Title question, abandoned vehicle?

Im currently looking into getting the title for my 1950 Chevrolet truck. I got it from my dad who bought it when he was my age, which was many years ago. He never got a title and he nor anyone else can remember who or where it originally came from. It was a project that was never gotten around to so it had sat on his parants property for the last ~35 years. Ive filed for VIN research at the DMV but they have no records on it.

One option is a surety bond but the way it works sounds kind of sketchy, plus it would take some time and I dont really have a whole lot of spare change to lay down for the 1.5x appraisal.

I came across some stuff that dealt with filing for a title for a vehicle abandoned on your property. It listed some stuff and it sounded like I could possibly file for a title as this truck is 'abandoned'. Has anyone else tried this before? Any chance it could work? Id rather not try it and have it come back to bite me in the ass down the road.

 

The '38 Chevy in my avatar was last registered in 1963 by me. It followed me around for 47 years after that. All paperwork was lost. I wrote up a description of the history and sent it to the Registry. They apparently ran the number, it didn't come up stolen, so they issued me a title. If Mass will do this, other states must do it.

 

Every state has it's own take on this and you will end up going by what your state says.

From reading the Alaska abandoned vehicle form http://doa.alaska.gov/dmv/forms/pdfs/825.pdf It looks like about all you really need to do is post a notice in the paper claiming the "abandoned vehicle" and wait the 30 days and go in with the filled out form.
There is pretty well 0 chance of someone showing up with the original title to the truck and they would have to have title in hand to claim the truck as theirs.
If you have a photo of the truck where it sat for the past XX years I'd include that with the paperwork. That would show that it had sat on the property for years.

It sure sounds a lot simpler than what most guys have to go through.

 

Hard to do in Illinois, check with your DOT, get all of your info before you leap, hard to back track and do it different once you commit to a process.

 

What about going in and filling out a "lost" title?

 

yep.. i agree, just check what it's going to take there. each state probably has a different take on what to do.

 

If you're the original owner named you can file for one, if you're not, you can't.
To the OP; the surety bond thing isn't such a big deal, and there usually isn't any reason to have the appraisal. They'll go off the blue book value for it, but the rate that the surety bond is issued is low. mine's blue book was around 2500, and the bond itself was less that 250.

 

Assume your father is no longer available to give you a bill of sale. If so, check state laws on inherited vehicles. An heir (whoever probated his estate) probably can sign a bill of sale / lost title declaration listing the VIN and then the state would issue you a title.

 

1.5x appraisal that is what the state appraises the value of the truck or you have to hire a pro appraiser to appraise your truck? The reason I ask is that the state isn't going to have a very high appraisel for your truck at all. It is old and obsolete.

Sometimes you have to save up to do things in this world that's just the way it is. I hope you don't find that offensive I'm just being honest with you. Nothing is instant except the internet and sometimes its slower than we want it to be.

 

In Mo. I have called the highway patrol & they have a officer stop by & check vehicle over Sign paper work for the license office . Our countys deputy's can do the same

 

If the truck is no longer "in the system" (they apparently have no records on it) then why can't your dad file an affadavit claiming that he is the rightful and legal owner and needs a replacement ownership. They can't claim he doesn't own it if they don't know who does, and according to you he IS the owner (was just never registered as the owner). Once it is in his name he can transfer it/sell it to you.

I wouldn't want to suggest to them that it was abandoned when that is really not the case, and might open up a can of worms that you don't expect.

Your dad swears it is legally his, swears that he bought it 35 years ago, never licenced it and has lost the ownership. They run a check, it doesn't come up stolen and also doesn't come up as being in anyone else's name. Here is you new ownership Mr_________________.


I've always liked those trucks.

 

Instead of asking a bunch of sea-lawyers (people who know and understand all the regulations about everything) why don't you go to your local motor vehicle office, find someone you can talk to, explain your problem, and that you would like to license it legally, and do what they suggest. This has always worked for me, although I sometimes have to talk to two or three people to find one that understands. Good Luck, Mike.

 

Up here you have to load it on a trailer and take it to the Hiway Patrol. They change the rules all the time. Sometimes they let a regular vehicle inspection place to vin id and others you can get it done by a local cop. Pretty hard to keep up with.

I don't think I count as a sea lawyer, I just stated the obvious to the fella. 1.5X the value of an old chebby truck isn't going to be much and if you don't have the money you might have to save up for it.

 

That's a new one to me ... "sea-lawyer". I have been called a "welder" before though ("well ders" nothing to do today).

 

What the hell is a sea-lawyer? Hell man call Sarah Palin,tell her you will vote for her for some paper work on the truck!

 

The laws in your state apply. Advice about any other state isn't going to help you.

 

Ahhh.....but there in lies the loophole....I am from Canuckistan.



I actually agree with that thought. Talk to the licencing people AFTER searching the govt site for Alaska. I wouldn't do the abandoned bit ... just get as much info as you can, then approach the licence bureau and present your issue to them. I am guessing your father (yeah, I know ... just guessing here) will have to file an affadavit swearing to the history of the truck and the fact that he bought it years ago. All on the up and up.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys, good suggestions here.

