I accidentally bought a stolen vehicle. I got a bank loan. Vehicle is gone. The banks says I still have to pay. Aren't they liable too?

In general all loan agreements say that you are responsible for paying it back regardless of extenuating circumstances. If it was specifically a car loan, where they knew that's what it was for, then the agreement probably even says specifically that you are responsible for the loan even if buying that vehicle turned out to be a bad decision. It's the old "Buyer Beware" principal that was set by a court precedent way back in the earliest days of the USA, which means it's the default understanding between a buyer and a seller, which means the only way to over-ride it is with a contract... ... and that's why you signed a loan agreement... it's a contract saying you are responsible no matter what... and the banks require it because if you didn't sign a loan agreement, then it would be they who had to live with the corollary of "Let the Lender Beware"... ... and it's because you signed that loan agreement that the banks don't have to carry insurance covering situations like you describe, because in that case they're not really insuring themselves... they'd be insuring *you*, and you'd have a hard time convincing any bank manager to pay insurance premiums for people and situations they don't even know.

Theoretically banks could buy insurance to cover themselves from having made a bad loan that people can't or won't or don't want to pay back for a variety of reasons, but very few do because it's expensive insurance... which is why when there's a financial crisis where people lose jobs and can't repay loans, so many banks go under. Which means... the only way for you to have protected yourself would have been to get the auto-seller to sign a contract before you bought it saying that it wasn't stolen, or to have bought an auto-insurance with a clause saying that you were covered cost of replacement if you had inadvertently bought a stolen car. Sure you can probably find insurance to cover your vehicle if it *gets* stolen from you... ... but you wouldn't even be able to get insurance from Loyd's of London to cover the situation of you having bought a stolen car that gets seized by the original owner unless the premiums are greater than the value of the car, because it would be such a trivial scam for a gang to steel cars, sell them to each other, and then make anonymous calls to the cops telling them where the stolen car is, to be seized and returned to the original owner, whereupon the gang makes an insurance claim... and then they steel the same car again... and round and round it goes.

Unfortunately, your only protection would have been for you as the buyer to have required the seller to sign an agreement saying that he would be accountable if the vehicle turned out to be stolen... ... and yes, I know that doesn't help to have learned that after the fact, but that's the fact of it. But you *did* sign a loan agreement which will say that you are responsible for paying it back regardless, and your only option is to take it to court, but I can tell you already... ... the Judge is not going to let you off the hook if you signed a loan agreement. The best you can hope for is to get the terms of repayment changed so that you can do something like make it a smaller payment stretched out over a longer time so that it doesn't affect your budget much to be carrying the cost of that sad purchase, but... ... if you signed a loan agreement, you'll be accountable to it unless you declare bankruptcy.

I am on your side and so is consumer protection forums. Of course the bankers have some responsibility. It is their duty to sanction loan for anything (vehicle/house/land) only after carrying out proper search regarding whereabouts of the same.

This surely implies that they have failed on their part. You can seek legal help in this regard. After all, you are their customer because you are actually paying money to buy money (getting a loan against paying interest) and services from them.

You customer rights should be protected all the way. I am not going into the very details because only a lawyer can guide you better, judging the practical situations. However, if it is a personal loan, then I am sorry to say that you cannot seek any legal help and you'll have to repay the whole money because then, the bankers have no responsibilities left.

Hope that helps. Thanks.

If it was a personal loan, you are clearly stuck. If it was specifically a car loan, say arranged through the used car dealer, you might have a chance. It may be that the collateral for the loan, if it was a loan with collateral, was the car.In which case it might be that the only option for the loan company if you don't pay is to repossess the car, which they can't do.

Read the original terms of your loan yourself, see if there is anything like that, or just what kind of loan it was. You may want to see a lawyer if, after reading it, you think it may leave room to argue. But, if it was a personal loan that you just went out and spent on a private party car purchase, I think you are out of luck.

There is no blanket government protection against buying stolen merchandise. You have to sue the person selling it to you for damages and your money back, which won't be useful in the case of a small time thief unless he has family that want to clear his name a bit.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.