F-Buds, need some serious help! (NFB)

[AmericanZ28]

For those of you legal experts I need some serious advice! Yesterday I let a buddy (EX) of mine borrow my motorcycle because his F-Bod supposedly wasnt working and he needed something to get around in. So he took it in the morning and was suposed to have it back by 4pm. 4pm came and no bike, and I had to go to work so I took my Z. I called him at 8 and he still hadnt taken my bike home, so i urged him to do so. I tried again in 10 minutes to see if he was on his way, but his phone was off. I called my younger brother to go and tell him to bring my bike home. Instead of bringing it to my house himself, he handed the keys to my 17 year old brother who has no motorcycle license, and no Street Bike experience so that he could bring it home. Sure enough, he became another statistic. He droped my bike on the street and got all kinds of road rash on himself, and damged my bike ($500-$800 worth of damage). My brother is ok, but the bike is a mess. When I found out, I called my buddy to confront him about having handed my bike over like that. I was supposed to sell the bike to someone in a week, so I demanded that he buy the bike from me and then he could fix n sell it cuz i need the cash. He became a total jack @$$ and said that he wasnt paying for anything! He said he wasnt responsible and even proceeded to say "I guess you learned the hard way about lending people your stuff." (venting)

My question is, can I sue him for the damages, or anything for that matter? Im hoping it doesnt come to this, but if see no money for repairs, then I want to do everything possible to put this low-class coward in his place.

[JeffY]

Don't ask here-call a lawyer for the correct answer.

[RangerBob]

Looks like he endangered the welfare of a minor.

Sic a lawyer on him. Most will do the initial consult for free and settle for a percentage of the award.

[N20LT4Bird]

You might have a case, but my defense would be that your brother could have brought you the keys to pick it up yourself. He didnt HAVE to drive it. Just my $.02

[Spades95formula]

your "friend" should have brought u the bike back to where he picked it up from. scumbag. sue his @ss if u can. i got a better idea.beat the crap out of him and tell him"i guess u learned the hard way about borrowing and destroying other people's property" . thats my solution

[markd79ta]

Once he was told to return the bike, and didn't do so, you could have reported the bike as stolen. He would have then been charged with grand theft. You can still file a report if you wish. However, I don't think much will come of it. After your brother took possession of the bike, it became his responsibility. It is unfortunate. You can talk to an attorney, but that will cost you money $$$. This is a bummer, and this guy does not sound like much of a buddy to me. I would talk to the local police department or county sheriff's office to see what they can do, and file a report.

OH!!! Just remember, your brother could get nailed for operating a motor vehicle without a proper license if legal action is taken. Was he moving, or did it just fall?

[Black97]

Mark pretty much said it all.

Unless there's a bylaw or similar that you're not allowed to hand the keys over to somebody that doesn't have a license. I doubt it.

[TODD 2000 V6 CAMARO]

I'm not sure how the law there works, but in Texas, it is like this: If you loan somebody something, even with a verbal understanding that it will be returned at a certain time, then, having given the keys over to the guy, you gave him permission to have the bike. So you couldn't have reported it stolen, the police would have just told you that it was a civil matter, not a criminal one.
As far as whether or not he is responsible for the damage, I would say that you are going to have a hard time proving that he is. As was stated before, your brother made the decision at that point to get on the bike and try to ride it home. It was in his possession and he violated the law by riding it. The guy should have returned it when he was supposed to, but he didn't try to keep the bike from you. He freely handed over the keys to your brother when asked for them. At best you have proof that he was lazy about returning it when he was supposed to. I think I would be asking my brother if he forgot how to use a phone, and if he has the money to pay for the damages. Nobody forced him to ride the bike. Just my 2 cents.

[AmericanZ28]

Thanks for the input guys! My brother claims to have been going only about 40mph, so the bike was in motion. Im gonna try and get a hold of a lawyer and get a free consultation to see if I have a case, and I will go to the police too to try and file a claim. For now Im demanding that my brother buy it off me for what it would've sold for, and then he could worry about fixing it, or selling it. Thanks again for your support and Understanding!

