peers.dupp wrote:Could the tenant still claim the car back at a later date? I await an answer from our own forum legal eagle, Mike.....
Andrew.
English law is clear in one respect. Being in possession of something is akin to being the legal owner of it. The person presently in possession has the best claim to ownership on the face of it. However, if somebody else is able to demonstrate a better claim to possession of it, they can sue for its return.
With land, if you openly possess it unchallenged for a period of 12 years, you can then register it as your own. This is known as adverse possession. It can, however, be quite woolly in some respects about chattels (things that people own).
There is no such doctrine of adverse possession when it comes to chattels. Possessing it for a lifetime will not automatically make it yours. The only certain way to show exclusive right to possession is by the chattel (in this case the Capri) being delivered to a person. This can be done by legal instrument such as a deed. The most common way is by the giving of a gift. So if you buy a shirt for somebody's birthday, the gift card will say 'To X, From Y', the physical handing over of the shirt with the card will do. You cannot pick up a car and put it in somebody's hand so the act of handing over the keys with appropriate declaration will do.
Possession is like a chain. If there was not adequate delivery, the original owner will retain best title. After him will be the owner of the flat. After him will be the present seller. The original owner of the car has better title over everybody referred to just now. The owner of the flat will have better title than the present seller and so on.
Here, the keys were probably somehow in the possession of the owner of the flat by the sound of things. Query whether they were handed over (as opposed to discovered in the flat) and also whether they were handed over with the intention of gifting the car. If the original owner told the owner of the flat he could take the car against outstanding rent etc, that would probably do.
Whether the original owner of the car can get it back therefore depends upon the circumstances in which the owner of the flat came to possess it. If there was not adequate delivery of the Capri to him, whomever buys this car from the present seller will not (in my view) be able to rule out that they might be challenged by the original owner on some unspecified future date.
NB: Holding the log book/V5 is not proof of ownership. It just defines the keeper/possessor of the vehicle. As we know, sometimes a spouse buys a car for their other half to use but the spouse's name is on the V5. Or a parent does the same for their child.