Who was it that said no good deed goes unpunished? Well, that’s the theme of today’s report.

The good deed was the donation of a used vehicle to a nonprofit organization. Imagine Peter’s surprise when about a month later he received a notice from the city of Baltimore that the car he had donated was found abandoned and that he would have to pay all associated costs including towing and storage charges before he could reclaim the vehicle.

Okay, so he had given it away…why not just let the city auction it off? Well, there was one catch. If the sale of the car at public auction did not fully cover all costs associated with disposing of the vehicle, Peter would be liable for the difference.

Peter has a receipt for the donation of the vehicle but is perplexed as to how it ended up on the street in Baltimore. We may never know the answer to that question. We have been told, however, that this occurs with some frequency.

If you want to donate a used vehicle to a nonprofit organization, make certain you have a receipt for the vehicle. Then remove the tags and return them to the state. You will get a refund on any unexpired time on the tags.