Legal Advice Needed Please

[D-limo]

Firstly this situation is serious and I'm looking for sound advice from someone with a legal background, or advice from someone who has been through a similar experience. KEEP THIS ON TOPIC. NO SPAM PLEASE

My mate imported a car under the 15 year rule with some serious mods. Was not running correctly when he took delivery of said car. It is also uncomplied. He enlisted a local workshop to try and fix the problem, which lead to an aftermarket cpu to be installed. As it turns out my mate lost his job and was unable to pay the amount owed to the workshop.

At this point he was told he was not getting the keys back until the money was paid. After 2 months of the car sitting in the workshop and my mate paying a small amount of the debt off, the workshop informed him that the car would be placed in a storage shed where my mate would have to pay the rent of the shed ON TOP of what was owed.

The car has sat dormant in this shed for over 3 months now. Which results in my mate apparently owing a large amount of money. Which he obviously doesn’t have. The workshop has also threatened to sell the car under him!

My mate really doesn’t have a clue what to do. Any experienced advice is GREATLY appreciated.

Cheers,

Jarryd

Edited May 20, 2006 by Drift_Limo

[danielson]

Firstly this situation is serious and I'm looking for sound advice from someone with a legal background, or advice from someone who has been through a similar experience. KEEP THIS ON TOPIC. NO SPAM PLEASE

My mate imported a car under the 15 year rule with some serious mods. Was not running correctly when he took delivery of said car. It is also uncomplied. He enlisted a local workshop to try and fix the problem, which lead to an aftermarket cpu to be installed. As it turns out my mate lost his job and was unable to pay the amount owed to the workshop.

At this point he was told he was not getting the keys back until the money was paid. After 2 months of the car sitting in the workshop and my mate paying a small amount of the debt off, the workshop informed him that the car would be placed in a storage shed where my mate would have to pay the rent of the shed ON TOP of what was owed.

The car has sat dormant in this shed for over 3 months now. Which results in my mate apparently owing a large amount of money. Which he obviously doesn’t have. The workshop has also threatened to sell the car under him!

My mate really doesn’t have a clue what to do. Any experienced advice is GREATLY appreciated.

Cheers,

Jarryd

GO STEAL THE f**kER BACK!!!!!!!

[D-limo]

Yeah this is the only solution we have come up with.. The location of the shed is unknown. 1+1= why this thread was created.

On topic please. Is there a free leagal service or the like for these situations? He is flat broke without a clue what to do.

[skyline33]

Normally with workshops, they have a policy of no money no car. which is fair. cause as a workshop owner you will be surprised how many people fix their cars then you give them the car and say they will come tomorrow to pay up and never show up.

[SteveL]

GO STEAL THE f**kER BACK!!!!!!!

Great help , might as well add break and enter to the list of problems.

I'm not even in Qld and it took me about 5 secs to find this:

http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/OFT/OFTW...BA?OpenDocument

"Before committing to having the car repaired check the terms of payment. If you are unable to pay and haven't come to any financial arrangement, the repairer has the legal right to keep your car until you can pay. This is called a "Possessory Lien". In some cases the repairer can also charge a storage fee."

It will depend on what the 'financial arrangment' your friend has with the repairer. You friend might qualify for free legal aid given his circumstances so suggest talking to the fair trading department as well as look at some of the available legal services.

Edited May 20, 2006 by SteveL

[Iron Chef]

Good research SteveL.

Here in SA, I've heard of cases where Possesory Lien doesn't apply, the customer has got their car back, and the repairer has then had to take legal action to recover money owed, but I think what's written there is pretty black and white.

You need to consult the Office of Fair Trading, but until the money's paid, your mate's got very little chance of getting his car back.

[D-limo]

Awesome help fellas.. I will pass on all this info ASAP. The next question will be if the workshop is in their right to sell the car to pay off the debt.

[some_cs_student]

Legalaid exists in Victoria, but I'm unsure under what circumstances they are allowed to assist you.

They have a number of restrictions on what they can do.

So try the QLD website:

http://www.legalaid.qld.gov.au/

[Duncan]

not trying to make things worse than they already are.....but why did he get the work done if he couldn't pay for it? If he can't afford the cost to get it on the road I'm sure he can't afford to run or insure it either?

