ericmess

I forgot about the money I am paying to insure it...I don't feel like I am getting screwed if I keep all the money, but I do feel like I am getting screwed if I refund it.

J Berk

deduct your real expenses (insurance, storage, etc) and refund the rest. I have a feeling that there won't be much left of the $1000 after you do that.

IPSC

How good of friends with the fellow are you? You are really in between a rock and a hard place as it were.

In my case I ran up against someone who was dishonest. He lied about the refund being refundable and he lied about the condition of the car. You have done neither. The difficulty as I see it was not expressly getting the terms down before hand.

This ones a tough one, Good luck,

IPSC

BackInBlack

I really don't know why anyone selling a car would enter into this type of deal unless they felt they were getting something out of it (like a higher price than the car really commanded).

As you can see, there is a range of opinions. A "deposit" can mean a variety of things. Both you and the buyer were negligent in not documenting any terms. That's why I say split the difference. You both go away educated and only a bit stung.

86_951_

I could not disagree with the above statement anymore. The fact is that there is no paperwork and you have $1000 in hand. There's no way he can legally force you to give him the money back. I agree with the notion of deducting your real expenses from the $1000 and give him the rest back. To me, that's more than fair.

He's the one who did not protect himself by giving you $1000 for no legal reason.

My $.02.

ericmess

I entered into it because it was cash in hand right away "the deposit". To me that means the car is sold, because the person buying it wouldn't want to lose that deposit. It is just a longer way to go abouts things and the buyer seamed very solid.

ericmess

Its a friendship established around me selling the car to him. I didn't know him from before.

It is very tough because I was straight forward about the car. Apparently not straight forward enough about the deposit and what a deposit truely means. I never said it was refundable or not refundable initially. It was never asked. I don't like to point fingers and point blame...but i thought that a deposit was implied to be non-refundable unless otherwise stated, otherwise its existance would serve no purpose.

F18Rep

If I put up a deposit to buy something, there is not any way that I expect to see that money again. The buyer committed to the sale - with fundage. Game over.

philcav7

It's almost common knowledge that deposits given in good faith prior to an exchange of goods/services are non-refundable, unless their was a contingency stating terms of exiting the agreement. Without a written contract, legal decision would probably default to "what would a resaonable person do" and you would probably be keeping the money.


I would add up your storage expenses and discuss the situation with him, that way you both understand each others situation and can come to resolution.

I'm not sure how an emergency $12K dental procedure pops out of nowhere, perhaps....

944obscene

I'd feel mean keeping the money, but man... That was a deposit. You might want to ask him why he wants his deposit back, knowing what the word "deposit" means. See if there is anything he'd be willing to do in order to compensate you (tell friends at work about your car at least).

Rock

Oh yezzir!

If It were me- id be like uh dude sorry I spent it already. Maybe next time

944obscene

Ha, "Yeah, that was a deposit... I don't have it anymore. Tax season killed me and I just remembered that my daughter has a hefty dental bill."

philcav7

Or you can simply say...

"I don't have the money. I spent it on the storage unit and insurance. Let me call them and explain what's going on...maybe they will give me the money back so I may refund it to you".

Rock

or even more simple say.... I spent it on playboys and cocaine lines. Wtf is he gonna do?

IPSC

In my case, my failure was not getting the agreement on paper and notarized. Shame on me really. My seller misrepresented the condition and lied about the terms.

Like I said before this one is a tough one. Do ask him what his perception of the term "deposit" means. One bit of advice, keep the lines of communication open and whatever you decide let him know in writing as well as verbally.

Ohhh, and Rock, you really never know what some people will do...

IPSC