vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
"Do not give them any money until you have a signed contract that releases your liability completely. It's imperative that this contract be drafted correctly. The contract needs proper consideration (money in exchange for release of liability), among other things. In other words, talk to a lawyer if you want to go this route. If you just cut them a check, there's nothing stopping them from taking your money and making an insurance claim anyway, or taking your money and then suing for ""whiplash"" or some other fake injury.  The best way is just to go through insurance. It might cost a bit more, but you're covered in case they sue."
Checks are awesome things in that, even if it gets lost the money doesn't change hands until the check is cashed. I would highly recommend NOT signing a check over and putting it in the mail though. Essentially putting your signature on it is saying yes, pay to whomever. Theoretically acceptable, rarely a good idea. Call the insurance company and have them cancel current check to reissue to the correct people. Don't forget to write VOID (in huge letters) on the check before throwing away and/or tearing it up.
You are not perfectly clear, but I will assume that your ex-girlfriend owns the car and that her name is the only one on the title. The fact that you paid off the loan and repaired the car is completely irrelevant. From a court's point of view you gifted the car to your girlfriend. If you are listed on the title, then your best move is to steal the car and hide it so she can't steal it back. Note that you are not actually stealing it if you are listed on the title since you own the car. (Try to steal it when it is parked in some public place. Avoid going onto her property.) Wait until she gets hungry, then offer her $500 if she agrees to remove her name from the title. By the way, after you steal the car, send a certified letter to her informing her that you have possession of the car. This is so that she has no grounds to report it stolen. Check with the police periodically to make sure she doesn't report it stolen anyway. If she reports it stolen AFTER you have notified her that you have possession, then it is a crime (making a false report).
I wouldn't bother.  I think this varies from state to state, but generally her insurance would cover her even when driving someone elses car.
Part of 'consideration', I imagine, would be the obligation of either party to follow through on an agreement, not only fair market value. Look at the thought experiment from the opposite perspective.  If you did not pay him $150 (maybe just $50 or even $0), would you be breaking a contractual obligation to him?  If he left after 2 hours because he forgot about a family event and did not finish your move, would he be breaking a contractual obligation to you even if you gave him $150? It seems it can be considered a gift (Update: in all cases) There was no agreement of what either party viewed as full consideration in a mutual exchange.   To put it another way: From your examples, there is no evidence that the performance of either party hinged on receiving mutual consideration from the other.  More Updates from comments: Patterns Matter Similarly to how the IRS may determine W2 employee vs independent contractor, patterns do matter.  If your friend has a pattern of helping people move in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in gifts every year, the IRS would view that in a different light. A waitress/waiter has a pattern of accepting 'gifts' of tips in exchange for good service as a part of their established job duties. If you gifted your friend with $150/week when they watched your kids every Monday-Wednesday, that would be different. You are establishing a pattern, and I would suggest you may be establishing mutual consideration. In that case, consult a professional if you are worried. Amounts Matter This is why the gift tax exemption was created. The IRS does not care about the amounts in question here. It is too much of a burden to track and account for transactions that are this questionable and this small.  You gift your friend with a $20k car? Now you need to pay attention. Consult your CPA. You gift your friend $1k for helping build your new deck? The IRS does not care. Intent Matters Even in the first case, it is not necessarily true that your friend considers $150 to be mutual consideration for his services. Would he open a business where he offers that rate to the general public? I doubt it. He intends to gift you services out of his own free will, not because there will be an equitable exchange of value.  The intent of both parties is to give a gift. There is no evidence that would suggest otherwise to the IRS, it seems, even if they cared in the first place.
"I would respond to your friend this way: ""Either you are planning to do something illegal, in which case I don't want to be involved, or you are planning to do something legal, in which case you don't need me."" Here's Why: What your friend proposes is completely pointless because if the money is legally his to give to you, then it's perfectly legal for your friend to withdraw the $40K from his own bank account and take it out of the country without your involvement at all. As long as he files the appropriate paperwork, he can take as much money out of the country as he pleases. He should be prepared to answer why he's travelling with that much money, but he would have to do that anyway even if you went through with his plan. Note that if you declare the money you are fine, but if you don't declare it and get caught, you will get in trouble, so always declare it! You are correct to say no to this. The fact that he wants to involve you (or anyone) makes it seem extremely shady."
