Abandoned dirt bike on our property - guy won't pick it up... how long till its ours? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Abandoned dirt bike on our property - guy won't pick it up... how long till its ours?

canukgirl77

canukgirl77

Well-known member
I hope this is the right section for this.

My husband is a mechanic and has been doing some work on bikes in our home garage here and there for some extra cash.

This kid brought in a dirtbike last summer... almost a year ago, seized up and wanting my husband to take a look at it and summarize what's wrong with it, give him an estimate etc. I forget what all was wrong with it now, it's been so long, but my husband summarized the repairs needed and told him, but the kid was going out of town for work, didn't want to fix it yet, wasn't sure what to do etc. At one point he asked my husband if he wanted to buy it for cheap, he said no.

Months go by... winter's coming... my husband calls him and the kid says he's bought a new dirtbike, can we store the old one for him over the winter, while he thinks about what to do. Fine, $100 storage is agreed upon, and we toss it in our shed.

Now it's MAY. My husband calls the kid, to ask him what's going on, because I'm starting to get more than a bit irritated by the dirtbike taking up space in the shed. The kid claims he lost my husband's number, and hasn't decided if he wants the bike fixed or not, that he'll let us know.

So. I BELIEVE in Ontario, we can give him 30 days notice to come get the stupid thing, or it's ours? Is that correct? If we send him an email and/or text (I assume email is best), tell that him as of tomorrow (June 1) he has until June 30th to come pick up the bike and pay for storage (the agreed $100), and he doesn't come get it by the 30th, which I doubt he will, what do we have to do to make the bike legally ours, especially since we have no ownership papers?? My husband will likely fix it and then sell it.

Part of me wonders if maybe the thing was stolen, and the kid just stashed it here, and is afraid to come get it or something... I dunno...

What should we do?
 
Gaggu P said:
I'll store it free of charge for you, free's up your shed and you make the $100
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Ha, I'll pass, nice try though. I'm pretty sure we could get at least $1000 for it if he fixes it, it's a newer, bigger Yamaha, I think a 250. So definitely an incentive to a- make it ours and b- get it the hell gone, with some extra cash to pay for the annoyance
 
Thanks blackcamaro, I didn't know such a link existed, I'm going to run the VIN as soon as I get home. IF it's stolen, I'll call the cops to come get it. Probably should have done that a while back, but we assumed everything was legit... it still may be, but I can't fathom why the hell this kid doesn't want his property back, even if it IS broken.

IF the cops take it, and it goes to auction, do we have any 'first rights' to buy it back, I wonder? (ETA, if it's NOT stolen... if it IS, I assume it goes back to its registered owner)
 
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blackcamaro said:
Here is a link to check if it is stolen by running the vin # http://www.cpic-cipc.ca/English/search.cfm The first thing I would do is make sure your not in possesion of stolen property. Good luck.
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It's ultimately no different than if I parked my car on your property. Call the police they'll come and pick it up!

I suspect that if the kid wants it he'll pick it up at that point.
 
I DO want to tread somewhat carefully though, the kids knows where we live, obviously, and I'd be none too pleased if we offload his bike and he comes and retaliates on our property. But enough's enough, like I said, it's going on a YEAR.
 
Send him a registered letter to his house, stating by a ceratin date the bike will be removed/sold/handed over to police.

State in the letter the bike has been sitting there for over a year as well.
 
Do not send it to the police it is yours, as he has defaulted on the storage fee's assuming he did not pay. Find out the proper legal process, and have it transfered to you name.
 
I would run it to see if it is stolen, but if it wasn't there is no way would I give it to the cops.

Your husband can place a lien on it under the mechanics liens act....or, if he hasn't done any work that the kid owes you money for, you can notify him that his storage has run out and that a fee of $30 per month will begin to be incurred if he doesn't remove it.

After 3 months of non-payment you can send him a reminder and then seize it for non payment 30 days after that.

Look into the storage liens act here in Ontario to see the exact notification dates etc. so you don't do anything wrong.
 
I tend to agree with vrus, just give it back to the kid. For $100, it's a lot of trouble in court if he makes a big deal of it. Unless there's a decent paper trail of your agreement to store it, and what happens if he doesn't pay...
 
