Bank stole my car?

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

The truth often is harsh mate.

And NickyN I have one of my cars at a panel beater at the moment getting restored (at is home not in a workshop), and the panel beater is a mate who I have known for many moons, but guess what I check on the car at least weekly, even if I just drop in unexpectedly for a coffee on the way home from work, or after dropping the kids off at school in the morning.

He is a mate, but this keeps everyone honest, and he knows that I could drop in any time of the day or week to visit him and my car, and he never knows when as I do shift work...by the way what sort of mate is it if you can't drop in every now and then to catch up for a beer or coffee to check out your much loved Landau hiding under a tarp in the back yard.

I still hope the mystery gets solved, but my bet is on one of two options.
- mate sold or traded it for something.
- trust scrapped it as an abandoned vehicle.(by the way after 2 years it would be well and truly considered abandoned by anyones standard), general 2 weeks out of ergo and parked on a public street will have your car scrapped by the local council regardless of condition (I do realise this was not parked on the street, but could have ended up there somehow in the last 6 months)

A very remote possibility is that it actually got stolen by someone that seen it sitting there for ages.

Another thing to check is if there is any evidence that the car was moved recently, such as truck tyre marks where the car used to be, or the patch of no grass where the car sat, or has the grass already greened and grown back, and there are no recent tracks. If the car got moved in the last week or so there would be evidence of this happening in the back yard.

[NickyN]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

The truth often is harsh mate, I have one of my cars at a panel beater at the moment getting restored, and the panel beater is a mate who I have known for many moons, but guess what I check on the car at least weekly, even if I just drop in unexpectedly for a coffee on the way home from work, or after dropping the kids off at school in the morning.

He is a mate, but this keeps everyone honest, and he knows that I could drop in any time of the day or week to visit him and my car, and he never knows when as I do shift work...

I still hope the mystery gets solved, but my bet is on one of two options.
- mate sold or traded it for something.
- trust scrapped it as an abandoned vehicle.

A very remote possibility is that it actually got stolen by someone that seen it sitting there for ages.

Another thing to check is if there is any evidence that the car was moved recently, such as truck tyre marks where the car used to be, or the patch of no grass where the car sat, or has the grass already greened and grown back, and there are no recent tracks. If the car got moved in the last week or so there would be evidence of this happening in the back yard.

I agree with you there, stopping by b/c you're having work done on your car is a good idea, and it's exciting to see what's going on. It's twofold, since you get to see the progress of what's being done, and in your eyes, you are making sure that your mate knows you can and will pop in "whenever." Like checking up on him. But Landau Stable's situation is a bit different, he had his car stored at his mate's place. I'm sure he didn't forget his Landau was there. He asked about his car, got a response, and he trusted his mate. Why wouldn't he? He had no reason not to. That's my point. I hope he finds his Landau. I also hope he can restore it as planned, and based on what he is capable of doing, I have no doubt he will bring his baby back to life.

Your suggestion about checking the grass/ground where his Landau was is a very good idea. It'll show some evidence and time frame of when it was moved.

[ILLaViTaR]

Originally Posted by b0son

LOL. Nice try, but...

The bank havent actually done anything wrong here. The mate has done what a lot of people in his situation do, hoped it would all just go away. How much notice did he have that the house was to be reposessed? Its not like the bailiff just showed up out of the blue.

Any request for compensation needs to be directed at the mate (or the trustee of the house if they failed to inform the mate of proceedings). Even then, you'd need to demonstrate some sort of loss. At this stage, its just been a hassle.

So hypothetically if my mate didn't pay me back money he promised he would does that mean I'm allowed to go steal form his grandfather all the way over in England?

They have done something wrong. They've taken property off someone who has notihng to do with this, they're the one taking the items, it's their responsibility to make sure who owns what.

The bank have taken off someone who has nothing to do with this to reimburse themselves, if my car got stolen today, I wouldn't steal someone elses car to "even" my situation out.

Which is what the bank did, and it's not on the mate to reimburse him it's the banks as they took property that they had no right to take (the owner of the Landau had no debt to this bank). The bank will say take it up with the mate though, businesses play the ping pong game of trying to pass their responsibility onto someone else.

They failed to check ownership of the car when they took it, it's a mistake but it's theft.

What I think makes this theft is the bank now knows the car isn't owned by the person who is in debt to them yet won't rightfully return the car to him.
What right do they have to hold the car? It's ridiculous.

It's simple (No I'm not a lawyer but there is clear right and wrong here law or not). He has nothing to do with this, they know this now yet still won't give his car back, it was originally an accident/mistake which has now turned into theft.

