Need some Legal Advise,

PowerHouseDan

I took out a Loan in my name for my Gf last year, I put the car in my name but she has the car, Now she has been over in Uk for the past 3 months and i have paid the loan off as she was looking for work, There is Apprx 3800 outstanding on the Loan and i paid approx 500 euro, Now she hasn't made any contact with me in the past few weeks now obviously small claims court would be ideal but you can only claim 2k from that and how does her living in Uk effect me taking legal action?

Amazotheamazing

No offence, I'm sure you've worked out by now you shouldn't get a loan in your name for someone else.

You're going to struggle with this one imo, you need to talk to the bank about how to get your name of the loan. In this climate that's easier said than done.

2xj3hplqgsbkym

Sorry to say but I think you will have to write this off as a bad debt. If you want to pursue her for the money you will probabley pay more for a solicitor than you may/may not get back from your (ex?) GF.

Your best bet would be to try and sell the car a.s.a.p and pay off as much of the loan as possible. In the mean time get your solicitor to write to her in the hope that she will repay some of the loan. Good luck.

PowerHouseDan

Right thats what i thought with the money but what about getting the car back? as she currently has it but it is in my name? Would Small Claims court help me get that back?

Mena

PowerHouseDan wrote: »

Right thats what i thought with the money but what about getting the car back? as she currently has it but it is in my name? Would Small Claims court help me get that back?

Are you able to ask her to return it? At worst, and I mean as a last, last, last resort you could report it stolen.

IRISH RAIL

keeping away from legal advice lets look at some facts

You got a loan
You Bought a car
You girlfriend has it
You either want the car back or the money for it

Ok so the loan has to be paid back full stop
Go and get your car back
sell it and repay the loan
if you cant get the car back easaily go to the police bring registration documents etc ask them to help you recover a stolen car the uk police are very good with things like that.
You will have to go to england to do all this
was the car a gift or was it a loan these are things you will have to look at

servicecharge

The car is not stolen, she took it with your consent. You will need to prove that she no longer has rightful possession. You could get yourself in trouble with the police if you simply report it stolen.

Small claims court doesn't handle debts. You would need to do debt collection in the district court.

Sleipnir

You can't report it stolen.
You can't go to the small claims court to pursue someone who won't be there to argue their case. Even if a court found in favour of you, how would you get the money?

You need to find her and get the car.

servicecharge

"You can't go to the small claims court to pursue someone who won't be there to argue their case."

First you can't go to small claims, second, off course you can pursue someone that won't be there. It's called judgement in default of appearance.

TheNog

Sorry to hijack your thread a little but this is something I have come across before

A person leaves their car in to be fixed. The mechanic does the work but the car owner does not have the money to pay for the fix so the mechanic holds onto the car. Does this consititute unauthorised taking?

Tbh I cant see how. IMO it is a civil matter only so nothing to do with me. In both cases I have managed to talk the mechanic round to seeking advice from a solicitor etc. but just wondering is there anything I am missing.

Sleipnir

servicecharge wrote: »

First you can't go to small claims, second, off course you can pursue someone that won't be there. It's called judgement in default of appearance.

Sorry, I meant "there's no point pursuing someone through the courts if the GF is in the U.K. and ain't coming back."

If a judgement is made against OP's girlfriend in the courts, how does that help him get the money? It doesn't. The bank will still want their payments!

servicecharge

The Nog: depend a lot on T&Cs. But normally speaking the mechanic wouldn't have a right to hold on to the car. They can remove any parts they put in but that's about it. It wouldn't be unauthorised taking as consent was there in the first place.

If he gets judgment here he can enforce it through the English courts.

Sleipnir

servicecharge wrote: »

If he gets judgment here he can enforce it throught the English courts.

He can yeah! Get's a judgement here, then goes through the U.K. legal system to get a judgement against her there, applies for a mareva injunction and then after several years, he might, just might, get some money off her.
Cost of a mareva injunction? Well when I went to pursue someone two years ago, barrister told me it would cost in the region of €20,000!

Even if OP goes through the courts, his solicitor will need to serve papers on her. For that, they'll need to find her. If they find her OP can just go and get the car.

In the meantime, he'll still have been paying the loan and the car will have depreciated to far less than the value of the loan.

Going through the courts is not worth it at all.

Find girlfriend, get car.

servicecharge

I agree, find the girl get the car.

But if we are talking about the legal process: Why would he get a Mareva? Assuming you know her address, serve the papers, get judgment, get the judgment recognised in England, it does not need to be reheard (thanks EU) Send the baliff. You will be seeking payment of the debt, not the return of the car. That way you fix the value.

McCrack

TheNog wrote: »

Sorry to hijack your thread a little but this is something I have come across before

A person leaves their car in to be fixed. The mechanic does the work but the car owner does not have the money to pay for the fix so the mechanic holds onto the car. Does this consititute unauthorised taking?

Tbh I cant see how. IMO it is a civil matter only so nothing to do with me. In both cases I have managed to talk the mechanic round to seeking advice from a solicitor etc. but just wondering is there anything I am missing.

Youre absolutely right. It's not a criminal matter. It's not UT.

The mechanic has what's called a lien which is a right to hold property of another as security until the amount owing is paid in full. It's a common law right. Simiarly a solicitor can hold a client's file until the client discharges the fees or a dry cleaners can hold a suit until the customer pays their bill.

servicecharge

Are you sure McCrack? Surely a lien only applies to work done on the clients behalfs. The mechanic would only have a lien over spare parts put in by him. If i give a solicitor title deeds in relation to a litigation matter he is not entitled to hold a lien on the deeds, only the litigation file.

McCrack

servicecharge wrote: »

Are you sure McCrack? Surely a lien only applies to work done on the clients behalfs. The mechanic would only have a lien over spare parts put in by him. If i give a solicitor title deeds in relation to a litigation matter he is not entitled to hold a lien on the deeds, only the litigation file.

A mechanic has a lien on the car, he can hold the keys. A solicitors lien will not cover anything held on ATR which Deeds often are (but if they are not he is entitled to hold them) nor can he hold a lien over a will but they're the only exceptions as far as I'm aware.

servicecharge

My knowledge on liens is terrible. Thanks McCrack.

Victor

servicecharge wrote: »

Are you sure McCrack? Surely a lien only applies to work done on the clients behalfs.

Does that include the replacement oil in the engine?