My car was stolen from the mechanic shop, they left the keys in it!

If the shop left the keys in the unlocked car and did not take any measures whatsoever to safeguard your car while it was in their possession (like keeping the car inside a locked fenced in area), then it is my opinion that they are negligent for the theft of your car. Don't let the shop tell you that they have a sign that says that they are not responsible for items left on their property. That will not fly in North Carolina when it can be shown that they did not take reasonable steps to safeguard your vehicle. It would seem that the real issue is damages. Hope this helps. Mark

The shop is responsible for using reasonable care to prevent the loss of or damage to your property which has been placed into the shop's possession. You have the grounds for a court action for negligence by the repair shop in failing to exercise due care to prevent the theft and any damage to your property that results from the theft. You should contact the police department directly to get a sense of whether there is any hope that your property will be recovered (i.e. is there an active investigation involving known suspects, or is the report simply on record without any actual investigation in progress). However, you should make a claim immediately with the repair shop and you should find out whether the shop carries insurance to cover this loss. If so, you should take the steps to make sure that the repair shop's insurer has been notified of the claim as soon as possible. If your claim for repayment has not been resolved to your satisfaction within 90 days, you should seek an attorney's advice.