I bought a used 5th wheel from an acquaintance about a month ago. I trust the guy, but the situation has become complicated. He has a lien on the vehicle - I paid him with a cashier's check, and he in turn mailed a cashier's check to the lien holder (he owed more than we paid for it). The problem is he mailed it certified 2nd day air and the post office lost it!!! His bank is making him wait 90 days before they will reissue the check. So, even with a bill of sale, he technically still owns it, and I can't register it. We were planning to start traveling full time within the next few weeks. The seller knows this and offered to register the RV and keep insurance on it so our plans aren't delayed. My wife thinks that's a bad idea and isn't comfortable doing that - she believes the only real option is to delay our travels until we can register the RV ourselves. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.

Certified second day air and the post office LOST it? BULL. I say 2 things....delay and get it straightened out. Number 2 ......his story is BS and it isn't lost. Sorry but that's my vote. let us know how it turns out. Hope it works out for you.

I smell a rat. The bank would cancel, and reissue a check immediately. Have you checked with the post office? The whole story sounds like hogwash.Best of luck with this. Let us know what happens.

Well, first of all, how do you actually know the post office lost a certified piece of mail?Secondly, say he registers it, and there is insurance on it for 90 days while you guys are traveling around. During that time he gets hit by a truck and dies. Now what? It was still his property when he died, not yours.Even if this seller was in my immediate family I would be cancelling this deal and continuing my search for another unit.

In reading it again....you said you paid him with a cashiers check and he then sent a cashiers check. All he would have had to do is sign it and send your check that you made out to him. That's BS right there. His loan/bank/credit union would have taken your check made out to him and applied it to the loan as soon as it cleared which with being cashiers would have probably been hours, not even days. Con job. He's got the cash and is going to keep making payments. Well.....maybe.

If he did send check 2 day "certified mail", has he shown his receipt to you as to when he sent it out? If it was lost why can't bank issue a stop payment on the check. Could it be he is wanting 90 days to come up with money to pay off lien?

Bought 5th wheel from private seller with lien - problems

Fubeca
Explorer
Feb 24, 2015
I can totally believe the post office lost it. I've seen some crazy things lately with the Post Office.

I am a little surprised that the bank can't do anything - but I guess that is kind of the deal with a Cashier's check - it is basically similar to cash.

I hope they can get it figured out. This is what scares me about transactions on vehicles with liens!
TomB_
Explorer
Feb 23, 2015
rjxj wrote:
Certified second day air and the post office LOST it? BULL. I say 2 things....delay and get it straightened out. Number 2 ......his story is BS and it isn't lost. Sorry but that's my vote. let us know how it turns out. Hope it works out for you.

I disagree. My post office is among the worst in the system. I'm still getting mail for the guy we bought the house from 8 years ago no matter how much I complain. And there are the occasional news story about a piece of mail recently found that was mailed decades ago.... :M
Bobbo
Explorer II
Feb 23, 2015
ol' grouch wrote:
The original poster also didn't say the seller DID include the extra. Years of experience with liens and vehicles has shown me how things can go wrong. After I left the salvage yard, I had a badge for 10 years. Perhaps it's a cynicism from years of seeing people get taken, whether accidently or on purpose tends to make one a bit jaded.

If I buy or sell a vehicle with a lien, we all meet at the lending institution and pay cash and satisfy the lien in person. Anything else and things can go awry. Just look at this thread.

Yes, that is why I acknowledged that your question of the amount of the seller's check to the bank was a positive contribution to this thread.

The OP has already said he learned his lesson. If doing it again, he would do it differently.

randjj1 wrote:
Thanks for the advice. I definitely should have done things differently. I'll let you know what happens and will do things differently in the future.
Bird_Freak
Explorer II
Feb 23, 2015
ol' grouch wrote:
The original poster also didn't say the seller DID include the extra. Years of experience with liens and vehicles has shown me how things can go wrong. After I left the salvage yard, I had a badge for 10 years. Perhaps it's a cynicism from years of seeing people get taken, whether accidently or on purpose tends to make one a bit jaded.

If I buy or sell a vehicle with a lien, we all meet at the lending institution and pay cash and satisfy the lien in person. Anything else and things can go awry. Just look at this thread.
Very true.
ol__grouch
Explorer
Feb 23, 2015
The original poster also didn't say the seller DID include the extra. Years of experience with liens and vehicles has shown me how things can go wrong. After I left the salvage yard, I had a badge for 10 years. Perhaps it's a cynicism from years of seeing people get taken, whether accidently or on purpose tends to make one a bit jaded.

