Bill of Sale No Title

[442tobe]

When I purchased my Cutlass the guy just had the Bill of Sale without the title and he said I could still get the tag with just the bill of sale. How would I go about getting the title? And would not having the title interfere with anything because I am going to get it on the road this summer

 

[Bonnewagon]

I my state (NY) without a title you would be skewered. In fact my Bonnewagon took 6 months to register because I bought it from a dead guy and DMV wanted me to dig him up so he could sign something!

 

[Member # 77]

When I purchased my Cutlass the guy just had the Bill of Sale without the title and he said I could still get the tag with just the bill of sale. How would I go about getting the title? And would not having the title interfere with anything because I am going to get it on the road this summer

You have to do a title search.
I easiest way to go about it or at least what I did was I went to car fax and found out what state it was registered in last.
Then I called the DMV for that state. They sent a letter to the guy who was the last registered owner.
Informing him that someone is trying to register the Cutlass that he was the last owner of.
It will also let you know if the car has been stolen. (There is a chance of that)
Then you have to come up with the Bill of sales. If he wants the car back you can charge storage fees before you release the the car.
OKay I went way too much into detail.

 

[DRIVEN]

In my state:
Title = ownership
Bill of sale = nothing
Don't spend a penny on parts or a second in labor until you have a title in your name in your hand. Without a title you don't own it. Could be stolen. Could be totaled. Could have a title-loan lien on it. The title for your car could be being used to legitimize someone else's stolen car. The possibilities are endless. Maybe it's none of the above. Good luck.

 

[442tobe]

Thanks for all y'alls help Im going to the DMV first thing tomorrow morning

 

[Member # 77]

Thanks for all y'alls help Im going to the DMV first thing tomorrow morning

Keep us informed on this story!

 

[Phoenyx]

Wow, up here a bill of sale is all you need.

 

[axisg]

differs from province to province and state to state. Ont if you have no ownership it's a fight to get the car transferred into your name.

 

[86Limited]

Wow, up here a bill of sale is all you need.

So your saying just having a bill of sale in hand and you can register a vehicle with plates and all? No title in hand?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

It varies from state to state. In some states, after a car is a certain age ( 20 or 25 years old), they no longer issue titles for them and instead go by a bill of sale. I believe this is true of Maine and Alabama, but it may have changed since then. If you therefore can tag it in one of those states, you can use the registration from there to obtain a title in your state. There are a few companies that do this for you, but in essence you sell them the car for $1, they register it, then sell it back to you with paperwork from that state. Have I ever done this? Yes. On a 1967 Ford Mustang, so it really does work! You can find the companies in Hemmings.