Never ever go in to the DMV. They will screw you. It is how they get paid. Mom and pop title places are the way to go. I paid 800 for my 1969 Impala, and paid taxes on 800... If I went to the DMV they would have made me pay taxes on the blue book value of the vehicle, which is technically theft by the state, but thats what is legal. Doesnt make it right.
I'm a veterinarian. That looks a lot better than my signature. OTOH, it makes it hard to duplicate your signature on a fake prescription
Even a open title has to have the sellers side notarized to be legit from my experience here in Kentucky. Get the person whos name is actually printed on the title to get it notarized or transferred directly to you, that would be the thing to do, Dont get burnt like I have in the past. Its not your problem yet, dont make it that way. Make sure everything is legit at the DMV and get the car in your name before you turn lose of your trade and/or money.
Here in Wisconsin jumping titles is illegal. If you get caught the DMV tends to like making "examples" out of people. Ray is right - that's the second time I've agreed with him on something today. The absolute best course of action would be to have the current owner go and get the car titled in his name. Once that is complete you can then buy the car cleanly from him. Of course he won't want to do that because it will cost him cash money.
If the title is signed or signed and notarized if its old enough for that than all you need to worry about is if its dated and when it was dated. If it was dated a month ago its no big deal but if it was signed and dated a couple of years ago it is going to cost you a ton in fines.
Trip to DMV is the best answer. Any and ALL other 'shortcuts' will end up there anyway. And they will multiply.
I am surprised that so many Hot Rod people here do not know how to do the dance with the DMV. they are making it more difficult, especially here in Commifornia, all because they want all your money.
What saltflats said. Did this with the last old car I bought. I am in Minnesota and the guy I bought it from brought it here from California. He gave me the signed California title(with a recent date). DMV did not have to know about the middle man. I did also require a bill of sale from the guy I bought it from which he was happy to do. It all worked for me........... or maybe all the stars aligned that day! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The absolute best and safest approach would be to insist that the current ‘possesser’ of the car and title go the the DMV and pay applicable fees and apply for a title in his name. Then, when received, transfer that title to you. He probably will balk at that for obvious reasons....cost and delay...but better him to bear the burden than you ending up in hot water with the State authorities and the mess that could entail. Above is what you should do but since you are probably ready to get rid of your car and get into a new one, you probably won't. Others say to just date the title, skip the current "owner?" and and sign it. This works most of the time but you have noone to blame but yourself when the DMV puts two and two together and realizes that the the guy on the title died a couple of days before the date you entered...
Don't know about the rest of the country, but in Missouri it seems most car flippers don't put the vehicles they sell in their name because the don't want to pay the fees and taxes. I know there are ways past this obstacle, but having bought two cars with unknown title problems..., well it's worth it to me to seek out and if needed pay a bit more for good paper & a good car. -Dave
This is the only sure fire way to get it done. There are a myriad of problems possible if you are pretending that the original owner is selling you the car as listed above. Consider the possibility of a civil action somewhere in the old owner's history. Consider the possibility that the car was stolen with the title in the glove box. I just went around with the MO Department of Revenue on a vehicle that I bought in Texas. It came with a bonded Texas title. I had an ID/OD done and they gave me a MO title. Fast forward about 4 years and I'm changing all my vehicles to TOD or transfer on death. They kept my old title and told me to contact the DOR to get it straightened out. About 8 months later, I finally got a title after an inspection by the MO Highway Patrol, lots of paper back and forth. In general, it was a pain in the ass. Do it the right way and you might be ahead.
A couple of months ago I finally transferred a 1976 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle title into my name. I have had this bike and title for probably 20years. I bought the bike at a garage sale from a third party. Not the person who was on the title. It was signed by the owner (who I never met) but wasn't dated. As far as I know the bike and title could have been stolen property. I had some real concerns about how Illinois was going to react but it flew right through. I didn't even go to the DMV. I just used my local currency exchange. There are a lot of horror stories in Illinois about the tax man wanting their full share of a restored vehicle but it never came up in my case. I told them what I paid for it ($300.00) and paid the minimal tax.
