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Buyer Acknowledgment and Risk Disclosure

Read this before signing. It explains what you are agreeing to and what happens if you cannot pay.

Signed by: Buyer

In short. Written for the buyer in plain language: what you are buying, what you will pay, what you are responsible for, and exactly what happens if you cannot pay. Includes a checklist to work through before signing.

Signed electronically

This is sent to you for electronic signature when you reach that step, and never signed on this website. You'll have it in front of you, in full, before anything is signed.

1. What you are buying

You are buying a used vehicle from a private seller and paying for it over time. This is a purchase, not a rental and not a loan. The vehicle becomes yours on the day you sign. You will be the registered owner.

Because you are paying over time, the seller keeps a lien on the vehicle until you have paid the full amount. That lien is removed when you finish paying.

2. What you will pay

  • The total price is fixed on the day you sign. It will never go up.
  • There is no interest and no rate. The seller’s profit is a fixed markup that is already included in your total price and disclosed to you.
  • Your monthly payment is the total price minus your down payment, divided across the agreed number of months.
  • If you pay early, you pay no penalty. The seller may choose to reduce the amount, but is not required to and has not promised to.

3. What you are responsible for

  • Making every payment on time, directly to the seller. Keep proof of every payment.
  • Keeping comprehensive and collision insurance on the vehicle for the entire term, with the seller named as lienholder. If your insurance lapses, you are in default.
  • All fuel, maintenance, repairs, registration, tolls, parking tickets, and traffic fines from the day you sign.
  • Keeping the vehicle in California and not selling, renting, or pledging it while you still owe money.
  • Telling the seller within five days if the vehicle is in an accident, stolen, impounded, or if you move.

4. The vehicle is sold as-is

This is a used vehicle sold by a private individual, not a dealer. It comes with no warranty. If it breaks down after you buy it, the repair is your responsibility and your payments continue.

  • You should inspect the vehicle, and you should strongly consider paying an independent mechanic to inspect it before you sign.
  • You should review the vehicle’s history report and the disclosures in document 07.
  • The seller must not hide a known defect or a false odometer reading. If they do, you have legal rights against them.
  • There is no automatic cooling-off period on a private vehicle sale in California. Once you sign, you are committed.

5. What happens if you cannot pay

Tell the seller early. Do not wait until several payments are missed. The agreement allows the seller to reschedule your payments for genuine hardship such as job loss, illness, or a drop in income — and rescheduling cannot increase your total price or cost you a fee.

If a payment is more than thirty days late and nothing has been agreed:

  • The seller must first send you a written Notice of Default giving you at least fifteen days to catch up.
  • If you catch up within that time, the agreement continues normally. You can do this more than once.
  • If you do not, the seller may take back the vehicle. They may not use force, threaten you, or take it from a locked garage without a court order.
  • The vehicle will then be sold. The money is applied to the costs of recovery and sale, then to what you owe.
  • If there is money left over, it must be paid to you within thirty days.
  • If the sale does not cover what you owe, you may still owe the difference — but the seller must first cancel the unearned part of their markup, and must give you a written accounting.

6. Late charges go to charity

If you are late, you pay a fixed late charge. The seller does not keep it — it goes to a charity named in your undertaking. The seller may separately recover a documented out-of-pocket cost such as a returned-payment bank fee, with a receipt.

7. What Bysmillah is and is not

  • Bysmillah introduced you to the seller and provided the contract forms.
  • Bysmillah is not the seller and is not lending you money.
  • Bysmillah does not take your payments. You pay the seller directly.
  • Bysmillah does not own or inspect the vehicle and makes no promise about its condition.
  • Bysmillah does not guarantee that the seller will perform, and cannot resolve a dispute between you and the seller.
  • Bysmillah is not giving you legal, tax, or financial advice.

8. Before you sign

  • Have you had the vehicle inspected by a mechanic you chose?
  • Have you seen the title and confirmed the seller’s name is on it?
  • Have you confirmed there is no existing loan or lien on the vehicle?
  • Do you understand the total amount you will pay, and can you afford the monthly payment alongside insurance, fuel, and maintenance?
  • Have you read the sale agreement in full, in a language you understand?

If any part of this is unclear, do not sign. Ask for it in writing, ask for more time, or speak to someone you trust or an independent adviser first.

9. Acknowledgment

I have read this disclosure, I understand it, and I have had the opportunity to ask questions and obtain independent advice.

Buyer signature: Date:

Print name:

Language of the discussion: . Interpreter used? Yes / No. Name:

This is a self-help form, not legal advice. Bysmillah is not a law firm and is not a party to this document. Obtain independent legal advice before signing.

Last updated August 2026