warning re. forum member ilsegretosvx
 

Dear fellow forum members,

I regret that it has come to this, but I would like to warn fellow SVX forum members against dealing with ilsegretosvx (real name Stefano Miraglia) - he is not to be trusted.

I sold him my '92 SVX in Los Angeles, on October 30 2004. At the time, he asked me to let him keep the NJ license plates on the car until he could drive back to San Diego that same day. He promised to send me the plates (REP32J) once he got back to San Diego. I waited.

In December 2004, I received a letter from the City of San Diego, informing me that I had not paid a parking ticket issued on November 12, 2004, for a 1992 SVX, license plate REP32J. I called Stefano immediately. He apologized and promised to send me the plates and take care of the ticket.

In January 2005, I received another letter from the City of San Diego. Ticket still not paid, and my license plates were still nowhere to be seen. I called Stefano, but his number had changed. On January 14, 2005, he replied to a PM on the forum, and wrote:

I trusted him again (don't ask me why) and sent him the letter. Never heard from him.

Last week, I got a letter from the City of San Francisco, informing me that I had not paid a parking ticket issued for (you guessed it) a '92 SVX, REP32J, issued on January 29, 2005. That's 15 days after Stefano said the California DMV had confiscated the plates.

This week, I received a letter from the City of San Diego, informing me that if I did not pay the outstanding parking ticket (yes the one from November 2004 that Stefano promised to pay, twice), they would report my citation to various credit reporting agencies, and lower my credit rating!

Six months after selling him my SVX, six months after he asked me to let him keep the plates for his drive back to San Diego as a favor, six months after he promised to send them back to me immediately, he has kept none of his promises, and left me to handle all his parking tickets. He has also lied to me repeatedly, and to the best of my knowledge is still using those license plates (despite claiming that the California DMV had confiscated them) and driving a car that is registered in my name without my permission. To top it off, his lying and irresponsibility are threatening to lower my credit rating.

I have begun taking legal action to rectify the matter, but to all fellow forum members: DON'T TRUST STEFANO MIRAGLIA (ILSEGRETOSVX).

I regret having to introduce a sour note to the otherwise polite and cheerful tone of this forum - I thought long and hard about it. Ultimately, I felt that I should warn other members of the forum, in case their goodwill (of which there's a lot around here) got taken advantage of by an untrustworthy forum member. Please beware.

PS - Stefano, when you read this, give me a call. I would LOVE to talk to you.

kmin:

wow! i don't know what to say besides i'm sorry this has happened to you. :(

Not a good thing at all.

I hope you know all you have to do, is cancel the registration on the plates at your DMV. You can tell them exactly what happened, or not tell them anything. It doesn't matter. They will cancel the registration, and you are done with that. NV requires us to surrender the plates, but if you don't have them... well, you just don't have them. They still cancel the registration.

I'll remember that name.

some people truly suck big time...and I know what you mean ..would LOVE to talk to this person..best of luck

If you really want to take extreme measures, you can do the following things.

1. Report your plates stolen.
2. Using the reports, go to your DMV and have them cancle the plates.

Yes. The local police can send the outstanding parking tickets to collection and it *can* lower your credit rating a few points. Most people will not take it against you for such a case. Also, if they do report to a credit agencies, if you have your police report, you *can* and should be able to tell them that someone did that to you and they will either remove it or post a note on your account so that people can understand.

If you want your credit report ran, PM me.

lesson learned: do NOT sell a car and leave your plates on. seen it happen before to friends. "i'll mail them right back!" :rolleyes:

My brother had it happen with a motorcycle he sold. Guy was riding around with no moto license and my bro's plates. One day one of my brother's friends caught up with the guy and gave him a beat down and took the plate.

Sorry this had to happen to you. The guy I bought my svx from did let me drive it home from georgia with his plates on it, but I took them off the minute I got home and registered it properly.

You could also report the car stolen. That might get someones attention! :D

I was allowed to keep the plates on several car I purchased, and I sent them back as soon as I arrived home. They were sent out registered mail as well.

I agree with reporting the plates to you local DMV. :)

I was just pondering this, and up front, I've never been in the situation you guys are talking about. On either side, as a matter of fact.

