Crappy old room mate

[AustinPhoenix]

So I bought a 79 bike to turn into a chopper for this summer...used as a parts bike for my restoration of my 80g. My old room mate told me it was cool to keep it there until I fixed up my shed at my place to store it. I tried for 2 months to get a hold of him and finally he MySpaced me and said, "Your sh*t's gone."

He either sold or threw away my bike and my bike jack. How crappy was that... I'm so mad. The bike was complete minus a batter connector and gauges (I used them). I rebuilt the carbs and cleaned her up and everything.

Any suggestions?

[CatatonicBug]

Was it titled? How could he sell it without your signature? I would sue him for the value of what is missing.

[AustinPhoenix]

Title

It wasn't titled yet. I thought about just filing charges. Here in Texas, the classification from class b to class a misdemeanor changes at a $500 value.

[soccer4m]

Get your stuff asap

Hey AustinPhoenix,,,,,first try to find out who has the stuff from your ex roomie, I doubt if he threw away good parts, let alone a whole bike, without getting something for it. Most likely it is being stored somewhere close. Find out how he parted with the stuff, maybe a friend, neighbor,....take the time to track down what you can. Kind of like cheese to mice, a couple of pieces can attract a lot of interest. Keep in contact with the guy, keep pushing for info. on the bike, parts. Then get what you can recover, good luck,if you were in San Diego a bunch of us XSives would form a posse and serve your ex some country justice. Good Luck, Mike in San Diego

[AustinPhoenix]

I would but...

San Diego posse roundup sounds good. I'm in Texas...so a roundup should be in order...unfortunately, he owns more guns than I do. lol (half kidding...it's texas so we're born with a six shooter...lol)

I would keep in touch but he changed his number and moved. Now I get to track him down. That'll be fun for sure. Calling his friends and family should be awkward as all heck...hopefully he gave it to one of them.

[latexeses]

Man, I'd light a fire under somebody till I found out where he went, or at least where my bike went.

[DGXSER]

I know this may be blasphemy to some, but talk to a lawyer if need be. They aren't ALL bad.

[AustinPhoenix]

plot thickens

So he is trying to sell his house, living with his parents and hiring contractors to do things for him. He made the mistake of emailing me and writing he gave it to a contractor. Doesn't that sound like he might have traded it for services...or SOLD it in other words?! Either way...he admitted to having it, and moving it without my consent and he knows who he gave it to.

So I emailed an attorney because he threatened to sue me or something if I kept on about this. He said he had to replace locks three times and a base board and some other random things that had nothing to do with me. lol He's stretching...and I'm gonna get my bike back.

Any other help or advice is much appreciated.

[CatatonicBug]

Unless there was something in your lease agreement that held your bike as collateral, he had no right to do ANYTHING to it. He would have had to make an attempt to contact you to get you to remove the bike (and have proof that he did) before he would be able to say that you abandoned it there. He's definitely stretching things, and you have every right to take him to court for the value of the bike (say, $1500 or so) and all legal fees. If it were me, I would tell him that he will be served with a summons if you don't get your bike back in the next week. He's a thief. That's all there is to it.

[Rasputin]

Can you say "Judge Judy". Small claims may be the cheapest way to go about it.

[AustinPhoenix]

Attorney

Talked to an attorney. He said I should just call the police. If he gets my stuff back, great. I can drop the charges. If not, he can face the consequences. Since the bike was a parts/project bike, he said I can either use the amount I paid for the bike as an amount for theft (state of texas $500-$1200 is class A misdemeanor) or actually state the bike was stolen by him (grand theft).

[CatatonicBug]

Book 'em Dan-o!

[xsilerating]

Hey AustinPhoenix;

You never mentioned anything about it but, I hope that you got a receipt for the bike when you bought it.

Without one, unless he admits to selling it to you and, getting the money for it, you might just be SOL !

[AustinPhoenix]

Er?

I didn't buy it from him. I bought it from somebody else. And I have an email from him that he wrote stating he gave it to one of his contractors.

Pretty sure if I was a lowlife and did something like that, then a cop called me and told me I had charges pressed against me for doing that lowlife deed unless I got the bike and lift back, I would do all that I could to get it back.

For the time being, I'm looking on ebay for a centerstand to put on my bike to change the rear tire and start riding again.

[DGXSER]

Reality......

is if I were the "lowlife" you describe, I would not scare as easy as you think. I might even know that you have no title. I hope you do have a reciept of some sort or the police can't help you as you can not prove it is yours. And he may have even given a reciept to whomever he sold it to therefore they have more proof of ownership than you do.

Not trying to rain on your parade and I certainly hope you get back all that is yours!! But havin been round on this rodeo once or twice, the law only works if you can prove it is yours, the old posession being 9/10ths and all thing. Based upon what you have said so far, perhaps his MySpace message will confirm your case, or his email. But him stating he sold it means nothin if he did not admit it was yours, or you don't have proof.

I think what XSilerating was suggesting is, the other option is that you need to go to whomever the bike is currently titled to, and get them to sign the title over to you and get it transferred into your name first, or minimum get a bill or sale of some type from them to prove it is yours if they will do it.

I have a story of a similar nature that I will keep short. Sold a car with my mother playing broker as she lives on a busy street. She let the guy take my plate with him "to get home on" and never brought it back. 9 months later, when plates are due, I get a call that he lost the title and wants me to get him a new one. Claims the engine blew up driving it home and he just put a new one in it. At that point, I could easily claim he stole the car and get it back if I wanted to. My plates on it, titled in my name, no proof exist that he owns it, paid in cash. As it ends up he was using it to sell drugs and the police impounded it and arrested him, then THEY called me and wanted the title. Talk about fun!!! You think he was scared, no way, he was calling me from jail to tell me I could not give the police the title to his car.