Super User grimlin Posted January 1, 2011 Super User Posted January 1, 2011 My buddy just had a police raid at his house. Short story short,they found a dirt bike he brought off some guy on craigslist stolen.He didn't know it was stolen. So they took his bike and hauled it off. Not sure the whole story but the bike was stolen back in 09' twice by the original owner. My buddy contacted the original owner and she told him he can have the bike if the police will let it out of impound. I'm guessing he's going to go with the original owner and paid the impound fee and take it back home. He has 7 other bikes which were not stolen all brought the same way..through Craigslist. I guess he's done with Craigslist for awhile now,he doesn't want anymore Swat raids. They thought he was running a chop shop i guess. So beware if you are buying anything off Craigslist without paperwork.Hard lesson learned for him. The cops didn't believe him at all. Quote
tyrius. Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 I always thought that if you purchase something thinkin that it was legit that it was yours. If he paid fair market value then it should be his. We covered this in our bus law classes. I'm not going to get into the militarization of the police and I won't wonder why they needed to roll a SWAT team. Quote
Super User grimlin Posted January 1, 2011 Author Super User Posted January 1, 2011 I was always told if it was a stolen goods,rather you paid for it or not,not knowing it was stolen you are still liable to get in trouble. This guy loves buying and fixing anything motor related.The neighbors "suspected" he was running a chop shop.His house looks a little like a junk yard you could say sometimes. So neighbors don't like him. They(Dallas police) checked every car,truck,dirt bike and four wheeler he had and only one showed up stolen.Told the cops exactly where he brought it from and who the person was. Cops called him a "liar". Hauled the bike off and they all left. He's talking about getting a lawyer now. :-/ Quote
Hamby Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 Ha ha he legally owns that many, but one of them was stolen. He's also able to give the name of the person he got it from. Cops come to a conclusion that he is running a chop shop. Wow. Must have some nutty neighbors who made some large assumptions. Quote
Super User Fishing Rhino Posted January 1, 2011 Super User Posted January 1, 2011 It doesn't matter that he paid the going price for the item. If it's stolen, it goes back to the legal owner. The thief who stole it did not own it at the time of sale. He had no legal right to "sell" it at any price. Do you think the owner of the property loses his right to that property just because it gets sold to another for the going price? All that paying the going price for an item does for the purchaser of stolen merchadise does is help to get him off the hook for buying stolen merchandise. Paying significantly less than the going price for stolen merchandise makes the buyer complicit. Quote
Waterford Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 I am not sure what your friend would need a lawyer for. He should have been given a copy of the search warrant detailing the probable cause for the raid. If he wants to get a lawyer because the police calling and assuming he is a liar tell him to save his money. Buying something used like that is a huge risk. Your friend is lucky he didn't get charged with possession of stolen merchandise or something similar. Quote
BassChaser57 Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 I ALWAYS get a bill of sale on everything even if I have to write it on a napkin. I am amazed how many times that has saved me from some kind of aggravation. If you want to go wow -- just start listing all the militias the Government has to chase us down and question us. 1. Natl Guard 2. U.S. Marshals 3. Customs 4. Border Patrol 5. DEA 6. ATF 7. FBI 8. CIA 9. Just Keep Going -- it is almost scary. Question of the day --Why did the State Highway Patrol become Troopers? That has a COMPLETELY different meaning. Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 1, 2011 Super User Posted January 1, 2011 There should be a bill of sale and also he should be in possession of the title. The title will name the owner and it who it legally passes to, not to mention if there is a lien holder. I think there are more facts to this story which have yet to be revealed. Quote
northern basser Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 Fishing Rhino is right. It goes to the owner. Your buddy would get in trouble if they can prove he new it was stolen when he bought it. It sucks when the cops jump to conclusions about about a person because he accidentally got his hands on something stolen. Some people are wary of Ebay, but Craigs List is by FAR more risky. Its hard to trust anything on that site. Quote
Super User Redlinerobert Posted January 1, 2011 Super User Posted January 1, 2011 Makes me wonder about some of the 'deals' I've gotten on Ebay. Like a brand new Steez reel for $250. No box, just the reel.... Quote
Super User grimlin Posted January 1, 2011 Author Super User Posted January 1, 2011 It doesn't matter that he paid the going price for the item. If it's stolen, it goes back to the legal owner. The thief who stole it did not own it at the time of sale. He had no legal right to "sell" it at any price. Do you think the owner of the property loses his right to that property just because it gets sold to another for the going price? All that paying the going price for an item does for the purchaser of stolen merchadise does is help to get him off the hook for buying stolen merchandise. Paying significantly less than the going price for stolen merchandise makes the buyer complicit. He is currently in contact with the owner who had it stolen.Owner said he can have it now.Come to find out it was stolen over 7 years ago now.Right now it's all legal mumbo jumbo with the insurance company.I'm guessing the original owner got paid or compensated for the bike.So they don't want it anymore since it's been replaced with new bikes. He's getting somewhat lucky with the original owners,Nice people he said and quite understanding of this whole mess. Quote
northern basser Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 Makes me wonder about some of the 'deals' I've gotten on Ebay. Like a brand new Steez reel for $250. No box, just the reel.... That might be one of the reasons that stuff w/ a box and paperwork tends to bring more $. Quote
