Why Winning a Used Car Fraud Case Is Not Always Enough
As an attorney, I have to look at more than whether a party harmed my client. I also have to look at whether the defendant can actually pay. Liability and collectability are both required before I, or any lawyer, take a case. Most people have never heard the second term “collectability.” Once understood, you will understand why some obvious wrongs never make it to court. Sadly, it happens all too often.
I hear from potential clients every day. The cases run the gamut, from used cars bought through social media, to cars bought off tiny independent lots, to vehicles bought from corporate franchise dealers. That range affects which cases I take. Often the facts paint a clear picture of malfeasance, fraud, or error by the dealer. In other words, liability is obvious.
What stops me from helping someone usually has nothing to do with liability. It comes down to collectability.
What Collectibility Actually Means
Liability asks whether someone did something wrong. Collectability asks whether you can actually get money out of them if you win. You can have a rock solid case and a judgment in hand, and still walk away with nothing if the defendant has no income, no assets, no insurance, and no bond standing behind the transaction. A judgment is just a piece of paper unless there is something on the other end of it to collect against.
This important factor catches people off guard. They assume that if they can prove the seller lied, the rest takes care of itself. It does not. I have to think about both halves of the equation before I ever take a case, and you should think about both halves before you ever hand over money for a used car.
Why Facebook Marketplace and Other Unlicensed Sellers Raise the Risk
Risk piles up fast when you buy from a stranger or an unlicensed seller on Facebook Marketplace. Nobody vets the seller or verifies their identity. Anyone can post a listing. Plenty of sellers use fake names or have someone else post on their behalf. That setup leaves you with little to no recourse against the seller, and even less against Facebook itself.
Federal law backs Facebook, now Meta, up on this point. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects online platforms from liability for content that other people post, and courts apply that protection broadly. In Calise v. Meta Platforms, Inc., 2022 WL 1240860 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 27, 2022), a federal court dismissed claims against Meta over fraudulent third-party ads because Meta did not create the fraud, it just hosted it. A Maryland federal court reached the same conclusion in 2025 in a case that arose directly from a Facebook Marketplace ad for counterfeit silver coins. Meta walked. The buyer was left with nothing.
That means if you cannot find or serve the person who scammed you, Facebook will not step in as a backup defendant. You are on your own, and that is true even when the fraud happened entirely inside Facebook's own Marketplace product.
Plenty of honest people use Facebook Marketplace every day, and I am not telling you to avoid it. I want you to understand that buying from an unlicensed individual carries more risk than buying from a licensed dealer, for a simple reason. Licensed dealers have to register with the state, post a surety bond, and operate from a fixed business address. A private seller posting from a phone has none of that. In Texas, you do not even need a dealer's license to sell up to four vehicles in a twelve month period. Sell a fifth, and the law expects you to hold a General Distinguishing Number, or GDN, issued by the Texas DMV. Sellers who skip that requirement and quietly flip car after car off Marketplace or a vacant parking lot are doing something Texas law has a specific name for: curbstoning. It is illegal, and it is common, especially in a market the size of Houston. Although illegal, it is hard to enforce or catch them in the act.
It goes one step further than just finding the person. Even when you find the seller and serve them with a lawsuit, they often have no money to pay a judgment and no insurance or bond covering the deal. A licensed dealer carries that bond precisely so a wronged buyer has something to collect against. A private seller almost never does.
This is also where the type of claim you can bring starts to matter. When the seller is a licensed Texas dealer, the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, or DTPA, gives a defrauded buyer sharper tools, including the potential for attorney's fees and additional damages on top of what you lost. When the seller is a private individual, some courts limit you to a straightforward fraud or breach of contract claim. Those remedies are real, but they are narrower, and none of it matters if there is nothing behind the seller to collect against.
