CHEATHAM COUNTY, Tenn. — Judge David D. Wolfe ruled Nov. 3 that the certificate of title for a 2014 Buick was signed by Jonathan Friend and therefore that legal title belongs to the vehicle’s claimant, Miss Wells.

The ruling resolved an appeal from General Sessions Court in which Miss Wells sought only the title to the vehicle. In court, Miss Wells testified she paid $2,500 in cash and presented a signed certificate of title she said bore Friend’s signature. Friend testified he had earlier turned the vehicle in as stolen, later recovered and repaired it, and said he never received the $2,500 Miss Wells claims to have paid.

“The title to that vehicle has been signed over by Mr. Friend to her, and therefore, I find that the title to the vehicle belongs to Miss Wells,” Judge Wolfe said from the bench.

The judge explicitly limited his ruling to the legal title. “Do not make any finding regarding the payment that you alleged was made or was not made,” Wolfe told the parties. “Nor do I make any finding for the possession of that vehicle because that was not something that was sought in this lawsuit. The only thing that was sought in this lawsuit was the title to the vehicle.”

Miss Wells had testified she paid in cash and later attempted to register the vehicle in her name but that a duplicate title was issued to Friend. Friend told the court he had sought to trade the vehicle and said he had spent money repairing it after it was recovered and had obtained a replacement title on advice from deputies.

Wolfe told the parties that a separate lawsuit would be required to recover physical possession of the Buick and that any claim for the $2,500 purchase price would need to be pursued as a separate counterclaim or action. “She may be entitled to the vehicle under the law because she got the title from you, but you would still have the right to bring an action against her for $2,500 for the purchase price you claimed she never paid,” Wolfe said.

The court entered an order reflecting that the title transfer had been made; the judge compared the signature on the certificate of title with the signature the defendant supplied on his appeal filing and said they matched. The judge’s order did not adjudicate whether Miss Wells had paid the $2,500 or whether she currently is entitled to possession.

Next steps for either party would require separate filings: Miss Wells may file a replevin or conversion action to pursue the physical vehicle; Friend may file a claim to recover the purchase price he says was not paid.