And why should a workshop be out of pocket for work they did in good faith?

[Al]

In Victoria, the w/shop has every right to sell the car when the owner has failed to pay the costs of the repair, after 3 months. To do this they need to publish a "warning of sale" in a major newspaper. If the car sales for more than the owed money they have to deposit that into a new account and the "owner" has a right to claim it. But the w/shop has every right to sell the car for $3000 if they like.

From what you have written, the w/shop has completed all their requirements and are in the right. Even if the car was left in the w/shop they have a right to charge a "storage" fee.

[D-limo]

As it turns out my mate lost his job and was unable to pay the amount owed to the workshop.

And subsequent storage fee's have made it that much harder for him. Understand where you are coming from though. Also the hourly rate he was verbally quoted was about 2/3 of what he was charged.

[Duncan]

yeah that sucks....and I suspect you could negotiate the original rate for labour again....I am sure they don't want to go thru the trouble of selling the car and would rather have a quick resolution too

[Beer Baron]

my advice is for him to try and borrow the money from somewhere and pay the debt to get the car back asap as the longer this drags on the more the costs will mount.

[noise]

why not just tell your mate to sell the car, pay off the workshop and be done with it with some cash in your pocket and a lesson learned?

Or go down there with a couple of mates and make it quite clear that if the keys are not returned, their faces and their property will be destroyed.

I favour option one

Edited May 22, 2006 by noise

[VB-]

im with beer baron on this one, get all your mates to scrape together the money and pay it off asap, then let your mate pay you all back wen he can. what the workshop is doing is perfectly legal, theres nothing you can do, or very little anyway. do it before they sell the car, or maybe talk to the shop owner, plead with him to pull it out of storage.

edit - i know ppl that own workshops, performance workshops, and they get f*cked around like this all the time, granted, i would think about the whole violence thing too, but seriously, thats jsut stupid. i believe your mate did lose his job, and i feel sorry for him, but put yourself in the workshop owners position, how many good honest ppl do u think went there then lost there jobs n sh*t like that. last workshop owner i spoke too had many years of kung fu experience, and you woulda never guessed it, being a typical auddie bloke, hes caught many ppl off guard with that. if you do anything stupid, be prepared to get whats coming to you.

edit2: i know driftlimo has made no indication of goin down that route, its more about what other ppl have said. this is not a personal attack on anyone here, just what i've found from my very limited experience in life

Edited May 22, 2006 by VB-

[sigsputnik]

i agree with noise - it really doesn't sound like he could handle the sudden costs that owning a modified car can bring. Also, I'd never counsel someone to go into debt over a depreciating asset, so borrowing the money, to my mind, would be a bad idea.

I think sell the car, pay the workshop, learn the lesson, get on with life debt-free and still with the ability to get back into the import scene at a later date.

My 2c.

[D-limo]

Trust me when I say in the last 5 months or so he has tried every avenue to get the money together, to the point of enlisting in the defencnce force for an easy loan (He had completed periminary testing a while back). His final is in the next month or so.

Yeah he should of had the cash waiting before he had the work carried out. Lesson learned I'm sure. But hey, everyone was young and stupid at one time lol.

Cheers for the input people.

[sigsputnik]

the other thing i should have mentioned is that there will come a time when a modified car will not be uppermost in his mind. When the time comes for him to settle down and buy a house, he won't want this awful black mark on his credit history. if he sells up, maybe he can patch things up with the workshop before things get ugly! good luck mate.

[Sydneykid]

I am assuming he is on unemployment benefits

Work out how much he can pay back each fortnight

Even if its $20 it's better than nothing

Talk to the workshop owner and explain the situation

Offer to pay the bill off a fixed amount every fortnight

Offer to sweep the floor, clean the toilets, get the lunches whatever it takes

Make sure he goes there personally and hands over the cash

Let them know when he is on the job hunt

That he is trying to get a job and pay off his debt faster

cheers

[satanic]

I like SK's solution... it shows the workshop owner that you are not trying to start trouble, nor trying to be a smartass about it - you just want to get your car back, settle the account and be off.

Provided he offers this "service" in a friendly and tame manner, and provided that the workshop are full of decent people - I see no problem with this arrangement.