan.

You should call them and tell them that they screwed up and since they failed to get the POA form so that the title could be put in your name with them as lienholder, that they are liable and not you.

Someone there messed up and they shouldn't have done the loan until they had all the paperwork.

I dont know if it is too late to put a stop payment on the check that they gave him, but I think the State of FL requires either that all the paperwork for the title be send in within 30 days of the purchase or that they have to send the title to you in 30 days, cant remember which one it is.. The credit union should be able to see if the state put a lien on the title by checking with the local tax accessors office. I work for a credit union and I know that we have something set up where we call a number and give them the VIN and they fax us back a copy of the title and it shows any lien info.

Why would the state put a law enforcement hold on the title anyway? Do they take your car if you get busted picking up kids in it? If you have the paperwork showing that you purchased the car before the sting occurred, then maybe you could use this to show that you were the owner of the vehicle , not the pervert.

[ZTEC]

I have never seen this car in Orlando and it appears he must have Internet in prison! His Myspace page has been logged into today !

MySpace.com - Jordan - 28 - Male - ORLANDO, FLORIDA - www.myspace.com/orlando_bmw_fan
Good luck!

[jhnmdahl]

Originally Posted by SIIK2NR

"Dont bother responding on my thread again. After what ive been through I dont need dicks like you around."


Quit feeling sorry for yourself. My advise was meant in sincerity. There is nothing wrong with having someone give you a second opinion on decisions that could be big ones.

Your lack of judgement I stated was "My opinion". Your ordeal with your $50K modding failure went on for 4+ years. Which I felt was 3 years too long.

I was only making the point that your wounds seem to be self inflicted and that you could avoid a lot of future miss steps by seeking advise from those with more experience.

If you fail to see the logic in that... than you will continue to be in the middle of what seems to be everyone elses fault but your own. Not saying that the two previous episodes were your fault but you should at least be aware that you have admitted that you seem to have bad luck. Coincidence?.....maybe.

Tim

I went through a period where I'd usually seek out the cheapest possible price on things, and was too often disappointed by the results. Experience leads to better judgment...

[Tracktimeplz]

Originally Posted by jhnmdahl

I went through a period where I'd usually seek out the cheapest possible price on things, and was too often disappointed by the results. Experience leads to better judgment...

Unfortunately I did learn the hard way.


Thanks for the responses and support. Ill contact my bank tomorrow and suggest to them about contacting his attorney, or even a possible family member who may have power of attorney for him. They did talk with the prison where he is incarcerated and they said getting the POA to him wouldnt be a problem, but that the prison mail system is slow due to inspection. Its been two weeks since they called them and mailed one there, nothing yet.

Thanks again guys, keep ideas coming if you will. I will update tomorrow afternoon.

[Tracktimeplz]

Originally Posted by ZTEC

I have never seen this car in Orlando and it appears he must have Internet in prison! His Myspace page has been logged into today !

MySpace.com - Jordan - 28 - Male - ORLANDO, FLORIDA - www.myspace.com/orlando_bmw_fan
Good luck!

oh and his last login was 7/21 2007 heh

[JoshS]

Originally Posted by m4mica

One more thought, I imagine Mr. Pedophile is not having a particularly great time behind bars and unlikely to be answering mail. That being said, he obviously has an attorney who he likely speaks to regularly. You might try to track the attorney down, explain the situation and see if he can get it resolved. You have a better chance getting the guy to sign the title if the attorney hands him the paper then it just showing up in the mailroom. Heck, the attorney himself may have been granted power of attorney specifically to deal with this guy's credit, finances, etc. and may be able to execute it himself.

Again, good luck.

Great advice. Tell his attorney you'd be willing to offer up a bone. Another 2 or 3 hunderd to get his signature. He's not making any money in prison, and it's gonna cost you more then that if he doesn't sign.