JohnFx is more experienced than I am but I have paid off friends cards before. It was as simple as asking them the routing number of the bank that gave them the card and setting up an ACH with their card number. I guess this might be against some banks T&C but the CU I used to carry out the ACH gave me the go ahead as long as I did not dispute the payment later.
I think I'm reading that you cosigned a loan with a friend, and they've stopped paying on their loan. Not a whole lot of options here. You'll have to pay the loan off by yourself or allow the loan to go into collections in hopes that you'll get more money later and pay it off then. Small claims court is definitely an option at that point. Next time, perhaps try not to cosign loans with friends unless you really trust them and are confident that you can pay the loan off if they cannot.
In the united states, they may request a check written by the bank to the other party. I have had to make large payments for home settlements, or buying a car. If the transaction was over a specified limit, they wanted a cashiers check. They wanted to make sure it wouldn't bounce.  I have had companies rebate me money, and say the maximum value of the check was some small value. I guess that was to prevent people from altering the check. One thing that has happened to me is that a large check I wanted to deposit was held for a few extra days to make sure it cleared. I wouldn't have access to the funds until the deadline passed.
"This will probably require asking the SO to sign a quitclaim and/or to ""sell"" him her share of the vehicle's ownership and getting it re-titled in his own name alone, which is the question you actually asked. To cancel the cosigner arrangement, he has to pay off the loan. If he can't or doesn't want to do that in cash, he'd have to qualify for a new loan to refinasnce in his name only, or get someone else (such as yourself) to co-sign. Alternatively, he might sell the car (or something else) to pay what he still owes on it. As noted in other answers, this kind of mess is why you shouldn't get into either cosigning or joint ownership without a written agreement spelling out exactly what happens should one of the parties wish to end this arrangement.  Doing business with friends is still doing business."
Checks are on the way out. The liability for even sending someone a check is worrying. Banks really do not look at these things very closely before cashing them, it's insane. If you're defrauded you will usually get restitution but it can take a long time to get them to pay up.
"The store owners don't know what your intentions are.  All they know is they gave you good cash for a bad check.   Part of this is that you're paying for the bad acts of others in the past, and these people aren't in the business of trying to understand your intentions.  If you show good faith by going in and paying whatever you can, it will go a long way toward getting them to work with you on the balance. I don't know if they'd have much of a criminal case if the check you gave them was clearly marked as ""void"" and you've shown a willingness to resolve the situation.  Of course you can't blame them for not wanting to accept another check from you.  Good old hard cash, even if it isn't the full amount, will be a better sign of your intent to repay the debt."
You need to stop what you are doing right now and cut off contact with them! This is an extremely common scam. Here's how it works: They give you a check, maybe even a certified check. Usually in payment for something they are buying from you. The check happens to be for more than the sales price. They ask you to refund the difference, and pressure you to do so quickly. You will see why in a second. The check deposits fine and the money shows up in your account. Assuming the bank wouldn't do that if it wasn't a good check you let your guard down and pay them. In a couple of weeks, the bank detects that it is a fake check. They remove the money from your account, and may even report you for prosecution to local authorities for passing a fraudulent check.  Meanwhile the person has the money you gave them and you can't find them because they gave you a fake name. To add insult to injury they may also have the property you sold them.  You feel like a chump. Variants of this scam include them asking you to cash a check for them and you get to keep a part of the proceeds for your trouble. Sometimes it is presented as a work-at-home scheme.  If you feel you absolutely must complete this deal, and you shouldn't. I would suggest you ask the person for a couple of forms of picture ID and tell them you need to make sure they aren't a scammer and you are going to do a background check on them with your local police to protect yourself. I predict the person will disappear and never contact you again about the money.  Also, I suggest you talk to your bank immediately and inform them you think you might have been a victim of a scamming attempt so that you don't look like an accomplice when this is all said and done.
