Overhaulin'

I wrote a contract for sale of a car, how long till its void?

Half was paid for and the other half would be paid 30 days later... its been 30 days and no contact... his phone was shut off and no response from his email. i still have the keys and the title and the truck... How long till i can resell the truck?

Public Comments

1. Unless the contract states that you will sell the vehicle at a specific time....it's a matter of reasonable length. I had the same situation where I sold an engine to a guy, and he didn't come pick it up. Kept trying to get in touch with him, got no response. Still had the engine, and his money. What YOU have to do, is continue to attempt to contact him. And keep record of all the attempts. Then send a certified letter, informing him of your intent to resell. With a reasonable amount of time listed that he must respond to you. Such as 30 or 60 days. At that point (after the 30 or 60 days), you can consider it abandoned, and resell. For me, it was 6 months from start to finish. And yes, you must return the money. Unless you want to be arrested for theft.
2. Set his money aside in a separate savings account and leave it alone. Since he did not complete the deal in the agreed time, you can sell it at will. However his money is still his money, so refund it to him if he shows up.
3. I don't know how it works it private sales, but to me, we call that a deposit. Customer has whatever amount of time to pay the rest and pick up the vehicle. If the customer doesn't come in within the specified amount of time we keep the money and sell the vehicle. I would assume it is the same with private sales and you did it the right way by writing a contract out. The others are saying to give the money back. #1 How can you if you cannot get a hold of the guy and most importantly #2. What if it happens again? Should you keep taking deposits and then when they show up a couple months later give them their money back? You won't be able to sell a vehicle that way and you'd just be wasting time. Do what the other guy said and send a certified letter. Give him 7 more days and tell him that if he doesn't come in he loses his deposit and the vehicle will be resold. We don't send out letters because the contract is good enough.