Midway Auto Sales, Inc. v. Clarkson

29 S.W.3d 788 (2000)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P sued D for breach of title after a 1986 Corvette it had bought from P was confiscated as a stolen vehicle by the Washington County Sheriff's office. D then filed a third-party complaint against Bowen, who had sold the car to him. At some time before April 1, 1998, Haddock purchased the car with an open title from an individual in Oklahoma with a computer-generated check on a nonexistent bank account. On April 1, 1998, Haddock entered into negotiations to sell the Corvette to Bowen on an open title in exchange for a pickup truck, a camper trailer, and $ 1,000 in cash. Before consummating the sale, Bowen checked with the Oklahoma licensing agency and was informed that the car's title was free of encumbrances. He did not register the car. On June 11, 1998, Bowen sold the Corvette [with the open Oklahoma title to D for $ 5,500.D also did not register the car. He sold it to P for $ 6,000 with the same open title on July 18, 1998. The circuit judge said that the original seller had the opportunity to void the sale and the certificate of title so that they did not pass into the hands of bona fide purchasers. The court found D and Bowen to be bona fide purchasers. The court found for D and P appealed.