Of course, taking money that isn't yours is stealing even if it happens to be sitting in your bank account. However, unless the sum involved is significant the police are usually not interested in diverting their attention away from ""serious"" crimes like homicide, armed robbery and terrorism so the aggrieved party is usually on their own. That said, this is probably a scam because they called you rather than your bank doing so. They cannot get your phone number from your account number: they have to know who you are and what your account number is. This is not as hard to do as it sounds since both your name and account number are prominently printed on your cheques and deposit books (possibly your phone number as well which saves them looking it up in the White Pages)."
"Now today I received another refund in the same amount for the same property. What can legally happen if I cash it? Legally the money is not yours. The best course for you is to return the check via certified mail, notifying them that you were already paid. Just because someone made an error, does not mean the money belongs to you. If you don't and rather cash the check; sooner or later depending on the amount, it would be found out by the company as part of reconciliation/audit; they will/can then demand the same back from you.  It is up to the company to decide if simply refund is sufficient; or refund plus some interest or start a legal proceeding against you as ""intentional theft""."
"The whole concept of ""spending a fraudulent check"" is misleading. Both in practice and legally there are two separate transactions - you (not) receiving funds by depositing a fraudulent check, and you sending a cash transfer further on. Regarding the fraudulent check, generally your bank is 'responsible' in the sense that it's their responsibility to recover the money from you - it will not receive any money from the bank that supposedly issued the fake check, and if they give it to you, you spend all that money and are unable to pay it back, that's their problem and not of the other institutions. Regarding the cash transfer, from the bank point of view it's solely your responsibility - it was really you who made that payment, you explicitly authorised/instructed the banks to deliver money to the recipient, and none of those banks have the duty to return it. You have been defrauded by the recipient of this payment, and may attempt to recover the money from the fraudster - but that's not particularly likely to happen even in the case of a successful arrest and conviction.  Very fast reaction with involvement of police may block the ""vendor's"" account before they are able to withdraw the money. If that is the case, you might be able to recover your money or part of it."
Your question is a bit confusing, you may wish to edit it to clarify the meaning. If we broke up or he stops paying, can I take the car back again? No. Just as if you sold me or the guy down the street your car you cannot just simply take it back.  Being someone's boyfriend does not grant special privileges to you or him.   Don't do this if you have not done so.  If you have try and get it undone.   It is unlikely that this is allowable as the bank will not simply allow you to transfer ownership if you have a loan. In the future, use cash (not loans) to buy your cars.
I tried to find that out once, and learned 'theoretically never'. The reason is that the guy who gave you the check (name him guy-1) might have deposited a check from guy-2 a day before, and without that money, his check will bounce. Now guy-2 might have deposited a check from guy-3 a day before, and without that money, his check will bounce. Repeat for a while, and then bounce the check from guy-99, and it takes the banks months to unravel it. Yes, improbable. But. A friend working in a bank explained me that, he had seen chains of three and four unravel, which took 20+ days.
I've been an F&I Manager at a new car dealership for over ten years, and I can tell you this with absolute certainty, your deal is final. There is no legal obligation for you whatsoever. I see this post is a few weeks old so I am sure by now you already know this to be true, but for future reference in case someone in a similar situation comes across this thread, they too will know. This is a completely different situation to the ones referenced earlier in the comments on being called by the dealer to return the vehicle due to the bank not buying the loan. That only pertains to customers who finance, the dealer is protected there because on isolated occasions, which the dealer hates as much as the customer, trust me, you are approved on contingency that the financing bank will approve your loan. That is an educated guess the finance manager makes based on credit history and past experience with the bank, which he is usually correct on. However there are times, especially late afternoon on Fridays when banks are preparing to close for the weekend the loan officer may not be able to approve you before closing time, in which case the dealer allows you to take the vehicle home until business is back up and running the following Monday. He does this mostly to give you sense of ownership, so you don't go down the street to the next dealership and go home in one of their vehicles. However, there are those few instances for whatever reason the bank decides your credit just isn't strong enough for the rate agreed upon, so the dealer will try everything he can to either change to a different lender, or sell the loan at a higher rate which he has to get you to agree upon. If neither of those two things work, he will request that you return the car. Between the time you sign and the moment a lender agrees to purchase your contract the dealer is the lien holder, and has legal rights to repossession, in all 50 states. Not to mention you will sign a contingency contract before leaving that states you are not yet the owner of the car, probably not in so many simple words though, but it will certainly be in there before they let you take a car before the finalizing contract is signed.