If you don't want to call it theft then what is the proper definition for: Someone who incorrectly took someones property by mistake, but are now aware it doesn't belong to the person owing them yet still refuse to give it back?

They made a mistake but won't return property they now know they had no right taking. Hows that not theft? If I was in the banks position I'd be easily classed a thief, hell even if he owed me money and I took the car against his will to make up for it, I'd still be classed as a thief. And he doesn't even own this idiots anything, yet they're allowed to hold his car?

[Jim Goose]

They have done something wrong. They've taken property off someone who has notihng to do with this, they're the one taking the items, it's their responsibility to make sure who owns what.

YOu better re-read what the OP has said....
There is no evidence to say when the car was taken....
For all we know the car left the property 6 months ago....

Which is what the bank did, and it's not on the mate to reimburse him it's the banks as they took property that they had no right to take (the owner of the Landau had no debt to this bank). The bank will say take it up with the mate though, businesses play the ping pong game of trying to pass their responsibility onto someone else.

Wrong again, the property has been seized quite legally... with a court order.

They failed to check ownership of the car when they took it, it's a mistake but it's theft.

The car is on a property that has been legally repossed, it is also unregistered.
The agent would have given the tennant time to take property away, anything left after that time is then either held is storage, sold, crushed, etc... not sure on the time limit..

If you don't want to call it theft then what is the proper definition for: Someone who incorrectly took someones property by mistake, but are now aware it doesn't belong to the person owing them yet still refuse to give it back?

No where has the poster said the agent has posession of the car and is refusing to give it back.... you need to re-read whats been claimed.

They made a mistake but won't return property they now know they had no right taking. Hows that not theft? If I was in the banks position I'd be easily classed a thief, hell even if he owed me money and I took the car against his will to make up for it, I'd still be classed as a thief. And he doesn't even own this idiots anything, yet they're allowed to hold his car?

They have every legal right to take it.... and again there is no evidence to say when the car left the property as it hasnt been seen in 6months by the owner!
Read the posts.... There is no addmission of anything from anyone as he hasnt got in contact with anyone (the owner that is).

[pottery beige]

its time for straight answers.... 'i'm not gay'... doesnt count.....

[302 XC]

I gotta small truck in the mates back yard (fair dinkum)
Been there 5 years , i havent seen the mate , rang him,dropped in, emailed or no contact at all with him for 12 months
IF for some unforseen reason i popped in and the truck was gone , would i have only myself to blame ???

I think everyone is done with the knife throwing
You should have some answers come monday

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Another thing to check is if there is any evidence that the car was moved recently, such as truck tyre marks where the car used to be, or the patch of no grass where the car sat, or has the grass already greened and grown back, and there are no recent tracks. If the car got moved in the last week or so there would be evidence of this happening in the back yard.

That is probably the best bit of advice right here. That will tell you if the car was moved 6 days ago or 6 months ago.

ILLaViTaR,

If the bank took it, i'm sure they sought enough legal advice to ensure the seizure is legal. If the car is not registered and has been sitting unmoved for 2 years it would be legally owned by the trust. Unless there is a contract for storage and rent being paid.

[FPV+fteT3]

Its gone mate build a bridge..........
If you cant store the cars on your own property maybe you should not buy any more till you can be responsible for them yourself.
Bit silly having cars stored at other peoples places in disrepair for extended periods of time they will get sick of the shyte in their yard eventually I mean whats a fair amount of time to store a POS for someone who doesn't even call in to see how your going occasionally ...... six monthly visits...baaaah.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by Stefan

If the car is not registered and has been sitting unmoved for 2 years it would be legally owned by the trust. Unless there is a contract for storage and rent being paid.

That's so wrong I don't know where to start...

The way this story goes is that the "mate" has only recently been moved on - what possible right or contract can the trust have to the storage of the car for two years when the trust hasn't occupied the site? A tenant (or whatever he is) has been there so any mess regarding the car being there for two years is his mess and has nothing to do with the trust other than them clearing the block after moving him on.

I have a big garage and store some things for friends - friends that live interstate. One item is a cupboard that has some heirloom value to our friend but would be worthless to anyone else. A fact is that it is theirs, regardless of what anyone else says/thinks or dreams, it is theirs.

If my house was repo'd, I would cop the bank seizing it but sure as hell they would be told who owned it and it would go back to it's owner when it got sorted out.

Somehow I don't think the bank or trust are the bad guys here though - the "mate" sounds dodgey as hell.

[svo supporter]

Most seem to be pointing the finger at the mate. Why? It might be a neighbour that loaded it up, when the mate got evicted.

