Unique Situation

[aspir3]

I suggest your friend contacts the relative government department to find out.

[Fitter]

contact Ebay and find out their terms and conditions regarding payment of a legally binding auction/contract.

if the payment was made via paypal, then then buyer can dispute the sale and state the product was not delivered (picked up etc) and Paypal has their insurance to come into play. again, the buyer will need to contact Paypal and enter their dispute resolution process

[Fitter]

they buyer has all the power here, he/she can take action through Ebay as its a product not delivered/posted etc.

the seller if worried can reimburse the monies and then relist as the item hasnt been picked up.

if there is a receipt for the sale, then the seller can contact council to remove a the vehicle from his property as its not his car.... or better yet, put the car on the curb and say its been dumped.

[Speedie]

Charge the guy for storage.

[SXLancerMum]

Maybe he should contact the police or someone with any info he has on the guy and see if the guy is actually still alive. Something might have happened to him. People just don't pay in full for a car and then don't come and get it unless there have been unforeseen circumstances.

[Speedie]

Since he has paid for the vehicle in full your mate can not sell it as it doesn't belong to him anymore. If he does decide to sell the vehicle he is then breakng the law.

[Dire]

Not if the title hasn't been swapped over...
Just call up the traffic department and ask them...

[megatron]

But if you have an agreement with someone that you will keep their car on your property for 2 weeks, and they never come and pick up the car, does that mean your stuck with a car on your property? There has to be some kind of law that lets you take ownership of the car after x amount of months on your property. Or maybe have it towed?

yes the council will pickup a car that been dumped, call the police first can tell them the car has been dumped at your house. the police will remove the number plates and then council can pick it up.

[FFEEkY]

yep, abandoned vehicle. If he has the guys address, post him a key with a letter saying that the car must be removed from the property before xxx date or it will be towed as an abandoned vehicle by local council. That way he has covered all bases and not just sent it away without trying to contact him by every way possible

[Dire]

If the ownership hasn't been legally transferred to the other person yet then it isn't dumped, its just an incomplete transaction (idk about other states but in WA both parties need to fill out a change of ownership form, so even if your mate has the other guy might not have. It would help to call up the traffic department).

So if the ownership hasn't been transferred and the guy is out of contact and doesn't pick it up within the agreed time then the deal can be fairly cancelled. However that would mean you'd need to give the money back, which is a problem with no contact...

If ownership HAS been transferred then yeah, its been dumped. So you can get it towed and it would be the other person's responsibility to pay for it. The only concern there would be whether you want the inevitable conversation of 'why the bleep did you get my car towed?'. Plus they know where he lives.

[cyssero]

This is a unique situation, but definitely contact NSW Fair Trading (assuming your friend is in NSW) www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ or the Consumer Trader & Tenancy Tribunal (http://www.cttt.nsw.gov.au/default.html).

Contact them and ask them what to do in this case. There may be some specific things you can/cannot do, and in particular amount of days/months that must pass before you can do something.

A friend had a roommate move out and leave their belongings behind. Despite best efforts by my mate they could not get in touch with ex-roommate. We're talking an entire persons contents being dumped in a house they no longer live in. Called up one of the above and found out after 2 months they were able to sell the goods and give 50% to the roommate if they ever requested their belongings back (or something along those lines). Apparently they were allowed to charge for storage too. Completely different situation protected by completely different laws but something to think about.

The wise thing to do would be keep the original funds completely separate and safe in the event the buyer ever does get in touch. Definitely need some advice from one of the two organisations though.