Private bill-of-sales There's more than a little truth in that statement... LOL. I've found that here in Washington, where you go can make a big difference. There's basically three type of places; state offices, county offices, and private 'agents', with the last divided into two types... the 'agent only' businesses (that's all they do) and 'sideline' agents (it's a sideline to their main business; the one I use is in a drug store). If you buy from a dealer, it's generally a pretty straightforward process; not cheap, but straightforward. It's the private-party transfers that can get sticky... The 'sideline' places appear to be the best; they're not trying to squeeze every last nickel out of every transaction and will tend to give you the benefit of the doubt. County offices are next best; again, this is a 'sideline' in most offices (usually the auditors office), but don't bring in a confusing mess or they'll flag you and refer you to the state. 'Agent only' places. These places can be a crapshoot, but most that I've dealt with seem intent on getting as much money out of you that they can. I've gotten more misinformation at these places than anywhere else. They also seem to be quick about flagging anything they don't like, which forces you to go to the state. Last resort, the state offices. Everything will be 'by the book' here, and it may get expensive. The 'flagging' is a recent wrinkle that fully-computerized records allow. If you get flagged at any state or non-state office, nothing is happening until the state removes the 'flag'. Washington recently upgraded it's computer system and there's existing titles out there that don't always match the information the new system wants. I bought a car trailer recently with a clear, clean title and got flagged because of lack of specificity in the brand name and a six-character serial number. Seems there's multiple 'Quality' brand trailers, with no clue on the title as to which one I had, and they were unable to reconcile the serial number with any of their listed manufacturers. All this added a couple of weeks to the process, but I did get it transferred at no additional costs.
Just go there and only answer the questions that they ask you, don't ask them anything. If it gets complicated just make sure you get all your paperwork back from them and tell them you will be back with whatever is necessary now that you know what's required.
Different states have different laws, and even within 1 state different DMV offices will handle things differently. Hell, even different employees within the same office may handle things differently.
What he said^^^^^^ Same old story " Ahh..it 't no big deal, it's easy" Well if it's so damn easy go do it first.
Ive done the dance but lost a car once in a similar situation and Im gonna try not to try that move again
The original owner's name and address should be on the title so why not try to contact him and cut a deal.
Depends which DoR you go to and which crab behind the counter you deal with. Only on "newer" MO titles. I'd say within the past decade. There are no places like that (tag agencies, mom and pop places, whatever you call them) in Missouri. There is only the DoR. I have yet to have the MO HP give me an inspection. I've been to Troop C, Troop I, and others. Nope. Won't do it. I even had one guy tell me, "we don't do that for.... civilians..." and give me a dirty look. Ok, then who do you do it for? Exactly, exactly, exactly. Same with, "just put in a battery and it'll run." Well, why don't you? "I don't have time." Riiigghhhtttt.... I tried that with a motorcycle once. Called the number I found online. Nothing. Stopped by their house (they still lived there 30 years later). Nothing (I think someone was even home at the time). Left a note offering to pay them $100 cash for signing it and left my phone number (a risky move). Nothing. Had to have a judge award it to me.
What’s the difference in whose name is on the title now, current owner or previous? If all of the signatures are in the correct places for the seller and no one has signed as buyer you are good! You can’t get in trouble for title skipping, you didn’t do it, the PO did. He could have lied about his name and you would have been none the wiser. This is all about him paying his taxes and fees, not the legitimacy of the cars VIN or the title. Possession is 9/10 of the law. If you possess the car and the title, you own it. The rest is BS paperwork and rules to separate people from their money. If your conscience will not allow you to keep the state from every penny it is due, then by all means report the owner and make sure he pays his way. This is the reason many states have gone away from titling older vehicles. Just registration, no title.
I just bought my wife an OT suv from a private seller, a nice Hispanic couple. They (she) signed the title kinda half printed half signed it. The crabby lady at the tag office wouldn't accept it, said it had to be signed totally in cursive. Wife met them a couple of days later, he signed it this time, totally illegible! Also signed the BOS the same way. Ms Crabby again wanted to fuss about it, my wife told her that signature looked like art, if she wanted to see a bad signature she ought to see mine! Crabby went ahead and took it, but my wife said you could tell she didn't want to but had run out of objections!
It is like stamping frame numbers. Go ahead and GAMBLE; or make the seller put it in his name and if something blows up you can go back on him. The orginal seller will be of no help even if you could find him. You will sleep better.
I'm not sure where to start on this one. "What is the difference?" Well, the difference might be forfeiture of the car. Or it might be jail time. My favorite:"You can't get in trouble for title skipping, you didn't do it, the PO did". And so on................. Does the term "forgery" mean anything to you?
I didn't ask for the inspection, I was told to get it. They were looking for the "secret" VIN on my '37 Chevy. They would not be convinced that VINs started in 1980 and that any numbers up to then were some sort of serial number, body number, or engine number. Further, they could not be convinced that there were no secret numbers on a '37 and that they started that about 1954 or 1955. So after getting the car rolling, I made an appointment. I show up and they want to hear it run. No gas tank and no distributor so they were out of luck. How could it be driven into the garage, then? Don't know-I guess I could push it. Eventually, the guy sighed heavily and "inspected" for the secret ID number. He told me that the '37s did not have a secret number. I replied that he knew it and I knew it but, apparently, the MO Department of Revenue did not.
If you think you have problems, check this out: https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/...r-dune-buggies-and-other-kit-cars/?refer=news Is this the "slippery slope" we all hear about?
Sign the title take it to a title service company, they deal with the DMV on a weekly if not daily bases .In Harris county they have their own window, they do not have to wait in line for hours and the best thing is they know the idiot behind the window..
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