anyone have to give an abandoned car back to the owner? advice please

Rule number one is NEVER buy a car with out a title.I could have bought 50 cars buy now with out a title. I did do a check on a 68 mustang and I dont know how in the hell it happend but I knew the guy who used to own it. I calle dhimand said meet me at the DMV it was mine hours later.

 

I saw an ad for a 55' Chevy straight axle gasser for $6K. It was by my wife's workplace so I went to look. It was a running car but needed some work. I was all set to buy the car until I found out that the person I was dealing with was not the owner. The owner was his brother, who had left the state because he was wanted. The guy said that he had the original pink slip from Colorado and that his brother had never transfered it in his name.

I asked him if his brother knew he was selling it. He said no. I decided to pass on the deal. If the brother came back, he could claim ownership of the car which would end up in civil court. Decided it wasn't worth the hassel.

The guy that did by the car is now asking $30K for it.

 

Even that varies from state to state. New York doesn't title anything older than 1973, Vermont does not use titles on cars over 15 years old, and several other states do something similar. In New York, I can get a new registration where the car has no paperwork with a couple DMV forms. They look up the serial number to make sure it's not flagged, and you get a transferrable registration if it's clear. It's so easy it's not worth the time or trouble to try to pull any fast ones or shortcuts. So I could care less if a car I buy has a title with it. Especially if it's 1960 and older.

 

Finally,to sum up..it's a common point of law,If an article is said to have been removed with the owners express permission,it's can be said to be stolen.Further..no matter how many hands an item my pass through,how many persons believe that item was bought or received in good faith ...It is still a Stolen item and Still belongs to the person who lost it initially.
A good example? peices of art stolen by the Nazis from jewish families in the 1930's.Today,decendents of those who lost the art works have a perfectly legitimate claim to ownership.
The"owner" of that car does not need a title to claim ownership ,only proof that bought initially in a legitimate manner.

 

Not sure what this has to do with anything; the car in question was never stolen, the owner just didn't get off his ass to go get it when he should have.

 

As I said,'reported as being stolen'..'.Removed without the express permisson of the owner.'.it doesn't matter if the car was just driven to a spot and the driver has just stepped into a shop, or the car was immobile and was sitting where the owner left it.
Go right back to basic points and you can see where our friend Revhead could very easily been accused of theft.He's lucky the 'owner' is being civilised about the whole thing and is prepared to aknowledge the explanation that revhead wasn't acting maliciously when he moved the car.
I can fully understand the owners point of veiw,He has delivered a project to a shop that for an known reason hasn't finished the job.he goes to collect his car and it's gone.He's going to be highly pissed off.
The titles,are they legitimate proof of ownership or just proof of registration of a vehicle? What happens if someone fronts with a noterised bill of sale?

 

Basic rule of thumb. Never buy a car without clear paper work. Period, It doesn't get any plainer than that. If there is a doubt as to true ownership, why put yourself through the crap? There are cases of people showing up to claim their car after years and the unsuspecting owner had sunk major dollars into it. Just don't do it.

As for Rev, his buddy was wrong for selling it. Money makes people all of a sudden blind to the law or too lazy to do a little research. I'd call a wrecker and have the car towed away as abandoned on his property. They'll pick it up and put it in storage, which is what should have happened in the first place.

 

I might have missed it, but what kind of car are we talking about here? Is it a 76 Pinto or what?

For his "attitude" pull the VIN tag off before you give it back.

 

I don't chime in here often, but as I review this thread, I see "mechanics lein" and such, but I don't see the term "Salvage title". (They are very similar, I'm sure.)

Repo shops in Ohio frequently utilize the salvage title. They repo a car, no one wants to pay for it, or the storage or the tow and the bills keep piling up. After a week, the registered owner owes the repo shop MORE than the value of the car and so they apply for a salvage title directly from the BMV.

A letter of intent has to be mailed certified mail to the registered owner to advise them that they have so many days (I wanna say 30?) to pay the bill and retrieve their vehicle.

When they see a bill that they could not pay to begin with and then more tacked on, they do not respond. The paperwork goes through the BMW and you get a clear title for the expenses you have incured.

Now, how this would work in a case such as this, I don't know as you were probably not contracted to remove the vehilce from the property to begin with...or were you?...(Get my point?)

Did anyone involved contacted the local authorities yet?

Are we still awaiting an outcome to this situation? Did you get your $100 or simply trade for another vehicle? It's been a while.

