I recently sold my boat, now the new owner is claiming there is damage and he wants me to pay to repair it.?

Buyer Beware. He should have inspected the boat thoroughly. I sincerely doubt his bank is running a fraud investigation for this. Note: It could be that his wife just didn't like the boat - and she's mad and making him try to get his money back. Or he just wanted a free boat for a couple of weeks. Do not pay him - let him sue - I wonder what judge would go against you. /

It's Craigslist. Legally, he'll have a hell of a hard time pinning anything at all on you. Hell, when it comes down to it, does he have any proof that you owned the boat at all? Ever? Maybe he's just completely nuts, making the whole thing up from scratch.

"Dear Sir, I'm sorry you're having issues with the boat. I had no such issues with the boat when I owned it."

The "next step" can only be to take you to small claims court. I saw this type of case on one of the court TV shows. A boat or a car is always sold "as is" unless you implied a warranty for a period of time either from the company or one you write yourself. The buyer can win a suit against you only if you did not disclose defects in the boat that you were aware of and he has to prove that. If you did not know about the problem, you are not liable. In any case since the sale was "as is" it was the buyer's duty to inspect it professionally and you are not liable. You do not have to pay him a penny unless he takes you to small claims court and wins a judgment. He has to sue you where you live. The sale is final when he buys it. The 72-hour waiting period only applies to someone who solicits you to sign a contract to purchase something but that does not apply to you. You have to go by the laws in the state where you had the boat registered OR possibly where you sold it. I am giving you information I have learned only from following this type of case on TV shows which are real cases. Oregon is a state that has good protections against fraud so you should check the law. The buyer's bank can check the history like you do with Carfax if they want to but he should have done that before he bought it. I don't know what insurance fraud had been committed before you owned the boat but it does not matter in this situation.

The reason you will not find a law on this is it is common law, which is an old form of English law that we were left since we are originally an English colony. The phrase that you can look up about it is Caveat Emptor, which in latin literally means "Let the Buyer Beware." You express nor implied no warranty, you stated the boat was in good condition which has no meaning and you did not say you would give money back if it was not, so Caveat Emptor rules. He did not do his "due diligence." If he wanted to he could have had a boat mechanic or for that matter anyone join him in the picking up of the boat, they could have inspected it and told you that it was not worth that amount because of X Y or Z, but he did not so he waived his right to go back on you. Therefore, I would tell him to either punch sand or bleed a stone, because he will get more money out of either of those than going after you.

Wait, to sell him the boat, you mist have titled it in your name, right? So there shouldn't be a problem there, even if you never had insurance on the boat. It's most likely, that he's trying to bully you into paying him - it's also pretty likely that he's the one that had the accident - or that the person YOU bought it from, had the accident. In any case, if you DO still have the vin, it would be a GREAT idea to pay the $25 and run your own carfax report on that boat.

He hasn't got a leg to stand on. He bought the boat "As is" which means it was his responsibility to inspect it thoroughly before he bought it, just as you would a car. Sounds to me like he's trying to bully you into giving him some free money. If he contacts you again and threatens you that he's going to 'take the next step', tell him that's exactly what you'll do too, by reporting him to the police for harassment.