I bought the 92 from a member, but he dropped off the car and took the tags with him.

But what would a typical police officer do if you were pulled over for no tags, and you had the freshly signed title in hand? Has that ever happened to anybody?

What a two faced, irresponsible punk. We should kick him off the forum. Report the news to the DMV and if nothing happens report the car stolen, because in half that is true, the plates are not his. That's a shame he's using your plates and still manages to get unpaid parking tickets. Idiot?

I don't know if these will help, but maby...

Must have Acrobat Reader

CA release of liability form

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg138.pdf

I assume NY has a similar form, did you send it in? Did he pay by cash or check? If he paid by check then get your deposit records, I've also heard that banks must keep photo copys or electronic coppies of deposited checks, don't know if it is true, but if it is and you can get it then it would be very damming evidence of proof of sale.

Have you sent letters to the cities that have sent you parking tickets?

In south carolina you are allowed to drive with no plates for 30 days as long as you have insurance on a car. The car you are buying does not need to be insured, you just have to have insurance on something and the law makes that insurance automatically cover the car.

It is also pretty easy to get 30 day temp plates to use for things like this.

I am sure it varies state to state though.

I was thinking it went something like this. When I bought the 92, I went to the DMV, they gave me a sheet good for 10 days to stick on my windshield. Then you bring the car in for a VIN check, and after that, they give you a 30 day "pass" for your windshield.

I've never bought or sold a vehicle (in the US) where either party kept the plates. Titles usually have a "report of sale" stub on them that you can submit to the licensing department. If you date the title and submit the stub, you're covered.

With friends I trust, I just sign the title with no date and keep the report of sale stub. With strangers whom I generally trust, I fill out all the paperwork. With people I don't trust, I go to the licensing department with them to make sure the transfer takes place successfully.

I've never had the misfortune to learn these lessons the hard way, but I've seen it happen to other people many times. I would not let this linger. Call the people who are sending you the tickets and explain what's happened, fax them evidence if possible, and ask for an extension. Hopefully they'll accommodate you. Call the licensing department and see what your options are to report the sale. Call the police and see what can be done. Even if these people can't help you, ask them if they have any suggestions. The new owner may be hit with some fees for not transferring the title in a timely manner, but that's not your problem.

thanks everyone
 

Thanks for all the support and advice, everyone.

I don't want to say too much about the course of action I've taken, but the end result should be satisfactory for me, the cities of San Diego and San Francisco, and the California DMV. Stefano, or ilsegretosvx, well... a man reaps what he sows.

And trust me, lesson learned on this one. Unfortunately no one I don't know personally will ever get the same measure of trust from me again.

I work for a dealer and we drive around without plates a lot of time (moving cars around from dealer to dealer. When the cops pull over, I can show them my business card and they can call in and verify. If it is valid, it'll be ok (as in they'll give you a warning). If not, you are going to jail. :)


ps. I am bringing in my dealer plates to Reading. Just in case. :D :D :D :D :D

It is too bad that someone from this site messed up this bad. I would have trusted somone from here too. :(

from what ive seen he is an exception to the rule

Fixed your post :)










ninja edit

Yeah...some of us are honest :)

On the weekend of March 19th and 20th (Sat and Sun) I bought 2 cars, 1 in NJ (from Tomssvx) and an Audi in PA (from Sonicblue off the Nabisco site). I drove BOTH cars back with the other parties plates. It did take me a few days to get to the UPS store but everyone got their items by that Friday.

Sometimes it is hard for a person to get temp plates....Massachusetts does not have temp plates, so it was nice for them to let me take them back to my house.

Sorry to hear that happened, but like others have already mentioned...after the first letter I would have reported them stolen and been done with it. The guy had already wronged you so why not throw him under the bus too??

Hope it all works out for you.

I was a dealer up until last month. Here you get no slack, even if you are just moving them up the road. Best bet is to act like you forgot it :rolleyes:. I kept my "master" registration on me at all times, and that was enough for the locals.

as for the issue... I would report them stolen after all that. That would be what I consider "polite" at this point!

