Can I take this person to court?

[gijoe0720]

Ok well I bought me a new 4-wheeler back in november and I let one someone ride it and he wrecked it. He said that he would pay to get it fixed cause he thought it was just both right wheels, throttle and a-arm but I ended up findin out that it warped the frame. It had been a little over a month now and all he has gotten me is one wheel. They are actin like they don't want to pay for it to get fixed. If he doesn't pay can I take him to court cause right now I don't have the money to get it all fixed. It did about 4-5 thousand dollars in damage.

[TheSnail]

No since you let them drive it. If they stole it then yes. But nor get a gun (Im selling one one in the sales forum) and threaten them with their lives, or pull out your wallet.

[gijoe0720]

I thought he took all responsibility whenever he got on it and plus he was on the highway and runnin from the cops

[TheSnail]

Well if thats the case, if you dont even know the guy, you can let the cops know who ran from them, if they make him pay restitution. Or if you barely know the guy, then you can threaten him with involving the cops. Now if you know the guy, then your a jackass friend by even mentioning about bringing them to court.

[gijoe0720]

I know the guy, he ain't really a friend and I don't have 4 fuckin thousand dollars to get it fixed with. Also I am still payin for the 4-wheeler. He called me right after it happened and told me about it and said that he would pay for it.

[TheSnail]

I say, deal with it and learn the lesson. Get a frame with a title on ebay for 800$ And never let anyone drive it again. Its like me letting my friend borrow a gun, then he goes and robs a bank. Both of us fucked up. Me for letting him borrow it, and him for robbing a bank. (true story by the way :) except it was a movie theater and not a bank.)

[AznTraitor]

4 thousand worth of damage? right....

if it's that much, buy a new one.......

or take him to small claims court.

[Flip]

Just because someone starts being your friend in the beginning doesn't mean they will always stay true... I don't see any problem trying to press charges. Its his responsibility. He should pay for it. Try to contact a lawyer and get some free advice.

[The Golden Child]

id say call a lawyer and ask and file a small claim ..

[AtifSajid]

You can take them to court.

[Jaimecbr900]

You can take him to court. Even if he was riding with your permission, he has to exercise prudent care of your stuff. If he ran from the cops and wrecked it, that's not prudent care. Besides, when he bought you 1 wheel to replace what he broke, he inadvertently admitted guilt/responsability.

I don't know that I'd pursue the bent frame thing though. Unless the 4 wheeler goes down the road crooked, we all know that it otherwise won't affect the way a 4 wheeler functions in the woods and such. If that's the biggest chunk of your $5k price tag, I'd let it go. If it's snapped or the 4 wheeler can't be riden right because of it, that's one thing. But if it's just a matter of getting everything back to exactly the way it was when new, I'd let that go personally. I'd go after him to fix the wheels and maybe any steering issues or throttle though.

[gijoe0720]

If he pays for it then I am fine but the only reason I would take him to court is if he backed out and didn't pay. My dad was in a motorcycle wreck and the other persons insurance company is tryin to not pay everything so right now he has a lawyer and I will get him t o talk to him about it to see what we could do if he didn't pay. As for the frame it looks like it is just the back piece so that may not cost that much. But it also looks like the swingarm is bent. He went around a buildin and it slid sideways and hit a curb, flipin into a guard rail and slid down the guard rail for about 30 feet. It is a brand new 4-wheeler that I just bought back in November. If I had insurance I wouldn't be mad cause it would be totalled and I could get a new one.

[C22H19N3O4]

Well either sue or just let it die. Go down to the court house file a complaint and pay the filing fee for Magistrate Court. The limit there is 15,000k. You pay for the deputy to serve him or you can mail him a waiver of service. He has 30 +15days to file an answer. If he doesn't answer you get a default judgement. That means you win and can start proceedings to collect on the default. You can garnish his wages or file a fi.fa and levy his property. The judgement will be reported on his credit report and will put a big dent in his fico score. The judgement can be renewed for 20 years.

Here is a primer on how it all works (http://www.gwinnettcourts.com/courts/magcourt.htm) I know it's not your county but the procedures are the same state wide. Don't skimp on civil procedure.

EDIT: Let me note that the burden of proof is on your shoulders. If he made an oral agreement that has a statute of limitations.

[carrascopa]

sell the hole thing to him as is for your payoff and go buy another one!

you can take him to court though man.. small claims.. Personally i would just go kick his ass everyday until he caughed up the money!

thats what I do when people owe me money! fuk that.. even for $5.00 its your ass

[Tiff-O-Bitties]

Don't you know 4 wheelers are insurable for a reason? Maybe you should consider getting it.. It's cheap.

[gijoe0720]

Pharm teg I have 3 other people who were there that heard him say that he would pay for it.

Cav-E-R my friend went to see what insurance would be for his 4-wheeler and it was ALOT. Don't know if it matters what kind you have or not but if it does then mine will be a shit load cause I have the fastest one out right now.


I will know today at around 2:00 p.m. what will be happenin cause I am gettin with him and his dad and talkin to them about it.