Q: I need to know what kind of attorney I need to hire for my situation
Our truck was stolen in Johnson County, Texas with a significant amount of property in it because we were actually in the middle of a move. Well, apparently the truck was recovered by Dallas County police and we were never contacted that the truck had been recovered. we were never contacted that it was in the pound because if we were, we would have gone and gotten it. They waited 40 something days and then auctioned the truck off and we lost a significant amount of money from that. My husband had a welder on the back of the truck. It's also a diesel truck and that's not even including all the stuff that was inside of it. when we added it all up it came to like $49,000 but Dallas county is only willing to pay us like $391 because they took out all the fees for the pound all the fees for this and that but how were we supposed to get it out of the pound if we never even knew that it was recovered let alone labout to be sold and they are absolutely refusing to work with us at all.
A:
You are correct that you should have received notice that your vehicle was impounded. They are required to send notice to the registered owner of the truck at the address on the vehicle's most recent registration. Before anything else, be sure your names are listed as the registered owners and that the address on the most recent registration was correct.
Unfortunately, suing the County can be expensive and time-consuming. $49,000 is more than the jurisdictional limits of a small claims court, but significantly less than a large enough amount for an attorney to be interested in suing a governmental entity on a contingency fee. You really should look for an attorney who routinely handles tort claims against governmental entities and those may be hard to find.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