As for not seeing it for 6 months. Woopie doo. The OP obviously trusted this mate enough to store the car at the property to begin with. Did the Op have any reason not to trust him? I've got mates that I can trust with things. If they say the car or my wallet is safe there for the next 12 months, I believe them and know I can go back there in 12 months and it'll be exactly where I left it, in the condition I left it.

The good post was to check for signs it has been removed recently. Then you can decide which way to look.

[deesun]

What does the Trustee say about the car and it's whereabouts? Has there been any attempt to contact her?

[302 XC]

GTP,

If ya had such heirloom and you knew of bank foreclosure youd contact ya mate before the banks foreclosed

No point telling them after the fact
Do ya really think the banks would care whos cupboard it is
NO !!!

Same as storage fees at storage places,dont pay the money your goods are seized and sold on to pay back storage costs
The storage places dont care who or whats in storage , wether yours ,your dads,your uncles cousins brother its all seized and sold on
You do get notified of this,and has to be done buy the letter of the law

Im pritty sure with bank foreclosure the premises must be vacant
So who, what has control over any leftovers ???
To the banks it could possibly be shyte just left behind

[NickyN]

Originally Posted by svo supporter

Most seem to be pointing the finger at the mate. Why? It might be a neighbour that loaded it up, when the mate got evicted.

As for not seeing it for 6 months. Woopie doo. The OP obviously trusted this mate enough to store the car at the property to begin with. Did the Op have any reason not to trust him? I've got mates that I can trust with things. If they say the car or my wallet is safe there for the next 12 months, I believe them and know I can go back there in 12 months and it'll be exactly where I left it, in the condition I left it.

The good post was to check for signs it has been removed recently. Then you can decide which way to look.

My point exactly, thank you!

[99AUXR]

like someone said above go out to the mates house look around see what the grass is like and if there are any signs of a vehicle been brought in to move it out.

were all the vehicles on the premises taken?
did your mate have a car or bike or anything?
Was that taken?
Has he been selling stuff of his recently and run out of his possesions and used yours?

I also think someone could have taken it when you mate was gone. if he would have sold it previously he would evently have to make up a stry about it being stolen and he just got lucky and can use the eviction as an excuse instead.

Or maybe just someone had their eye on it for a while and saw your mate was gone. i would be checking neighbours back yards . . . at night

[NickyN]

In post #9 he mentions another vehicle....

[nstg8a]

lol, i have seen my ute once in the last two years, and not once since its been moved to its new storage location. i have to totally trust the family involved that its really where it is, and im not paying storage for nothing.

dont be so quick to judge.

[Yaw]

Geez Chill everyone....Next time OP can give us fresh info is Monday....Tommorow, I am sure he will update us when he knows more, or maybe just ask the mods to delete the thread. Everyone needs to stop pointing fingers, it is obviously just upsetting him more and to keep going at the poor guy is just unhelpful and frankly ...hurtful.

Just ease up guys.

[ebxr8240]

[notice]

ask a lawyer we have opinions/advice nothing really else then that we join this site due to loving fords not for or law degrees ( got mine out of a weetbix box doesn't count if you got yours out of fruit loops?!)

but going the lawyer side of ways is your only option due to this being a legal/law/bank thinking they can do what ever the **** they want scenario

i wish you all the luck seeing this happen to a mate of mine leaving his gt at a wrecker that belong to a mate it was in the premises with a whole two inches of it on council land and they seized it and crushed it.

[last fairlane]

Hi Ive read all the answers to Landaus problem
one thing that doesnt add up and I dont think its been mentioned yet
is the bit about having a trustee and making payments to the bank
and then the payments being rejected
was the mate paying the payments to someone else
who were then paying the bank?
or was he paying the payments in someone elses name?
that would explain the absence of repo letters
anyway good luck with your baby
John

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

No point getting a lawyer, no one seems to know where the car went at this stage or how long its been gone for.

A lawyer charges big $$$$ how much was the car worth, is it worth getting a lawyer involved that will charge $1000 for a days work?

And what will the lawyer do? i am pretty sure that the 5 barristers and 10 solicitors the bank has on retainer, would more than adequately be able to defend the matter in court at no cost to the bank, as they are already paying these people anyway, especially when there are no legal legs to stand on.

You are not dealing with Joe or Tom down the road, you are dealing with multi million $$$ organisations who do this for a living and who employ a fleet of highly payed legal staff to deal with these issues, and cover any loop holes, unless you got a spare half a million lying around to fight this matter in court forget about it.

