abandoned vehicle owes rent??Legal

[aston]

Hi all, an elderly farmer friend of mine has a small caravan site and does caravan storage, A foreign chap parked his motor home on a plot and used it regularly however disappeared off the face of the earth, The farmer assuming the guy was coming back moved the motor home to the storage as the rent is much less there, still no contact, the farmer has tried to contact the guy many times as he is now owed £5000 in rent, I did an outstanding credit check on the van and it came up with outstanding finance so i called the hpi check company who in turn called the finance company, the finance company said they no longer had a claim on the van so it is now clean, no more information than that, the van has been stood for 4 years but the strange thing is, the van is an 03, it was last taxed in 0ideas
9, I want the van but it seems the owner cannot be traced, Any ideas how I can become the legal owner?
the previous owner is possibly dead, abroad or in prison...thanks

 

[Yugguy]

Not sure but I always thought there was some sort of treasure trove law that applied if something was left for a lengthy period of time?

 

[obi_waynne]

Get a debt collection agency involved, they should be able to legally take possession of the motorhome to cover the unpaid rentals and it could then be sold on to you.

Citizens advice would probably be able to help. In this situation it is always worth covering your back, hence why I recommend a debt collection agency.

 

[aston]

There is no finance remaining on the van, the owner has disappeared from the face of the planet, He did bounce a cheque on the rental a few years back, All very strange as the van if it were clean is worth £20k now so 5 years ago surely it would have been worth a considerable amount more......

 

[claymore]

Apply for the log book, DVLA will send a letter to the owner, if he doesn't respond to the letter, they will issue you with a new registration document (but remember that just makes you the registered keeper and not the owner).

 

[Hansi]

There is some chance that your friend could take the van to cover the debt. This though would require a lawyer and probably some documents from the courts I imagine. At least that is how it works here (finishing my law degree myself in just over a year) and I'd imagine that there was some similar law in Britain. I'd get someone that knows the law to give you advice on the next steps.

 

[SLEEPER]

Forgive me but this scenario sounds very suspect to me. Your outline of the facts dont ring true to me as i have rented a space to a caravan myself.

Surely there was a written contract with a clause specifically covering what happens to the vehicle if rent is unpaid ?

If not your freind is an idiot because this a really basic condition that should be part of any agreement where someone rents a space and a caravan or similar is left on a site
It covers both parties - the landowner has a way of making sure he gets paid and the renter has a way of making sure his sometimes very expensive motorhome isnt just stolen by someone.
Put simply in most cases the landowner takes responsibility for security in exchange for title to the "vehicle" if the owner does a runner.

Now clearly there is no such contract so how does your " freind" prove he is owed the money ?
Indeed is there any kind on contract at all ? I suspect not

Then it is simple - no contract = no rent owed = no debt
So in your above scenario trying to take possesion of something using someone elses unproved debt as a reason is theft .

Whether you would ever be caught or prosecuted is of course a differerent matter but unless you could prove the debt i wouldnt bother using it as an excuse for taking the vehicle.

I would however be happy to help with the question .

Ive seen a really nice motorhome that has been in a field for ages and would like it.
In fact i do remember such a thread a while back but it may have been on another forum and a coincidence.

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

A verbal contract is as good as the paper it's written on .

 

[aston]

Forgive me but this scenario sounds very suspect to me. Your outline of the facts dont ring true to me as i have rented a space to a caravan myself.

Surely there was a written contract with a clause specifically covering what happens to the vehicle if rent is unpaid ?

If not your freind is an idiot because this a really basic condition that should be part of any agreement where someone rents a space and a caravan or similar is left on a site
It covers both parties - the landowner has a way of making sure he gets paid and the renter has a way of making sure his sometimes very expensive motorhome isnt just stolen by someone.
Put simply in most cases the landowner takes responsibility for security in exchange for title to the "vehicle" if the owner does a runner.

Now clearly there is no such contract so how does your " freind" prove he is owed the money ?
Indeed is there any kind on contract at all ? I suspect not

Then it is simple - no contract = no rent owed = no debt
So in your above scenario trying to take possesion of something using someone elses unproved debt as a reason is theft .

Whether you would ever be caught or prosecuted is of course a differerent matter but unless you could prove the debt i wouldnt bother using it as an excuse for taking the vehicle.

I would however be happy to help with the question .

I've seen a really nice motor home that has been in a field for ages and would like it.
In fact i do remember such a thread a while back but it may have been on another forum and a coincidence.

Hello, Sorry but I doubt very much that he is an idiot, he is a hard working 80 something year old who is worth several million pounds has a few race horses and many acres of prime land but being a typical farmer he counts every penny, However interestingly enough I did ask him about contracts and he said he didn't use them for the camp-site and storage, he'd just shake hands and agree the rental. for many years this hasn't been a problem until now.
The NFU suggested he should sell the van for as much as he can, keep the money owed and hold the remaining money for the owner whenever he shows up, but it seems he has disappeared off the face of the planet (maybe on that plane) .
I have just wrote to the DVLA To find the address of the owner (on logbook) we'll write to that address and take it from there, If anyone has friends in the legal profession maybe they can ask for an opinion, Thank you all

 

[SLEEPER]

Owning race horses etc doest stop anyone from being an idiot neither does being a millioinaire and He isnt an idiot because he doesn use contracts.
He is one however if he thinks he can legally sell someone elses vehicle without one.

But as i understand it isnt him that really wants to sell the van its you that wants to buy it . And as i suggested IF you are happy to pay the going rate there wont be a problem. Just give him the market value an he can put the money in a holdin account ( which strangely enough is exactly what he has been told to do )

But of course that doesnt get you a cheap vehicle which is really what this is about.

 

[Hansi]

He probably would need a court order to impound and sell the van if there is no written contract that states that he can do that in case of the scenario where the owner doesn't pay. If he doesn't have a bulletproof right to do so he may be facing some serious legal percussions if he does impound and sell it.

Of course a verbal agreement is just as valid as a written one but it's harder to proof what that contract states and I doubt that they went into this in their talk.

 

[Yugguy]

A lot of old school gents rely on the verbal contract, but aye, it is not worth much these days.

 

[aston]

Of course this is about myself buying a bargain vehicle or liberating an abandoned car or as I like to put it helping the aged and recycling in order to help the environment. It would be very difficult to put a price on the van as it looks as it is in a terrible state, not moved a wheel for near 5 years . I just checked to see if it has been SORN, And if I understood correctly Vehicle Status Unlicensed means not on SORN (Any ideas?)
Well when the DVLA send me the owners address i'll go in person and see what the story ism Thanks all

 

[aston]

What if the owner has disappeared and has no traceable family? Surely the van can't stay there for ever until it has rotted to bits?