"Yes, you should contact the bank and report it.  They will eventually ""find"" that money if it's not yours.  You better get it over with rather than having more surprises later."
I have been in this situation and I essentially went for the truthful answer.  I first explained that co-signing for a loan wasn't just vouching for the person, which I certainly would do, but it was putting my name on the loan and making me the person they loan company would go after if a payment was ever missed. Then I explained that even within married couples, money can be a major source of strife and fights, it would be even worse for someone not quite as close like a family member or friend. Essentially I wouldn't want to risk my relationship with a good friend or family member over some financial matter.
"This may vary some by the state, but the general facts are consistent broadly. The elements of check fraud typically are: This means that not only do you have to have presented a check that is returned for insufficient funds, but you must have known at the time that it wouldn't be honored.   It must typically also be given for present consideration, which is why the comments to the other answer correctly note that the post-dated check ""scam"" cooked up by the payday loan folks shouldn't generally be relevant under these laws; on the same site, they note the cases that are clearly not present consideration: So if I give you a check for $50 and it's returned for NSF because I screwed up my bank accounts and had all my money in savings, that's probably not fraud.  But if I decide I really want a Tesla X and give Tesla Motors a check for $95,000, knowing I don't have $95,000, that's fraud. How the prosecutor proves knowledge is probably beyond the scope of Personal Finance and Money Stack Exchange, though I imagine it tends to commonly be done so by showing the person doesn't normally have that much money in their account."
The bank is expected to issue you a check for the balance of your account, make sure your name and address on file is correct as that is who they will make the check to and send it. Have the credit union also contact Chase, or get a statement from the credit union, about their customer. If the check does bounce back to the credit union and the account was under his name, then you will have to deal with the state and his estate and you will have to find a different solution for the bills.
So the bank can (theoretically) compare that signature to the ID you provide, showing that the names and signatures match and that you are the person to whom the check was written.
It's her car.  Unlike what Ross said in the comments she can't sign it over to you--she doesn't own it yet.  The best you'll be able to do is have her leave it to you in her will--but beware that you very well might need to refinance the loan at that point.
"The IRS definition of gift you quoted has ""full consideration ... received in return"". If your friend's help is not contingent upon your monetary offer (as is the case in all your scenarios I believe?), then it shouldn't be viewed as consideration in return of your money, right?"
"If your son endorses the check or better still, endorses it with ""for deposit only"" and places the account number in the endorsement, it's likely the bank will accept it for deposit. In this manner, you are not putting it in your account, you are putting it in his. I have a family member perform this action occasionally with zero complications and she does not have an account at the same bank."
Is your name on the title at all? You may have (slightly) more leverage in that case, but co-signing any loans is not a good idea, even for a friend or relative. As this article notes: Generally, co-signing refers to financing, not ownership. If the primary accountholder fails to make payments on the loan or the retail installment sales contract (a type of auto financing dealers sell), the co-signer is responsible for those payments, or their credit will suffer. Even if the co-signer makes the payments, they’re still not the owner if their name isn’t on the title. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) notes: If you co-sign a loan, you are legally obligated to repay the loan in full. Co-signing a loan does not mean serving as a character reference for someone else. When you co-sign, you promise to pay the loan yourself. It means that you risk having to repay any missed payments immediately. If the borrower defaults on the loan, the creditor can use the same collection methods against you that can be used against the borrower such as demanding that you repay the entire loan yourself, suing you, and garnishing your wages or bank accounts after a judgment. Your credit score(s) may be impacted by any late payments or defaults. Co-signing an auto loan does not mean you have any right to the vehicle, it just means that you have agreed to become obligated to repay the amount of the loan. So make sure you can afford to pay this debt if the borrower cannot. Per this article and this loan.com article, options to remove your name from co-signing include: If you're name isn't on the title, you'll have to convince your ex-boyfriend and the bank to have you removed as the co-signer, but from your brief description above, it doesn't seem that your ex is going to be cooperative. Unfortunately, as the co-signer and guarantor of the loan, you're legally responsible for making the payments if he doesn't. Not making the payments could ruin your credit as well. One final option to consider is bankruptcy.