People seem to blaming the bank, and I am pretty sure for the above mentioned reasons the bank will be the last one to blame in this matter. As they would have done it all by the book as they do this stuff daily. Its no more complicated to the bank than you depositing $20 into your account, its a simple transaction.

And i will say it again the bank would not have taken the car as an asset or as payment, if the bank has anything to do with it they would have moved the car as it is rubbish left behind, regardless of condition of vehicle is just an old abandoned car to them....not seen as something of value.

[Riksta]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

its time for straight answers.... 'i'm not gay'... doesnt count.....

[302 XC]

A lawyer/solicitor consultation fee is a few hundred and time limited
$300 for half hour or similar (some even ask $$$ up front with no guarantee of results)
They will only offer a guide as to what to do
Then the clocks starts tickin if u actually want them to act on your behalf

So a coupla K spent could end in nothin
But i think we are all jumpin the gun(or maybe helping for the worst)???

[RAREV8]

Originally Posted by Yaw

Geez Chill everyone....Next time OP can give us fresh info is Monday....Tommorow, I am sure he will update us when he knows more, or maybe just ask the mods to delete the thread. Everyone needs to stop pointing fingers, it is obviously just upsetting him more and to keep going at the poor guy is just unhelpful and frankly ...hurtful.

Just ease up guys.

Agreed. There are some pathologically stupid posts on here and many that are frankly totally non-constructive.

If you think (from your perfect existence) that the OP has neglected to look after his car/ sleep in it every night then you probably haven't been in this position before.
It is VERY common practice to store cars in locations other than your own garage- in fact, every time a car goes for resto it may be parked up, looking like crap in a garage, business, lockup, workshop etc and there is always an inherent risk, therefore a modicum of trust is needed too. In this case it has turned sour and the OP has simply come here asking for help which some people, thankfully have offered.

As was just said, the OP cannot do much until Monday so if you haven't anything constructive to post, why bother?

Landau Stable, if you sift through the crap here, there are some genuinely helpful comments and I hope the old girl turns up. Give me a yell if you need any help.

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by RAREV8

Agreed. There are some pathologically stupid posts on here and many that are frankly totally non-constructive.

If you think (from your perfect existence) that the OP has neglected to look after his car/ sleep in it every night then you probably haven't been in this position before.
It is VERY common practice to store cars in locations other than your own garage- in fact, every time a car goes for resto it may be parked up, looking like crap in a garage, business, lockup, workshop etc and there is always an inherent risk, therefore a modicum of trust is needed too. In this case it has turned sour and the OP has simply come here asking for help which some people, thankfully have offered.

As was just said, the OP cannot do much until Monday so if you haven't anything constructive to post, why bother?

Landau Stable, if you sift through the crap here, there are some genuinely helpful comments and I hope the old girl turns up. Give me a yell if you need any help.

just me but i would have had old mate under the blowtorch all weekend.....
straight up answers WTF happened to my car.......
who.. what.. how.. and when... very simple and very important info required.....

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

just me but i would have had old mate under the blowtorch all weekend.....
straight up answers WTF happened to my car.......
who.. what.. how.. and when... very simple and very important info required.....

I'm having visions of Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction.

[Cabbage]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

just me but i would have had old mate under the blowtorch all weekend.....
straight up answers WTF happened to my car.......
who.. what.. how.. and when... very simple and very important info required.....

And most importantly where?

Keep at it mate, keep digging. Just take a calm logical approach, don't jump to conclusions, just keep asking questions and you'll get to the bottom of it.

We could probably give him a hand and keep an eye out for Landau's and Landau parts for sale instead of bagging him and telling him its his fault.

[Landau Stable]

a big thank you to those who have been helpful and supportive. it is through your suggestions that i have been able to investigate different avenues and eliminate some of the theories. The bank has taken official possession, so i can't go up to the cars spot and check it up close for tracks, as i would be legally trespassing. all i can confirm is that the car is in fact gone. the tarp that was covering it, was seen by me laying on the ground where it used to be. as for tracks, i can't see that from the street, even with the binoculars. this is why i need the police to get involved so that someone can legally get on the property and check it out in closer detail. in the meantime, i am still chasing up other avenues which have been suggested. hopefully i can provide an update tomorrow

[Bucknaked]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

just me but i would have had old mate under the blowtorch all weekend.....
straight up answers WTF happened to my car.......
who.. what.. how.. and when... very simple and very important info required.....

P.S Where did you hide all the beer!!!!

[ThaFlash]

its sounds like a job for the a-team....

have you reconnoitered the location, and sat images from google earth?

post it up and we can formulate a plan.

bam barrum bam, bam bam bam, bam barum bam, bam burarabum....