I had someone help me to tow my car back to my area, I am not working due to cancer and i need my car as it is my only means of transportati...

Question

I had someone help me to tow my car back to my area, I am not working due to cancer and i need my car as it is my only means of transportation, when I asked this person to help me I told them that I could pay them probably only about 50 dols and gas( because i would have to borrow the money as it was) i paid them 45 dols and the 10 it cost for gas. When we got there my back two tires were flat and so we had to use a pulley to get it on the trailer, on the way back I told him how much I appreciated him helping me and I realize he had to do a little extra work( in which there were 3 of us doing) and that when I get a little extra money I will give him a few more dols( thinking like 20 or 30 tops, to be on the genorous side of being fair) for none of his other friends would have even paid him the 45 like I did, much less offer a few more. I couldnt have my car taken to my place because I would have had to have someone come to my house to work on it and the old grumpy controlling man I live with wouldnt have let a guy to come there to work on my car so this guy that helped me offered( now that I look back almost insisted) we take my car to his house because he could air up my tires there, and so he had agreed that since the friend of mine who I was going to have work on my car always hangs out in his neighborhood that i could keep the car at his place to get worked on. I couldnt seem to get a straight answer on what parts i need etc or even get up with the guy to do the work so i looked it up online and with my car and the problem it was having would require me to spend 500 to fix it( the car has 250000 miles on it and isnt even worth that so i decided to salvage it out or junk it and use the 275 dols from that to put towards another car.I went to go get the stuff- tags etc off the car and the guy who helped me is in jail, they have it locked up inside the gate and the girl and guy staying there said they went to the jail to see him and that he wont tell them where my key is and that I owe him 150 dols. I have no idea if or why he would say this other than maybe it being his intention all along to skim my car from me and using the excuse to air up my tires there from the get go, causei couldnt understand why we just couldnt stop at the gas station to air them up. I took the police over there with me and the cop said he knows of these people and its not a place i want to have my vehicle at. They knew i was coming back with the cops and had left and locked up the gate by the time i got there with the cop. The cop told me that although the car is mine that he cant make them give me my car..and that he vould talk to them but cant make them give it to me and that i would have to file a civil suit and get a court order from a judge. I dont have any money at all, i havnt been able to work because of recovering from cancer and i cant pay to file a civil suit. What can i do, can i make him pay for the civil suit? Can i make him also have to pay me for each day he is keeping me from getting my car and causing me more distress? And what steps do i need to take and where do i go and how long does all this take before i can get my car back? Plz respond quickly as I am so depressed about this, and need answers fast.thanx

Answer

The only option you have available is to file a small-claims lawsuit which will allow you to plead your case to a judge. You will likely have no problem getting the car back, but unfortunately, you will not be able to get it back without them willingly doing it, or without an order signed by the judge. You will likely be able to get a judgment against them for any court costs and attorney's fees, especially here in Florida, but this is all going to happen after the fact, and you will be responsible for the up-front costs and fees.