The way it works here, is that you hire an appraiser yourself, and they will come out and appraise your vehicle. You then go in with the appraisal and post up 1.5x what the appraisal was. The thing is, is I seem to remember that there was a minimum of what they can appraise it for, 500$ if I remember right, which would mean I would pay 750$. I also think that they can state that if its not worth the minimum to them, then they wont appraise it, and you kind of get screwed there. Also, if anything ever came up title-wise, the bond wouldn't protect me. Its there to protect the DMV (meaning they cant be sued), for issueing a title to the 'non-owner' in case the 'true owner' showed up with the title. In short, if someone showed up with paperwork and claimed it was theirs, Id be out of a truck and my bond money, simple as that. Not likely to happen, but it could.

No offense taken from your post, either! This truck is just kind of a spare time/spare money build, using parts I can get good deals on. That kind of money to put up on a bond for just a spare time project truck is just a little much for me right now, and I have more important things to spend that kind of money on, like gas to get to work, haha! I have no problem waiting to get this done, I was just wondering if there might be an easier way.

This could be possible, Ill bring it up when I go down to the DMV. I have quite a few older guys that know that the truck was sitting where it was in the yard for a LONG time!

 

Nick, you might ask Sam or Gene Newman if they will just run it through one of their impound auctions. I tried to do the surity bond thing on a car in Anchorage once and hit a dead end. Plus it would have cost more than the car was worth with the expert appraisal and surity bond.

 

Somebody from Willow?? Small world!

I actually work up the Pass at Warrens (the wrecking yard), and he can do the impound auctions as well, which was the first thing I tried. The problem itself was that there was no records, and they wont file any paperwork for it unless there is some record that it was last registered in AK. I guess this is to prevent people from shipping up stolen cars and getting a title for them or auctioning them off to get a title. I ran into this same problem with my Camaro, but I found an old registration slip hiding in the car luckily, and that was enough to prove it was an AK car then.

Sounds like my best bet is just go to the DMV and hope the employee I get is having a good day, haha!

 

Uh, yeah, Willowbilly, get it? I'd use the DMV in Talkeetna or better yet Glenalen. Did Warren ever do anything with that 396 Camero? Last time I saw it, it was rotting into the ground. Pm me if you want to visit, I might be able to fix you up.

 

We've got the Camaro hanging from the ceiling again. I scraped all the bondo and body filler out last summer, now he's wanting to patch the floor. He needs to just get rid of his other 50 projects and just focus on this one, but that never happens, haha.

 

I just got a court ordered title for a 40 chevy pick up. All I needed was a police check, Pay $60, spoke with a judge for 2 mins. I also showed the judge a picture of the truck and got a title. Here it is done in small claims court but only on Thursday afternoon.

 

We actually have the surety bond thing here in Texas, but the way that they explained it to me when I did it was that the bond was to reimburse the owner in the event that they ever came forward. Once you submit the paperwork to the DMV the DMV will send out a letter to the last registered owner notifying them that someone else is attempting to claim possession of the vehicle. If they don’t respond then you receive the bonded title which is only bonded for 3 years. Once those 3 years are up the vehicle is issued a regular title.
The amount of the bond seems awfully high. 150%? Aren’t bonds usually only 10%? Like the example above, if your truck was valued at 500, and had to be bonded for 750 (150%) you should only have to pay 10% ($75) for the bond. The car I did one for was valued at around 2k, and after the bond and fees for it I paid right around 300 bucks.

 

What did you have to do or who did you talk to for this? What kind of paperwork, etc?

From what I read the point of the bond is kind of like insurance that you actually do own the vehicle. I seem to remeber it saying that if any issues come up regarding ownership, the oldest title wins (obviously the other person), and you dont get your bond back, so you are out the car and your money. It might not actually be the case but thats what I remember. Ive also never heard of only paying a % of the bonds.

 

An insurance company write the bond, it is like a bail bond and cost you 10% of the value of the bond so a $750 bond costs $75. I think those appraisers get like $180.
Can't Warren appraise it for you?

 

Was it ever insured? A old insurance paper might give you the proof of ownership needed to apply for a lost title.

 

Interesting, I guess Ill have to read up on it more. I think only an insurance company or actual appraisal company can do an appraisal though.

No, there was never any paperwork on it as far as I know. There was probably a bill of sale at one point but nothing in the title folder. The truck was originally bought since the body was in great shape back then. My dad had another one just like it that the body was junk on, but had a new engine that he was going to swap over. The one with the new engine was stolen shortly after, so this one was pushed aside.

 

Hey i'm in California but i do all the paperwork for lots of my friends with classics, and rods. So do not get a bond you should just do a reconstrution of paperwork. I;m not sure the terms and form names but here in california the step is to fill out application for title or registration with your name and info, then you need a vin verification on the car and try to find a vin verifier, then you write a statement of facts saying that the car has no liens and that has been parked at your house since whatever time it has been parked and that you lost paperwork and cant find it. then fillout a non operation from time the car was parked to the current year. You have to put current value so all the guys here always put 500 to 1000. hope this helps

 

BINGO! every state different, but California seems to be biggest pain in the ass and Georgia the easiest. Maybe you can find an LEO who is a motor head to help.