So, this is my story. I bought my bike Kawi 636 '05 in nov 2005, from a local car dealer in 2005 and paid it cash. I used it the whole year of 2006.Then this year 2009, after i tried to sell it here, cause I am in Europe, I decided to bring it home. Everything looked great, I found a shipping company to ship my motorcycle to ROmania, overseas. The bike was placed in a container in NJ, and left USA in march. Ehne the container got to Israel, to be embarked to a ship tha goes to Romania from there, the US Customs called for the container to be shipped back to US due to something strange placed in the container. After anoher month this container with my motorcycle in, got back to NJ and waited in port another month to be inspected by US CUstoms. Finally it got insepcted and when this container got to ROmania in August, I found out the my bike was ceised by US Customs, due to it was reported a theft.. Then I called Police dept, they said by my vin#, this byke it's not reported as theft nowhere in US. SO I called again US Customs, and them they said it is declared a theft in Canada. I checked online the canadian police theft info by my motorcyle's vin# and still showed no theft report. After I called again US Custom the said to call NJ Police cause they know about my bike. So I called NJ Police and they said that my bike it's already in Canada, because it was reported as a theft in Canada, and the insurance company from Canada has the bike. What I found out is that my bike, that I bought in 2005, with clean title issued by DMV, was reported a theft in 2006 by original owner. SO my guess is this thief, sold the bike in US in 2005, got the money from it, waited a few months and in 2006 he reported the bike as a theft, and got money again from insurance company. Now, here I am with no bike and money loss of at least 7000$, bike + accesories invested. SO I got a letter from NJ Police dept, which states that this is a civil matter and I have to find a civil lawyer to file a lawsuit, to prove the bike was sold legally in USA. I dont think I need to prove anything, since I have my clean title in hand issued by DMV. I bought the bike from a car dealer, he gave me temporary lince plate so I can use the bike till I get my licence plate from DMV. So I need to find a good lawyer that can take my case, and wanna sue, the car dealer for selling a stolen motorcycle, and the DMV department for issuing a clean title for a stolen motocrycle. I need to get either my money or my bike back. I also found out that if I didn't ship my bike out of US, this fraud would never be found out, and the detective said that there are many fraud cases with cars and bikes that are sold in US and then reported stolen in Canada. If you guys know a good attorney that can take my case please let me know.

Other than that I'd like to whish a merry christhmas to everyone and happy holydays.

 

Damn man wish I could help.

 

That sucks. Wow. Uh... I don't know any lawyers, sorry.

 

Talk to the dealer first and find out if they carry any kind of title insurance... if so, start by making a claim there. If not, do some googleing and maybe ask a couple of attorneys who deal with this type of stuff. I don't think u'll need to file suit and if so it's a long pain in the ass process.

 

Find a way to sue all parties involved. Cash in, it's the new American way.

In all seriousness I am sure all the liability could fall back on the dealership and/or the guy who sold or traded it in.

 

sounds like insurance fraud. The PO should be jailed.

 

So let me get this straight. You walked into a car dealership in 2005, saw a used bike you really liked, and bought it from the dealer. The dealer issued you a clean title as you paid for it in full with cash at the time of the purchase. You then registered the bike with the state of Florida and rode it using temporary tags for the first year you owned it. No problems so far.

Then you decided you wanted to ship it over seas and when it passed through US customs, they ran the VIN and it popped up as stolen out of Canada. At that point US customs ceased the bike as stolen property and gave the bike to some canadian financing company, all without notifying you!?!

It seems to me the problem is with US Customs. If you have the title in hand, it is legally your bike here in the United States, as can be proven in a court of law by producing your clean title and bill of sale. Now I am no lawyer, but how US Customs could take control of your property and ship it off to a third party canadian finance company is beyond me, especially without contacting you first!

Something still doesn't sound right to me though. If the bike was purchased in the United States through a reputable dealer, with a legal bill of sale and clean title, and then legally registered in the state of Florida, the bike should have come back as your property when US Customs ran the VIN, regardless of whether or not that VIN was flagged for theft out of Canada. After all, the dealer had to buy it from someone before selling it to you, and there should be a legal paper trail of that transaction just like there should be of you purchasing it from the dealer. If the canadian sold it to the American dealer, there is your proof that this is fraud on the part of the original owner in Canada.

I would start with contacting the dealer to request copies of their records showing the legal purchase of the bike for resale prior to selling it to you. Other than that, I would fax a copy of the bill of sale and clean title in your name to US Customs and demand your property be returned.

This is the first time I have heard of this type of scam, so keep us posted on how it turns out! What a mess!

 

by florida law...the guy who originally sold the bike can not recover from u even if it was stolen....this is because the dealership sold it to you(a 3rd party who bought the item for fair market value)..

because of this, the dealership is partially liable to the original theft victim, but you are not required by law to give it back because u are once again(a 3rd party who made a good faith purchase for fair market value) even if it is proven stolen, under florida law they CAN NOT take the bike back!


question though....how did u ride around for a year on temp tags? wierd


btw...call Ty Trainer (813) 229-1912...good lawyer in tampa...

 

^good advice. But US Customs is a different story then Florida state law. Customs can over throw it at all costs. Now what i think you are dealing with, is a shady dealer.

OR a shady shipping company.

Ive had things confiscated in shipping them overseas. (automotive AC units) by US Customs. And they NEVER called me. They always sent a certified letter.

 

do you need a lawyer in florida or one in NJ to handle this, i know you are here but if you have to fly to nj to go to court it will be cheaper to just get a lawyer up there..


who are you dealing with in NJ, my uncle is a lawyer and Prosecutor in bergen NJ, he got me 800 bucks when i caught someone who keyed the hood of my car...