Spiider said:
I would run it to see if it is stolen, but if it wasn't there is no way would I give it to the cops.

Your husband can place a lien on it under the mechanics liens act....or, if he hasn't done any work that the kid owes you money for, you can notify him that his storage has run out and that a fee of $30 per month will begin to be incurred if he doesn't remove it.

After 3 months of non-payment you can send him a reminder and then seize it for non payment 30 days after that.

Look into the storage liens act here in Ontario to see the exact notification dates etc. so you don't do anything wrong.
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Mechanic's Lien was what I was thinking, if said 'mechanic' is really a licensed mechanic. It makes it much easier to transfer ownership, once all of the steps have been taken.

If there was no agreement, either written or verbal as to storage charges, then there is no contract. Without a contract, there can't really be any charges.

But you definitely want to know if it was stolen. Checking with police would be a good idea. If it was, then you can direct the police to who was in possession of it ;)
 
Thanks everyone. By the time I got home last night, and having an appointment in the evening, I forgot to go check the VIN. I'll do that tonight for sure.

My husband is a licensed mechanic, but not licensed in bikes/small engines or whatever, he's licensed aircraft and diesel. It's not a licensed 'business' he's running, he's just working on things here and there from our garage, mostly for friends or friends of friends, only charging 50 an hour. So I wonder if that changes things in terms of the 'mechanics lien act' or the Repair and Storage act. Looks like I have some really dry reading to do.

We don't even have the kid's address... just cell and email.
 
canukgirl77 said:
Thanks everyone. By the time I got home last night, and having an appointment in the evening, I forgot to go check the VIN. I'll do that tonight for sure.

My husband is a licensed mechanic, but not licensed in bikes/small engines or whatever, he's licensed aircraft and diesel. It's not a licensed 'business' he's running, he's just working on things here and there from our garage, mostly for friends or friends of friends, only charging 50 an hour. So I wonder if that changes things in terms of the 'mechanics lien act' or the Repair and Storage act. Looks like I have some really dry reading to do.

We don't even have the kid's address... just cell and email.
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http://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/stat/rso-1990-c-r25/latest/rso-1990-c-r25.html
 
canukgirl77 said:
Thanks everyone. By the time I got home last night, and having an appointment in the evening, I forgot to go check the VIN. I'll do that tonight for sure.

My husband is a licensed mechanic, but not licensed in bikes/small engines or whatever, he's licensed aircraft and diesel. It's not a licensed 'business' he's running, he's just working on things here and there from our garage, mostly for friends or friends of friends, only charging 50 an hour. So I wonder if that changes things in terms of the 'mechanics lien act' or the Repair and Storage act. Looks like I have some really dry reading to do.

We don't even have the kid's address... just cell and email.
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I can't comment if his license as an aircraft mechanic will allow him to register a lien on the dirtbike. If he was an automotive or motorcycle mechanic it would be a slam dunk. It's not a quick and easy process to go through so you need to decide if the bike is worth while. I've had cars in the past where it wasn't worth while and it ended up being cheaper and easier just to have them compacted.
 
You could get $1000 after the paperwork and if there are no other leins. It'll cost a few $$ but a UVIP should provide some info.

From the $1000 subtract the parts plus the money that could be made on less questionable jobs. If it isn't worth it could you leave the bike down by the road with a message to the owner that it's there for him and he should come and get it? Let him know that when it disappears you will assume he took it. Drain the gas and oil so no damage if it tips in the night.
 
Why all the Blah Blah Blah?

Kid didn't pay for "Agreed Storage fee" (He said She said)

Not a Licensed motorcycle / Auto Mechanic charging $50 an hour (Ooops you meant to say willing to accept Monetary gifts for Free work performed.)Didn't you?

Only out Space and Time moving Bike around since no work was Done

Pretty simple solution if you ask me

1.Dump the bike on the Kids door step (Take Video)
2.Drive away
3.Get on with Life

Nothing worse then people leaving their Crap at the shop

*oh that reminds me Scrap metal guys coming*
 
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