Hypothetical situation: title problems

So, imagine you saw a car for sale that you had wanted for a long time, and it was at a good price and the only one for sale in the whole country. It was running and registered but in another state.

When you talked to the owner, he said it had a bonded title because the previous owner had died, and he couldnt get a bill of sale. So, you drive to go look at the car, and its even better than expected, and you get so excited you buy it without really reading the "title" paperwork he gave you.

Then, you get it home and go to register it, and see that what you thought was the title actually says"application for title, no title issued" so according to the state law ownership cant be transfered to a resident of the state you live in, and talking to the DMV in the state the car came from you find out it was an "ownership in doubt" registration with no title, and the car cant be sold out of the state or issued a title for 3 years.

This didn't happen to me, but im curious what people would suggest doing next.

Erk, that's an ugly hypothetical.

I think if I were in that position, my first step would be in talking to the car's state's DMV to find out if there's any way to clear up the doubt of the ownership.

How did the person who sold the car come to be the "owner"? Can the DMV of the car's state clarify how the car's ownership could/should have been transferred after the prior, prior owner's death?

Depending upon the age of the car, you could apply for what's referred to in KY as a 'Project Car Title' (or something similar), which allows you to get a title for an antique (25 years or older) vehicle that you intend to make roadworthy again.

Or you could call a title company like Broadway and see what they have to say about it...

There may be a bonded title process in your state that you can go through. Besides the above suggestions, I think you are (hypothetically) screwed. I guess next time, one will hypothetically read the title paperwork real close when buying an out of state car with title questions.

One thing I would definitely avoid is something like Broadway titles. Sounds like there's already some grey/questionable stuff around the title, involving them will only add more. If it ever goes south, the new "owner" doesn't want to be on the bad end of it. I agree with Ransom, see if the previous state's DMV can shed any light? Maybe the seller can? Otherwise, check back with the DMV in 2016, or whenever the 3 year time frame expires.

If the car was bought with racing in mind, turn it into a trailer-transported weapon.

If not, go to bar, drink, repeat until you wake up in a puddle of your own tears and vomit.

So, for more information, imagine the car had been driven by someone for a long time, then sold as a parts car. Then it sat for years until someone decided to revive and register it recently, but the previous registered owner is deceased so there was no longer a way to obtain a bill of sale. The state DMV of the new owner will not transfer the registration unless the car has a either a bonded or clear title from the state it came from. The only ways it can be transfered out of the state is either for the old owner to get a bonded title, or for the old owner to register it with a non transferable registration in the new state without a title. I don't really want to say specifically what the car is, but imagine a European hatchback that wouldn't be uncommon to see, but on closer inspection it would have surprisingly more in common with say a Subaru outback than you would have expected.

Easy, lie. So long as the car isn't stolen, I see no problem in fudging some paperwork.

I think this is one where a mechanic's lien/titling process for storage fees could resolve the issue if you know a shop owner who'd be willing to help - otherwise seeing about a bonded title in your state. The PITA option is going back to the estate of the dead guy - executor of the estate could resolve it by either reissue/signing off on a title - then again where's there's a will, there's a way...and relatives.

Varies state by state but the bonded title process is the way to go. Before you go to someplace like Broadway do some research as to how your state feels about them. NJ does not like titles provided by those agencies and in most cases they are more hassle and cost than going through the legal process in NJ.

I've gone through it twice, one easy one, the 2nd a bit more complex but both were only a few hours of work and a few weeks/months of waiting, not terrible.

if you go back to the estate they could say "that car was at the estate sale and the guy you bought it from stole it" and call the cops on you. hypothetically. there is no real paper trail to the guy you bought it from.

i'll tell you this: my impala SS is a lifelong north carolina car. the guy i bought it from owns a shop here in ohio. when he gave me the title it had his business name as the owner, and the prior owner was listed "unclaimed affidavit" so he got the car in NC sans title and filed the mechanic's lien paperwork to get one. i checked with my cousin the friendly cop and he ran the vin/not stolen so i feel comfortable with it.

i would take the vin to the cops, say you are looking at this vehicle and want to make sure it is legit, and see if they will run a check for you. then make friends with a shop if it's clean, and get(pay, possibly in beer) them to get you a title via the mechanic's lien process. if the cops say it comes up as stolen in X state, i don't know what to tell you except you're effed.

Can you get a bonded title for a car that isn't yours? If the car is registered to someone in another state, and can't be registered to anyone out of the state, I don't really know what they will say. Right now I think anything that could be done would have to go though the DMV in the state the car came from, the only thing that the DMV in the new state will do is give a non transferable registration to the current owner if they moved to the new state.

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/1999-07-01/news/the-king-of-titles/

You need a guy like this. Though his fee is now $200.

There would be no record of the car being registered in the USA before January 2013. That part of the story gets a lot more complicated, but doesn't seem to have any effect on the current issues.

As far as I can tell it doesn't matter. Find a snake like Randolf Williams and you'll be good to go.

In reply to Travis_K:

The registration doesnt show ownership and really doesnt matter in this kind of situation. A title search needs to be done. In most states insurance agents and your friendly local auto theft detective or state trooper can help. DMV CAN help, but good luck with that. Just be prepared that they might give an answer you won't like.

Tom Suddard wrote: http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/1999-07-01/news/the-king-of-titles/ You need a guy like this. Though his fee is now $200.

Wow I read all of that. Crazy stuff.

What year is the car?

You could get a bill of sale (or make one) & register it in a state that doesn't require titles for cars that old (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont). Your registration becomes a "source document" & you can use it to title the car in a state other than the one where the car has the problem. Presto! Title problem goes away.

Its an 87.

In many states you can get a title with some legal steps. An example... I bought a boat from a state that didn't title boats and I took it to TX. I couldn't title it in TX because their intel said that the previous state DID title boats.

I had to step through some innocuous but frustrating steps, but I got a title for it. I had to contact the last-known lien-holder, and the last known owner via certified mail. If they didn't respond in 30 days I had to post a classified ad in the "Legal" section of a newspaper. If no one responded in X days, TX would issue me a title. So, I had to wait a while, but I got a title for it.

I have a similar situation with a 65 Scout in PA. What I have to do in that case is pay a $25 fee for a court hearing, they make a legal notice, and if no one shows up at the hearing to contest my ownership they'll give me a title.

There are always ways to get a title. If you can't find those ways in your state, use a relative in another state. There are even some states (like NV) that will title your car in NV by mail. Maine will issue you a title on trailers via mail (which is one of the big reasons you see so many big-rigs with Maine plates on the trailers)

Anything 1997 or older doesn't require a title up in the arctic circle of New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont), so an 87 would be easy to register there

curtis73 wrote: There are always ways to get a title. If you can't find those ways in your state, use a relative in another state. There are even some states (like NV) that will title your car in NV by mail.

NV will need to see the results of a VIN check from a DMV-authorized garage or the DMV themselves before issuing an NV title for an out-of-state vehicle, so you'd have to get the vehicle to NV in the first place before to get the VIN inspection before you can apply for a title.

Got plenty of practice with that .

Hypothetically speaking:

1) Purchase regular Golf.

2) Put running gear from unregisterable Golf Country underneath it.

3) ????

4) Profit. Hypothetically anyway.

Forewarned is forearmed. IF you have a car that was not a USDM model in the first place, and you try to title it, you have now got the federal government angry. As bad as it is to have the DMV angry at you, the feds will take the car, crush it, and then probably try to charge you with a crime.

Hypothetically.