If I buy or sell a vehicle with a lien, we all meet at the lending institution and pay cash and satisfy the lien in person. Anything else and things can go awry. Just look at this thread.
Bird_Freak
Explorer II
Feb 23, 2015
Bobbo wrote:
randjj1 wrote:
I just verified with the bank that they did make the cashier's check out to the lien holder, and they are trying to expedite reissue. Turns out the post office did lose it - I've personally had the PO lose several certified letters. I'm relieved to verify that the seller is honest - I got lucky this time. Thank you again for the advice

ol' grouch wrote:
I did read the original post. The seller owed more than he sold it for. There is still a lien against the trailer. That right there puts the buyer in legal limbo with no protection. Until the lien is satisfied, the buyers money can dissappear and he's up the creek without a paddle. I ran a salvage yard and we also sold cars. We got gouged many times from title problems. A reciept from the Postal Service is NOT a title. Does it say how much the lost check was issued for?
.
Umm, 2 issues.

Issue 1. If the seller was going to cheat the buyer, why mail ANY money to the bank to pay off the loan? Just keep it all. Since both the bank and the post office verify he mailed the check, he probably did.

Issue 2. Getting his money back is difficult, considering we decided in issue 1 that the seller has already mailed the money off to the bank. I doubt, seriously, if the seller keeps enough ready cash on hand to both pay the bank loan off AND refund the money to the seller.

As far as I can see, the only useful contribution to this thread that you made is this part of the quote.

ol' grouch wrote:
Does it say how much the lost check was issued for?
Hey Bobbo, you beat me to it. He also assumed the seller did not include the remaining balance in his check. Op never said it was not included in check.
Bobbo
Explorer II
Feb 22, 2015
randjj1 wrote:
I just verified with the bank that they did make the cashier's check out to the lien holder, and they are trying to expedite reissue. Turns out the post office did lose it - I've personally had the PO lose several certified letters. I'm relieved to verify that the seller is honest - I got lucky this time. Thank you again for the advice

ol' grouch wrote:
I did read the original post. The seller owed more than he sold it for. There is still a lien against the trailer. That right there puts the buyer in legal limbo with no protection. Until the lien is satisfied, the buyers money can dissappear and he's up the creek without a paddle. I ran a salvage yard and we also sold cars. We got gouged many times from title problems. A reciept from the Postal Service is NOT a title. Does it say how much the lost check was issued for?

Umm, 2 issues.

Issue 1. If the seller was going to cheat the buyer, why mail ANY money to the bank to pay off the loan? Just keep it all. Since both the bank and the post office verify he mailed the check, he probably did.

Issue 2. Getting his money back is difficult, considering we decided in issue 1 that the seller has already mailed the money off to the bank. I doubt, seriously, if the seller keeps enough ready cash on hand to both pay the bank loan off AND refund the money to the seller.

As far as I can see, the only useful contribution to this thread that you made is this part of the quote.

ol' grouch wrote:
Does it say how much the lost check was issued for?
ol__grouch
Explorer
Feb 22, 2015
Bird Freak wrote:
ol' grouch wrote:
Get your money back ASAP and buy something else. I don't know where you live but in Indiana, state law requires delivery of a valid title on any titled vehicle at the time of sale. New cars are a little different as you get a MSO after a few days. If there is a title, you need to get it to own the vehicle.

If what you paid was less than the lien, the bank WILL NOT release the title. Until the seller coughs up the rest of the money, he still owns the RV. Titles are a bearer bond.
Go back and READ all the post. The op said the seller mailed the pay off and the post office lost it. Seller has shown the receipt from post office to buyer and it is being worked out with bank reissuing check.

I did read the original post. The seller owed more than he sold it for. There is still a lien against the trailer. That right there puts the buyer in legal limbo with no protection. Until the lien is satisfied, the buyers money can dissappear and he's up the creek without a paddle. I ran a salvage yard and we also sold cars. We got gouged many times from title problems. A reciept from the Postal Service is NOT a title. Does it say how much the lost check was issued for?
Bird_Freak
Explorer II
Feb 22, 2015
ol' grouch wrote:
Get your money back ASAP and buy something else. I don't know where you live but in Indiana, state law requires delivery of a valid title on any titled vehicle at the time of sale. New cars are a little different as you get a MSO after a few days. If there is a title, you need to get it to own the vehicle.

If what you paid was less than the lien, the bank WILL NOT release the title. Until the seller coughs up the rest of the money, he still owns the RV. Titles are a bearer bond.
Go back and READ all the post. The op said the seller mailed the pay off and the post office lost it. Seller has shown the receipt from post office to buyer and it is being worked out with bank reissuing check.
ol__grouch
Explorer
Feb 21, 2015
Get your money back ASAP and buy something else. I don't know where you live but in Indiana, state law requires delivery of a valid title on any titled vehicle at the time of sale. New cars are a little different as you get a MSO after a few days. If there is a title, you need to get it to own the vehicle.

If what you paid was less than the lien, the bank WILL NOT release the title. Until the seller coughs up the rest of the money, he still owns the RV. Titles are a bearer bond.

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