Stasher1 Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 He is currently in contact with the owner who had it stolen.Owner said he can have it now.Come to find out it was stolen over 7 years ago now.Right now it's all legal mumbo jumbo with the insurance company.I'm guessing the original owner got paid or compensated for the bike.So they don't want it anymore since it's been replaced with new bikes. He's getting somewhat lucky with the original owners,Nice people he said and quite understanding of this whole mess. If that's the case, it seems to me that the bike actually belongs to the insurance company, not the previous owner. Quote
Super User Grey Wolf Posted January 1, 2011 Super User Posted January 1, 2011 He is currently in contact with the owner who had it stolen.Owner said he can have it now.Come to find out it was stolen over 7 years ago now.Right now it's all legal mumbo jumbo with the insurance company.I'm guessing the original owner got paid or compensated for the bike.So they don't want it anymore since it's been replaced with new bikes. He's getting somewhat lucky with the original owners,Nice people he said and quite understanding of this whole mess. If that's the case, it seems to me that the bike actually belongs to the insurance company, not the previous owner. I believe your thinking is correct. Quote
Super User Dan: Posted January 1, 2011 Super User Posted January 1, 2011 There should be a bill of sale and also he should be in possession of the title. The title will name the owner and it who it legally passes to, not to mention if there is a lien holder. I think there are more facts to this story which have yet to be revealed. Yeah, isn't a motorbike required to be registered/titled like a car or boat? Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 2, 2011 Super User Posted January 2, 2011 There should be a bill of sale and also he should be in possession of the title. The title will name the owner and it who it legally passes to, not to mention if there is a lien holder. I think there are more facts to this story which have yet to be revealed. Yeah, isn't a motorbike required to be registered/titled like a car or boat? Absolutely ! Title tells the story, the bill of sale is only important for purposes of paying the state sales tax, it does not prove ownership like the title does. Having a bill of sale doesn't mean that the property isn't stolen and if that is the case the buyer may be as guilty as the seller. If memory serves me correct, every vehicle I have sold privately, the titled passed hands at the time of the sale, or very shortly after. Quote
Super User Fishing Rhino Posted January 2, 2011 Super User Posted January 2, 2011 There should be a bill of sale and also he should be in possession of the title. The title will name the owner and it who it legally passes to, not to mention if there is a lien holder. I think there are more facts to this story which have yet to be revealed. Yeah, isn't a motorbike required to be registered/titled like a car or boat? Absolutely ! Title tells the story, the bill of sale is only important for purposes of paying the state sales tax, it does not prove ownership like the title does. Having a bill of sale doesn't mean that the property isn't stolen and if that is the case the buyer may be as guilty as the seller. If memory serves me correct, every vehicle I have sold privately, the titled passed hands at the time of the sale, or very shortly after. Here's an interesting quirk in Massachusetts law. When registering a boat, you must have a title with lienholders, if any, in order to register it. Outboard motors however are not titled. The boat is, the trailer is, but not the motor. Makes no sense to me since the value of a motor, in most cases, exceeds the value of the trailer, and quite often, the value of the boat. I went through this last year. I tried to get a title from MA for the motor. I had all the info that I owned it free and clear, and was told the state does not title outboards. Another quirk from this goofy state is that the trailer is registered by the DMV and the boat by an arm of the department of natural resourses. Register the trailer, and the dmv will take a personal check. Register the boat and the other state agency will not take a check. Go figure. Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 2, 2011 Super User Posted January 2, 2011 Tom, you're right about the value of the motor compared to the boat but I think understand the reasoning. An outboard is not part of the boat, it can be swapped for another at any given time. Not all boats even require a motor, many are rowed, so I think this is a blanket requirement that covers all watercraft. Do you have a separate title for the engine in you car? True you car can't move on it's power without one, but again a different engine can be put in. Quote
Super User Fishing Rhino Posted January 2, 2011 Super User Posted January 2, 2011 Tom, you're right about the value of the motor compared to the boat but I think understand the reasoning. An outboard is not part of the boat, it can be swapped for another at any given time. Not all boats even require a motor, many are rowed, so I think this is a blanket requirement that covers all watercraft. Do you have a separate title for the engine in you car? True you car can't move on it's power without one, but again a different engine can be put in. No, but there is an ID number on the engine that is linked to the VIN of the vehicle. Not so with boats. Quote
GLADES Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 The issue with outboard motors can get murky, especially with older motors that have had the power head replaced. A separate bill of sale with the motor serial number should suffice. I personally would not use craigslist for anything over 100.00 There are some amazing deals on there, but buyer beware. I bought a child seat for my bicycle off of CL for $10. It was in excellent shape but missing a piece of the mounting bracket. I could not use it until I fabricated a new one at my employers machine shop. Works great. Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 2, 2011 Super User Posted January 2, 2011 No, but there is an ID number on the engine that is linked to the VIN of the vehicle. Not so with boats I've replaced many engines, never once was additional paperwork have to filed with any state agency, maybe Massachusetts is different than Michigan. Quote
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