[nightfighter]

Just a hint...leave the police out of this.

You would have to consult the laws in your state; however, in most jurisdictions, if you loan a vehicle and the party refuses to return it, then generally speaking, you "COULD" have reported it stolen at the time.

Once the vehicle was located and the keys turned over to your brother, your criminal case went out the door.

Most if not all agencies will refer you to civil court for future action.

Your brother chose to operate a vehicle which he had no training in and without proper licensing. I'm sure he was trying to do you a favor, but look how it turned out. At least he's relatively "ok."

Here's the hill you're going to have to climb.

You loaned the bike with a time specific deadline - Good so far.

He refused to return it at the appointed time and after repeated contact - Good for you, bad for him.

Question? Did he have the appropriate licensing and experience? If not, that might hurt a bit.

Here's the hill...He "voluntarily" relinquished the keys to your brother upon demand - Good for him.

When he did so, the bike was still in good condition (or at least the condition it was in when loaned to him) - bad for you!

The liability shifts to your brother at the moment the keys exchanged hands.

You should have given him specific instructions regarding how to get the bike home (wrecker/flatbed, trailer, push the thing...whatever.)

You could sue your brother (thinking thats not going to happen), but the bottom line is, the scumbag in this scenario had nothing to do with the damage incurred to the vehicle by your brothers improper driving...sorry man.

I would talk to an attorney that won't charge you and get thier view on it, but I'm thinking they are going to send ya packing.

In most civil suits (auto-personal injury) read something like this...you (name) owned blah blah vehicle and "operated or allowed to be operated", said vehicle in a careless manner. Also mentions "...failed to maintain said vehicle in a dafe condition...blah blah..." (pretty much abbreviated standard verbage).

IIn my opinion, the libility now belongs to the owner (you) and the operator (your brother).

Again, even though the maggot gave your brother the keys, he didn't force your bro to ride.

Don't see much of a case, Just an expensive lesson brother.

I deal with these matter daily and most the atty's I know would blow your case out of the water post haste.

BTW...This was not meant as a flame my friend....just as informed commentary.

ALso, if your friend wasn't properly llicensed and you allowed him to ride your bike, the cops (and the court) ain't gonna like that one bit either.

So as I said, I'd consult an attorney and leave the cops out of it.

Good luck my friend.

[AmericanZ28]

My ex-friend is properly licensed and does have the proper training for it. My brother claims that he went and asked him to return the bike per my request. He told me that he refused to do so because he didnt want to leave, he also mention that my ex-friend was drinking at the time. Had my friend said something like "Here, you take it to him," would that be a different story? Im still a little etchy about what happened, my brother seems to hesitate when I ask him for an explanation. Plus I suspect that the reason my "Friend" asked me for the bike, was so that he (on his bike) and my brother (on my bike) could go riding together. Someone suggested to me that I file a small claim myself just to scare him and hopefully get him to pay at least some of the damages. What do you think about that?

[nightfighter]

Either way, your brother had the final call to drive or not. "You take it to him" is a general statement and the manner in which he gets it to you is at your brother's descretion. Unless he super glued your brothers ass to the seat, started the bike, cracked the throttle and sent him down the road, it won't matter.

It will cost you $$ to file a small claims suit (court filing fee). Not sure how much, but here for example it varies from about $75 to $250.00 to file.

As I stated in my previous post, I think you have a nominal chance at best of winning and a significantly better chance of having your case dismissed.

It'll just put you that much more in the hole financially. Check with the Clerk of the Court in your county and see what they charge. You can determine if it's worth it or not from there.

My thought is as follows: Sumarily dismiss this asshole from your life, put the word out so no one else gets hammered by him (using only substantiatable fact), use the $$ you would have used to file the suit to repair the bike (at least get you started) and chalk this up to one hard earned but very valuable lesson.

BTW...did you have insurance on the bike? If so, they should probably take care of the damage minus your deductible.

In Florida, we are not required to maintain insurance on a bike unless we plan on riding helmetless. Then it's only 10k of medical I believe (what a joke).

Hope this helps and please let me (us) know how this turns out.

Take care