Whilst this is unusual, it is possible to obtain more than one finance agreement on a vehicle, predominantly higher-value vehicles.
One of our clients bought a vehicle from a private seller. They were advised it had an outstanding finance marker of £5,000 which was later cleared, and therefore, the purchase went ahead.
However, the cheeky seller had another finance agreement on the vehicle, this time for £18,000, which is still outstanding.
Therefore, our client does not have a clean and clear vehicle that they can sell.
As you will be well aware, if there is finance on a vehicle, then the finance company owns the vehicle. The registered keeper cannot sell the vehicle without the finance company’s approval.
If the keeper does sell the vehicle, then they do not have title to pass on, and the buyer does not inherit good title to then sell on.
This can mean the vehicle being repossessed either from the trader who bought it or from the new owner, which would be potentially damaging to the trader’s reputation.
In such a scenario, the new owner is entitled to a refund, and time will be of the essence to avoid the trader’s name and deeds being plastered all over social media.
The trader is entitled to unwind the deal with the seller of the vehicle. However, as is often the case, the type of person who sets up such a scenario is unlikely to be hanging around with the funds still in their bank account, ready to hand it back.
Legal action may, unfortunately, be the only recourse.
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So, make sure that all finance checks are carried out. Do not simply accept what the seller advises and drill down into any finance outstanding because, in the admittedly unlikely event that there are two finance agreements on the vehicle, you could be left holding a very expensive baby.
Whatever you do, do not hang around! The quicker steps are taken, the more chance there is of getting some or all of your money back.
Ensure to contact Lawgistics in any such case.
