In late September, we shared Craig and Hannah Blanchard’s story. The Dunedin, Florida couple bought a used Toyota RAV4 for their teenage daughter. They paid in full with $17,000 from a home equity loan, only to watch it get hauled away by law enforcement seven months later. The car, they were told, wasn’t really theirs.

That gut punch set off a long, confusing ordeal. Ultimately, it touched on one of the murkiest corners of car ownership: the mechanic’s lien.

The RAV4 came from a local man named Vasilios “Bill” Ioannidis

He runs B&B Spyder Customs, an auto shop in the area. Blanchard said he met Ioannidis in a residential front yard, not a dealership lot.

He paid with cashier’s checks made out to “Bill” personally, but the title listed Ioannidis’s business.

Everything seemed fine…until deputies arrived one day with a tow truck

They seized the RAV4 as evidence in what they described as a “fraudulent sale.”

Public records show Ioannidis had taken legal ownership of the RAV4 through a mechanic’s lien. That happened roughly a month before selling it.

That process allows a repair shop to claim a vehicle if the customer fails to pay their bill after a set waiting period. The shop can then request a new title and sell the car to recoup its costs.

It’s all perfectly legal…if the paperwork is done correctly and the waiting period has passed.

But somewhere in this case, the timeline blurred

The original owner apparently reported the car stolen, despite the lien.

That report triggered a police investigation, leaving the Blanchards without their RAV4, still making payments on the $17,000 expense, for months.

Fortunately, the shop owner just gave the Blanchards their money back

Once consumer reporter Shannon Behnken started asking questions, Ioannidis reached out to the Blanchards and returned the full purchase price and taxes.

The sheriff’s office confirmed the RAV4 has since been picked up by its original owner and that an investigation remains open.

Interestingly, public reaction hasn’t been angry toward the seller

Many YouTube commenters praised Ioannidis for refunding the family and speculated that he might have been following the law in the first place.

Some believe the original owner never paid the shop for repairs, forcing Ioannidis to claim the car legally before selling it. Others simply admired that he did the decent thing when things went sideways.

Always check the title status before handing over cash

Before agreeing to a private sale, check the title status through the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or your state’s DMV.

Look for liens, verify the seller’s name matches the title, and if the car’s coming from a business, ask for the lien release paperwork.