TLDR: let an old buddy use car to get on his feet, racked up $1k in tolls, got car & title stolen, gave up, and is now ignoring my messages about initial payment agreement made after theft. He lives in a different county, so I file claim in my county or his? Edit: We live in Texas.

Hey y’all, Quick update.

So I had an extra car I was planning on selling but loaned an old buddy of mine to help him get back on his feet. Agreed to sell it to him if he fixed it up, got it running, and was able to get the money. Which he did fix it up & made some payments toward agreed amount. Then he asked for the title since he paid me pretty much most of the amount and he ended up working in a city 2 hours away in a different county and finally had the chance to come get it. I gave it to him since he maid most of the payments.

Fast forward 2 months (October 2022) he texts me saying he got the car stollen from someone he decided to trust, wrongfully, but it was still in my name. So car & title were still in my name. He freaked and just gave up & told me to handle it, which I did, and turns out the theft guy was arrested & car impounded the same day i think. Got the car taken care of.

Fast forward 3 months (January 2023) I message home about tolls he racked up on my car before it got stolen & he said he got a new job making $5k but only gets paid once a month and will be able to get me the money in March. Tolls are worth over $1k and since March 1st he has decided to ignore every thing I’ve done to reach out. He still lives in the other county, to my knowledge.

I have police report from vehicle theft, copies of tolls, print outs of messages, & a Claims report thing filled out and ready to submit. My only question is do I submit it in my county or his county? The info packet I got hinted at both for certain circumstances.

Thanks in advance .