Re: Collector Car Fraud!!!
Hey Brian,
A nice and very noble idea, and I hate thieves too. But, some real issues to think about when getting involved in something like this:
1. It's very difficult to establish the "expert" status that is necessary to prosecute a fraud. Any transactions that are not via a dealer will not be prosecutable within a court of law.
2. Dealers, when faced with prosecution, will most likely squirm like an octopus in a bucket. Or, they will simply go out of business and hide behind the protection of being incorporated. Like they say, you can't get blood from a turnip. When faced with paying out, you gotta think a dealer would simply say "The company doesn't have the money" or, "that motor was correct when I sold it". A phony photo of some casting numbers, a Photoshop session, and voila-- Original, matching numbers after-the-fact. The criminal mind is devious.
3. You already identified perhaps your biggest problem-- Establishing jurisdiction, and handling by-state lawsuits. A logistical nightmare to say the least, especially when people/titles/registrations move often, etc... Yikes.
I think there is a reason you don't see lawyers messing around with collector car fraud. The problem you have currently is that musclecars are far too common-- There are lots of them, they share parts, ownership changes seeminly exponentially-- Fradulently sold cars may have changed hands numerous times over the years, and how do you determine culpability? "I didn't do it" is a likely response. A chain of lawsuits will not get anyone anything. Now, if you're talking about a Ferrari 250 GTO or some kind of an exotic, then you've got something to base a lawsuit upon-- Owner history is much more direct, and most importantly, there is enough money within the suit to make it worth your while.
The best defense is, and has always been, being an informed buyer. The way the market currently is, non-knowledgeable buyers will get burned. There's too much hype, and demand equals opportunity. I can personally remember looking at Hemmings in the mid-to-late 80's and thinking that there are more 435 Corvettes than they ever produced, so the currently state of affairs is nothing new. It's much like that old saying, that the biggest lies are done right out in front of people.
Anyone that is buying a '69 Z has to know that the odds of it being legit are slim to none... They made zillions of '69 Ca-mullets, and changing a fuel line, springs, adding a clutch pedal, some emblems, etc... (all parts that are readily available repro) to a plain-jane V8 car is just too easy, especially if it's a LOS built car. Chevrolet cars in particular were not built new to be collectable 35 years later (engines/transmissions not in the VIN).
Anyway, good luck. I'm not saying it can't be done, and if you pull it off, who knows-- Maybe you'll strike it big. It's going to be a tough one, though.
Oh, I almost forgot-- Can I send this bill for consultation to your attention? Ha ha... Just kidding.
Good luck!
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