A Broker kept my 53 van and won't give it back. What to do?

"Where ever" is kinda' extreme, lol.
Just because the drop location isn't precisely determined by the finance company, acceptable places to drop it probably are.

 

I would think that until the tow truck hooks the trailer up, the op is on the hook for it, ownership and/or responsibility ends with this action, not until then.

 

You make no sense.
So if I lease a truck,car,trailer ect.
As soon as the lease is up I can just dump it anywhere
In the country at any place of my choosing.
Then call up the finance company and tell them
Where they can find their equipment.

Does that sound like anything a financial or
Leasing company would agree to.
I think not.

He dumped the trailer with a broker that he's pulled
Exactly 1 load for.
Basically a complete stranger.

Then he high tailed it out of there so he wouldn't
Have to face finance company who he owed
Money too.

If he didn't owe anything he would of taken it
Back to where he got it. Instead of running and hiding.

 

I asked my lawyer last night, he said that the OP is the responsible party on the trailer, not the finance company. He explained that the problem is that there was no legal hand off between the parties and the use of the broker's property is moot. The agreement would have a clause in it explaining what has to be done or who to arrange it being turned over.

The op in telling where the trailer is, had also had to ensure free and clear access to the trailer and informed the broker that it will be picked up.

SO the broker's actions is considered extortion, a felony and the cops should be involved with all of it. They are the people who will decide if there is proof in what the broker is claiming or if it is crime in holding someone's property AFTER they agreed to having it stored there for a short period of time. The OP just has to provide the proof of the load, any other communications and the settlement from the broker.

 

It's just like a rental car. Sure you can return it when the office is closed, but the renter is still on the hook for any damage, etc. until the office opens and the car is checked back in. Every rental / lease agreement I have ever seen says that. Business 101... can even be filed under "common sense."

 

Does it have a hub meter and can you use it to show he's been using the trailer? Can it be as simple as you telling the broker you want your trailer back and if he refuses you call the cops. I imagine he will want a storage fee but with a hub meter you can show he used the trailer.

 

How about an update. You clear this up? Get trailer to finance company or broker info? Is he in jail?

 

Erm. You got potentially a very explosive legal problem. Your Broker is committing a crime. Theoratically it's your trailer until the moment that Repo man touches it. Theoratically Repo people and issuing loan bank can have you two arrested and hauled away for blackmail, and other charges potentially. Fraud would be a beginning.

You better get yourself a lawyer. If you took any money from that broker get rid of it turn it over to the bank and tell them you want nothing of what the broker is trying to do against you or them. Especially if you value your freedom.

You two are enemies now. You and the Broker. It has to be this way.

If the bank has not yet gained possession of the trailer and your broker is using it to run loads... HE probably broke some other laws I cannot even begin to think of off the top of my head. What a snake.

Get a lawyer, teamup with the bank. Maybe turn over the trailer to the police and information for unauthrozied use or theft. Until Repo man and bank touches that trailer technically it's your trailer, and your debt. Now it's being used to enrich a enemy? I don't think so.

I'll follow this thread. You cannot make this up. It would be a prayer of mine to see you come out of this ok.

What do you think will happen to you if your trailer is burned with a million dollars of chips in it? A large shipper and reciever set will be burning your phone Potentially demanding to be made whole.

 

This is the oldest trick in the book! A mechanic once told me that a mechanics lean takes presidence over the bank loan so if I were to ever be in a position to lose my truck back to the bank, take it to a mechanic to rack up a big bill and not pay it. Truck becomes property of the mechanic and the bank cannot take it until they pay the amount owing. He said they will usually split the money with the owner. I'd be losing the truck either way so what would I have to lose.....

Looks like that's what this guy was doing.

Now I don't know the whole story here. If you are just turning it over to the finance company then this is no longer your problem, it's Thiers.

But if your hell bent on getting it back, go buy one of thone little GPS devices you can get almost anywhere that people are putting in purses and on keychains and such and wait. Have your truck ready, at the best.... you get your trailer back when they drop it one day or at the least, you have proof of them hauling freight with your unit.

Otherwise, just get a lawyer.