 

It went back to the owner. It was a case of bad communication between the previous landlord and the new owners. I got all my money back and the $100 for the gas and trouble. It's ashame cause I have a feeling it is now sitting outside in the rain again rusting even more, but it was his and the landlord didn't make it clear that there was an owner. The landlord just said "oh that's still here, I'll get someone to remove it"

lowlife.. It was a '68 Camaro RS .. non-HAMB material that's why I didn't mention it.

 

if the guy can produce the title in his name he can claim the car and you just got 100.00 worth of education.the only out you have is he should have to prove he is the owner with the title. how else would you know the truth. the same thing that a impound would require.

 

Your Better Off Believe Me,a Freind Of Mine Was Almost Finished With A 59 Vette Restoration And Lost It Due To The Same Thing.he Lost Way More Than 100 Bucks And An Awesome Car!you Wonder Why People Go Nuts If You Would Have Seen This Car You Would Have Shit When You Found Out The Owner Showed Up And Took It When 99 Percent Of The Work Was Complete!!!!there Was Nothing He Could Do.you Are Better Off Man...................

 

Well I am starting to believe in CARma anyway hahah. Since the camaro incident I have picked up a $250 '53 ford victoria, a free '54 chevy panel truck and tonight I am going to look at a '40 Willys.. or at least that is what I am told it is.

 

When i was 17 i got my first real car, a 58 plymouth belvedere. White/red, cheater slicks and glass packs. In 67 i was in the marines stationed in barstow ca. And had recently mashed the rt front fender on my car. Came out one day from work and there was a kinda ratty brown 58 next to mine. For months it sat and eventually the tires were flat.thinking it was abandoned i finally put the rt front fender on my car and put my fender on the brown one. About a week later i came out and there was a marine sitting on my brown fender. You guessed it, it was his car and he had been in the brig for two months. Having done brig time myself we talked for about an hour as we became friends while we swapped the fenders back on the two cars, we remained friends while stationed there.

 

WOW !

If i lived by this rule i wouldnt own either my "A" my "T" my '61 Dodge or a handfull of other cars i have owned & driven.

Ya just gotta do your homework, I once brought home an "Abanodon" '55 Ford from a repair shop.

I ran the plate # and found it was still on the record, Got the guys name, Looked it up in the phone book & called him.

Seems he still wanted the car & asked if i would Deliver it to him for FREE !

I told him he had 2 days to pick it up before i called the Highway Patrol tow it off.. Flatbed showed the next day.

 

my first rule if theres no title is to run the vin. i use a dmv service thats really good with old cars. 10 bucks is worth it to see where the car stands if i can get it registered

 

This thread is from May 2007, if anyone cares.

 

i see where your going.....i hate cops too buddy...

 

fuck i need to pay attention to the dates..here i am getting into the post..and shit 2007!

 

We buy cars without titles ouite often. I always get a bill of sale from who ever is selling it to me. You see them on Ebay under salvage parts cars everyday does that make you a car thief if you buy one of them?Also you cannott place a mechanics lein on a car Unless you have a sighned work order from the owner or his agent authorizing you to do repairs. Goes all the way back to the Magna Carta (a man cannott be compeled to pay for goods or services that he did not order.Oldwolf

 

How about this, back in the early 70's my 67 RS/SS Camaro was stolen right off the street in front of my apartment, I filed a police report and never heard anything again. Now lets just say years and years later if by some chance I come across the Camaro with the vin still on it and I still have my CA pink slip (in my desk) can I demand my car back because I am the owner with a police report ?

 

If you had insurance and they paid off the claim the car now belongs to them.....or it is fraud.

 

If you were paid by the insurance company that you had it insured with,,,NO,,the car would belong to them. HRP

 

I had on theft insurance on the car, I was young and money was tight at the time.

 

If you didn't collect any insurance, then the car is still yours if it's ever found. It happened here once. An old Packard "field car" was stolen from a farmers shelter belt. About 10 years later it was recovered and returned fully restored. Seems it ended up in the midwest and someone restored it. The SECOND time it was sold after that, the VIN showed up as stolen and the car was returned to the original owners family (he had died).
Larry T

 

Man that would suck, l can just see the guy waxing the brand new paint and the police impound truck towing it right out from under him.

 

Props to oldwolf for bringing history to life! I can't remember the last time I heard someone mention the Magna Carta...it definitely is Old School!!

 

I don't think you will be able to charge a lien on "stolen" property. If you have a buddy with a shop take it to him and order work done and then the rightful owner cannot take the car without paying the bill. The buddy with the shop can then put a lien on it.

It would make whoever is claiming it, prove ownership.

 

Hmmmm. What would Judge Judy do.