Cutlass salon, sold but never transferred.

[am4blue]

Do you have a bill of sale? I am not a lawyer, however I worked in the insurance industry in Michigan so have some knowledge of motor vehicle code.

Whenever I sell a car, I always meet the seller at the Sec of State (DMV) and finalize everything there and then. That gets the car out of my name and I am not liable if he goes out and drives it into a school. With no bill of sale and without him retitling it in his name, you may be liable if something happens when he or anyone else is driving it.

My first stop would be to your DMV. You could force him to retitle it in his name by going to the DMV and applying for a duplicate title saying you lost yours. This is not the right way to do things and I am not advising you to do that as you may get in trouble. However, if it went through without him contesting, you could theoretically try to repo the car as his title should be null and void now. Again, not advising you to do that.

Some states have something called a Transfer Notification that you would fill out when you sell a car. Not sure what it does exactly, but it may have been created to protect sellers in exactly this situation.

It never sat well with me to sign over a title to someone and just hope they retitled it like they are supposed to do. If they didn't and the buyer got in trouble, believe me, the insurance companies would be on you right away for damages. You could reasonably be held liable for those damages as you still are titled on the vehicle.

That would be my biggest concern right now, liability. If he ran over a bunch of nuns (God forbid...) or caused a train derailment with "your" car, it would get messy and I've seen the insurance companies go after people for really big sums of money. If I was the insurance company, I would DEFINITLY go after you and force you to prove you did not own the car, which you may be unable to do because it's still titled in your name.

All states have laws as to how long an individual has to transfer title. Check with the state DMV.

D

Thank you so much for this.
I am still trying to figure everything out.
But without vin# no one can help.

Are you saying that you do not have the vin for that car anymore and the DMV will not help? Do you still have the plates? Go there and ask them for a registration history for that plate. They should be able to tell you what vehicles it has been registered to. Make up some BS story about not knowing which plate goes to which vehicle or something. Also, contact your insurance company and they can tell you.

You could also ask the DMV for a report of all the veh's titled under your name.

D

 

[t01blaze]

I have no idea why anyone would wait to transfer a title. In New Jersey, you can transfer a title and not need insurance or have to get license plates; you do however, need proof of insurance to get license plates when you are ready to put that car on the road. I bought a motorcycle a few years ago, and the seller put his driver license number on the back of the title, in the lien holder's spot. This put a lean on the title and neither of us realized the error. I had to have him write a letter to the DMV and have it notarized stating that either there was no lien on the title or that he gave up the lien. If I waited too long, who knows... I take all my titles to the DMV the next day in case a problem arises I can just go back to the seller. :idea:

 

[bill]

I have never allowed anybody to use my plates...ever! and I also never allow the buyer to take the car until the title has been notorized by the dmv, insurance has been purchase, and a copy a bill of sale has been given to both parties. It just doesnt pay to take any chances...

 

[Evan11]

My opinion is he got or already had a title and vin from a '86 cutlass and is using that because every time he posts it says 86 cutlass instead of 85.

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

junk the title. it's his fault he didnt have it transferred into his name and you shouldnt be punished for his screw up. so junk the title. i'm in kentucky and all i had to do was tell them at the county clerks office i wanted such and such car junked and they put it in the system that the car was junked and dropped it off my records.

 

[jmerc]

In NY when you sell a car all you have to do is turn over the title signed by you to the new owner. I always make a copy of the signed title with the date for cases just like this. Also when you cancel the insurance on the vehicle you have to supply the ins co with a reciept that you turned in the plates or that they were transferred to another vehicle which also is further proof that you no longer own the vehicle.

 

[pontiacgp]

in civil law if your name appears on the ownership of a car that was involved in an accident or the cause of any damage and/or injuries or death you will be included in a lawsuit