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Damaged A Rental Snowmobile (Real Estate & Property Law)

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:44:00 GMT

Hi, my boyfriend is being sued in small claims court for a snowmobile that I had an accident with last year in Michigan. After the accident, we immediately called the owner out to inspect it. He said it didn't look bad and told us to continue with our rental agreement which meant turning it in the following morning. It drove fine, but visibly there was damage to the hood.
The next morning, with the owner, we went next door to the dealership where he originally bought it and talked to a dealer about the damage. The dealer itemized the damages at over $3,000.

The owner said that we could buy it from him for the price of replacing it and that he would contact us. He also mentioned just using it for scrap parts. We called him repeatedly and got no response. He mailed one letter in April that said he was still waiting for the final cost.

One year later, my boyfriend is being sued.

The rental agreement states that only my boyfriend was authorized to drive it. However, the owner instructed me on how to drive it and made sure that I was familiar with the controls previous to renting it. He also joked about me driving it after my accident.

Questions: Because my boyfriend has a suspended driver's license, does that make the rental agreement void and not responsible for damages?
Should that detail even be mentioned?
Could I be held responsible?

Do we have the right to have the snowmobile inspected (because it is only small claims court)?

Can we assert that driving it after the fact caused more damage than originally was made?

For this amount, is it even worth driving 3 hours away?

We are more than willing to pay the damages, but $3,000 is high for a driveable snowmobile.

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  • Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:24:00 GMT(1)
  • Quote:

    The rental agreement states that only my boyfriend was authorized to drive it.

    He breached the agreement, he's now being held responsible.

    Quote:

    Questions: Because my boyfriend has a suspended driver's license, does that make the rental agreement void and not responsible for damages?

    Why would a suspended driver's license make him suddenly not responsible for damages incurred during the rental period he agreed to take responsibility for?

    No, a suspended driver's license does not relieve him of his responsibility. It actually makes matters worse.

    Quote:

    Could I be held responsible?

    Even though you didn't sign the agreement, you could, in theory, be sued for damages, since you admitted to the owner of the vehicle that you were driving it.
  • Leave a Comment Now.

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