How to Protect Yourself Before You Buy
Most of these problems are preventable if you take a few steps before you hand over any money. Here is what I tell people:
Get it in writing. Use a written bill of sale or purchase agreement, not a text thread or a verbal promise. It should spell out the buyer's and seller's full names, the vehicle's year, make, model, and VIN, the purchase price and how it will be paid, the date of sale, and any promise the seller makes about the car's condition or a repair that will happen later. If the seller says they will fix the air conditioning before you pick the car up, put that in the agreement with a date attached to it. Texas does not require a bill of sale to be notarized, so there is no excuse not to have one. Keep a signed copy for yourself.
Identify the parties. This seems obvious, but the agreement should have the seller's full legal name printed and signed, not a first name, a Marketplace username, or just a signature. While you are working out the deal, get a photo of the seller's driver's license or ID. If the seller claims to work for or represent a dealer, get the dealer's name and their GDN, the official license number Texas issues to every legitimate vehicle dealer. You can look up a GDN on the TxDMV website in a few minutes. If a private seller cannot give you their real name or will not show you ID, that tells you something on its own, and it is not good.
Avoid paying with cash. Use a cashier's check, a credit card, a wire transfer, or a traceable app like Zelle or Cash App. Keep a copy of the payment record. Cash leaves no trail and gives you nothing to point to later if the deal falls apart. A canceled check or payment confirmation becomes part of your written record and backs up everything in step one.
Get the title before you leave with the car. In Texas, the seller has to sign over the actual certificate of title. That signed title, not just a bill of sale, is what lets you transfer the car into your name at the county tax office. If a seller gives you a story instead of a title, such as the title is coming, they are waiting on a payoff, or the bank still has it, you are now driving a car you cannot prove you own. Do not leave with the car unless the seller can produce the physical title at the time of sale, or you have a clear, written plan for exactly when it will be delivered. Specific details matter here. You have thirty days after the sale to title the vehicle in your name, so do not let that window close while you wait on a title that never shows up.
Run the VIN before you commit. A vehicle history report through the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, or a service like Carfax, will tell you whether the car carries a salvage or flood title, whether the odometer reading lines up with its history, and whether a lien is recorded against it. If a private seller will not give you the VIN before you show up to look at the car, treat that as a red flag.
Say no. If the seller balks at any of this, or you just feel uneasy about the deal, say no and walk away. There will always be another car for sale. There will not always be a way to get your money back once the scammer runs off with your money.
When Liability Is Not Enough
Following these steps will not eliminate every risk of buying a used car, but it puts you in a far stronger position if something goes wrong. A signed agreement, a copy of the seller's ID, a paper trail of payment, and a clean title turn "I got scammed and there is nothing I can do" into a case I can actually evaluate.
If you already bought a car and the deal went bad, I will ask the same questions laid out above. Who actually sold you this car? Can I find them? Do they have anything I can collect if we win? If you can answer those questions, or get me close, reach out through go.tabak.us/dealercase and I will tell you honestly whether the case is worth pursuing.
Common Questions About Buying a Car Privately in Texas
Can I sue someone who sold me a bad car on Facebook Marketplace?
Yes. You can sue the individual seller for fraud or breach of contract. Facebook itself is almost never liable for what a third party sold on its platform. The hard part is finding the seller and collecting from them once you win.
Is Meta responsible if a private seller scams me on Marketplace?
Almost never. Federal courts have repeatedly dismissed lawsuits against Meta over fraudulent third-party listings and ads under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, including cases that arose directly from Marketplace listings.
What is curbstoning?
Curbstoning is the illegal practice of selling vehicles as if you are a private individual, often from a driveway or vacant parking lot, when you are actually operating as an unlicensed dealer. Texas requires a dealer's license, called a GDN, once someone sells five or more vehicles in a twelve-month period.
Do I need a notary to buy a car privately in Texas?
No. Texas does not require a bill of sale or title assignment to be notarized for a private vehicle sale. You do need the seller's signature on the title itself and a completed Form 130-U to transfer the title at your county tax office.
What does collectability mean in a lawsuit?
Collectability refers to whether the person or company you are suing actually has money, assets, or insurance to pay a judgment. A strong, clear-cut case is not worth pursuing if there is nothing left to collect once you win it.