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When the former Seaham resident sold her car, she failed to notify the buyer that she had first obtained a logbook loan. That action costed John Ronald ownership of the car plus the £1,300 that he paid to the seller. He also is out the £700 he spent on repairs.

Stephanie Lane sold him the car even though the car had a lien on it. She apparently failed to notify Mr Ronald of that lien.

This case was heard in the Durham Crown Court, where prosecutors accused Ms Lane of fraud. The prosecution acknowledged that despite conducting an ownership check of the car prior to the purchase, the lien did not show up. There was no way for the buyer to know that the vehicle was not free of liens.

Loan fraudster avoids prison twice

This incident is not the defendant’s first infraction. Ms Lane had previously benefitted from a suspended prison sentence just two years prior for attempting to finance three cars in her neighbor’s name using false bank information.

She was punished with a suspended sentence in that case. Indeed Judge Colin Burn was merciful in his decision to suspend this new six month prison sentence for two years time, though he made it clear that he was not giving the defendant the benefit of the doubt.

The judge was very direct in expressing the reasons for his decision. He shared his desire to avoid punishing her children by sending her to prison. Ms Lane is ordered to repay the purchase price of £1,300 to Mr Ronald, submit to supervision for two years and complete 160 hours of community work.

Car Repossessed

The first information showing claim to the vehicle by the finance company came in the form of a surprise letter received by Mr Ronald. They informed him that since they held the title and a loan was in default, that they would be repossessing the vehicle.

Fortunately for the buyer, the court ruled that he must be compensated for the full purchase price. He is out the 700 quid spent on repairs.

Logbook Loan Lien

Despite his original search prior to purchasing the car, the buyer was unable to see that the car was security for a logbook loan taken out by Ms Lane. These high cost financing tools are obtained by vulnerable consumers who do not fully understand the costs associated with them. Rates on these products range from over 100 to 500 per cent (representative APR).