Goodluck, sorry this happened to you.

gracias senor :D

My policy is that if you don't have one, make one and drive back. Make it good too. Either way, you are going to jail so....


I'd say Doug and the boys(and girls) at Reading III would agree. :D :D :D

e would write you a ticket for driving an unregistered vehicle!!!

If you're going to go to the trouble of changing someone else's post at least check your spelling. I'm pretty sure what you meant was 'more the exception THAN the rule', although that's very different from what Weasel originally said. Oh dear aren't i getting nitpicky! I should have been a proofreader.

:rolleyes: Why thankee for chickin my bad gramatical errers der boss :p

Oh and I believe what you meant was He :D
Good thing your not a proofreader! :p

tow
 

<<But what would a typical police officer do if you were pulled over for no tags, and you had the freshly signed title in hand? Has that ever happened to anybody?>>


here, if you don't have a regestered vehicle, you'll be towed at your expence and written for driving a non regestered vehicle. then, you would have to provide insurance and registration proof before they release the car. if you buy a car from a dealer (new or used) you will get a temp tag that covers insurance and registration for 30 days.

Here we give out temp tag for 90 days from dealer and if you are not not going to register in your state, we can give you a little stickie on your windshield for 10 days.

I wish we had temp tags here!!

<<But what would a typical police officer do if you were pulled over for no tags, and you had the freshly signed title in hand? Has that ever happened to anybody?>>

Here, if you are transferring plates only, you are allowed one week to use them before registration. You need the title and a Purchase n Sale agreement signed to back up the date.

Ouch!! That towing and hold the car part has got to hurt!! :)

The dealer thing is what I've always done. I didn't have a clue what to do when I bought the 92. Luckily, the first thing I did was call my insurance guy, and he filled me in on everything.... Step by step on what to do. It went smooth as silk...It took 2 separate trips to DMV, but it went smooth.

In WI it is illegal to leave the plates on when you sell a car. I found out the hard way. A $200 fine from the State of WI :mad:

The idiot who bought it never registered it and got in all sorts of trouble with my plates on it. The police let me off because I had a bill of sale and a photocopy of the buyer's license. But the DMV got involved and ticketed me for leaving the plates on the vehicle.

Doug

Like Ciscokid, some of you have wondered why I didn't take care of this earlier, report the plates stolen, and been done with it. Well, mostly because I was hoping Stefano would step up to the plate, own up to his mistake and be a man and take care of it. I know sometimes all of us go through a tough set of circumstances and need a little grace. But he's abused all the grace and trust I gave him.

In hindsight, I should have done things much differently. But I assumed I could trust him, and so I didn't. Like I said before, lesson learned.

Stefano - When you read this, I really do want to hear what you have to say for yourself.

He's been on the board today. I'd guess that he's read this thread. Seems that you're not going to get a response here.

I'd reckon this guy is too embarrassed to speak up at this point. :o

update
 

On 03-31-2005, 05:26 PM, Stefano (ilsegretosvx) PM'd me in response to this thread:

To which I replied in a PM:
No response after this. At least, not from him (see next post). :rolleyes:

4 more parking tickets
 

Today in the mail, from the City of Chico, I receive 4 unpaid parking tickets.

12/15/2004, at "2 Lot", 13:18 hrs
01/20/2005, at "100 BL W 2nd St", 13:00 hrs
02/17/2005, at "2 Lot", 14:42 hrs
03/02/2005, at "100 BL Salem St", 15:27 hrs

all for "REP32J".

Thanks, Stefano.

Have you done anything else? :confused:

the plates are now registered as lost.
I'm disputing all the parking tickets, obviously.
Although I have no legal duty to, at this point I really will do everything I can to help the various relevant authorities find him.
The amount of money he's going to owe in fines and penalties might just end up being more than what he paid for the SVX. :)

resolution
 

Hi everyone (geez, talk about bringing a thread back from the dead!)...

Please check out http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/show...780#post355780 for the resolution to this thread.

I'd also like to say a big thank you to the forum community. I'm really touched by the fact that people have taken the trouble to PM me and watch out for me. Not only do most of you drive nice cars, but you're also nice people! :D

Happy SVXin'...