went to transfer my title today and the dmv said last year someone titled it in alabama. i have a title from montana, albiet a few years old on the notarization. i think someone stole my vin. the az dmv said i could bring the car in to check the vin but all that does is prove it is registered to someone in al. i think they stole the vin as its not been registered for 20plus years. any ideas or help????????????????????????
I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often with all the paperwork floating around being horse-traded to get cars on the road.
51 chevy hardtop. i called alabama they said they don't issue titles on old cars? they said the can use a bill of sale to register a vehicle.
If you have a legit title issued before the other one, dmv should recognize that as legit and make the other prove his. push the dmv on it and tell them to research it.
the title got transferred last year. my notorized copy is from before that. they said mine is dead, call alabama...
i would think that respective dmv's would inspect each vehicle and recend the title on the one with the restamped #s......no mater which order they were reg'd in, its the phony one that's illegal skull
The other guy may well have a legit piece of paper, purchased on the internet. A '51 will have a serial plate carrying the number, and a couple of hidden stampings on the frame, I believe. If there are 2 cars trying to use the same number, one will have either a repro number plate, which will likely be obvously new and crudely stamped, or nothing but the piece of paper from Ebay. If your car has a clearly serial original plate to match the paper you have, you should be able to push on through and let the other guy come up with an explanation of how his paper and his car happened to meet. Procedures are tightening all over, and it seems likely to me that the feds will start calling shots like they have with driver's licenses. A number stamped by either Chevy or by a state is legit. A purchased title is inherently illegit as is a stamping by anyone other than the manufacturer or a state issuing a new number, and I think pretty soon anyone with a purchased title is going to be in trouble.
Go to Alabama with your title and claim the car. Just kidding. It sucks and will happen more with the title selling going on.
What Bruce said! The earlier Chevy's (at least my 35) only had the vin number on the engine and maybe a tag attached to the wood floor (which is long gone). So if someone else had my original engine, they may very well have my vin number.
Happens all the time. I know a fella west of here that goes to the local courthouse and gets numbers from someone there that are not in use for his old Fords then uses those numbers at his local DMV. You would think that with all the computer networks they have now that would not happen. It is a good reason for someone who has a title with a new old car to not leave it open. I don't think that there isn't much that you can do in your case the vehicle in question is in another staate. Perhaps you can find out whrer it is located and get the local constabulary to go check the numbers. Maybe they can tell the difference between one that's cobbled and one that is not, but I know from experience that they probably won't and if its a small town they are probably related to the fella in question.
Title issues are a mess to clean up, at least here in GA. A roommate stole the title to my OT car, forged my name, got a new title issued in his name, and then PAWNED it. I didn't find out until I tried to register it. He did some time over it, but the incompetents at the tag office in Atlanta never were able (or more accurately, willing) to get me a clean title back. I got so disgusted with not being able to drive the car without the threat of impounding it, I finally said screw it and parted it out. I hope your story has a happier ending.
sounds like someone used a "bill of sale" to register a car in Alabama. Who knows if they came up with the number out of thin air or not. Sucks either way. And makes it hard on those with legit paperwork. I'm wondering if you need to do something to protect yourself from losing the car.
my dad just bought a modela a coupe project. he went to register it and found out some one was using his vin on his street rod. the guy had bought the car finished, so he didnt know anything about it. dmv took a look at the the stamp on pops frame, and gave him the title. they are pulling the title from the other guy. im not real sure what hes gonna do, but pop now has the title. z
well alabama said they don't have titles for cars older than 1975 and when this alabama car was registered the vin wasn't checked. so technically my title is still good. now trying to convince the az dmv that is another story.
Sounds like fraud to me. You might try calling the state DMV. RU dealing with the local DMV where U live?
I know a guy here in NY that lost his Knucklehead like that. He registered it and was riding it for 10 years, just so happens the owner of the real knuckle just finished his resteration and put his back on the road! When the real one was registered it showed in the computer that there were others! Yes plural! Others registered with the same number, turned out some guy was punching the same number in blank cases and selling them as legit. The guy I know was given the chance to pull his motor and turn over the left side case with the numbers. Its a real pain in the ass! Another guy I know bought a 74 Sportster that was registered in New Mexico as a Mitsubishi! Explain that one. He never straightened it out as far as I know.
Right, some one probably used ITS or some other title service. Here's a tip NEVER give the DMV more info than they need, not one word. also try an other branch, if they give you static.
Alabama looks at the bill of sale as the "title/ownership" transfer. So if the vin wasn't checked in Alabama, that tells me the bill of sale (ownership) was consistent (person to person). I bought a 53 Chevy back a few months ago, and the guy I bought it from never registered his bill of sale. I had to get a local police officer to come over and fill out a vin form. And she checked the vin number. After that, I got my registration.
here's how you register here: you have a bill of sale (or an out-of-state title). they check if the vin on the bill of sale or title matches the vin tag of your vehicle, and then they register it without giving you a title. seems to me that either they didn't check the vin (which would mean that person that registered doesn't have a matching vin plate), or the vin tag on the alabama car is fake. both cases can be checked, get on the phone with alabama dmv and ask for a supervisor after saying hello. this should really not be too hard, but it's a pain in the butt for sure
here's how you register here: you have a bill of sale (or an out-of-state title). they check if the vin on the bill of sale or title matches the vin tag of your vehicle, and then they register it without giving you a title. seems to me that either they didn't check the vin (which would mean that person that registered doesn't have a matching vin plate), or the vin tag on the alabama car is fake. both cases can be checked, get on the phone with alabama dmv and ask for a supervisor after saying hello. this should really not be too hard, but it's a pain in the butt for sure
The first thing you do to a car when you're planning for a long build is to title the car! That way if there is an issue... you're not out to much more money into the project. I had title issues with one car and the person I bought it from did some jail time and I was out a couple of hundred... but it could've been worse if I had restored the car first!
well i took the car to the dmv so they could check my title vs my vin tag. both match. it was to late for the dmv official to call alabama but said they would tomorrow. the lady sounded optimistic i would be able to do my title transfer after she called alabama. i sure hope so but am not holding my breath. lesson learned... i don't think two 51 chevy's could have the same vin tag from the factory as i thought the number was more of a production number than a vin number.
If your car has the original factory stamps on your frame and you have a paper title that other guy is going to have quite the head ache. He may have his stuff pulled.
Yes, as soon as I buy one I head straight to the dmv. If the previous owner shy's away from this then I pass.
Try contacting the NTSB (National Transportation and Safety Bureau), they are the experts in stolen paperwork. You can also contact your local PD, who should write a report and forward it to Alabama. Anyone you contact, you should record their name, badge number, date and time. Record if possible. By asking for their info too, you can show you are serious and they will fear any legal consequences.
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