fong

iTrader: (77)

I am presenting you guys a case here, and would like to see if any one can help me with this.

First, I would like to make it clear: I am a legitimate person and the car is NOT a stolen car, I believe.

The Case:
I was trying to get my friend start with his first rotary experience by convincing him to purchase this 1985 GSL-SE from a local Lady in MD. She posted the car for sale in the forum a while ago, and we bought the car from her. The car came with the house that she bought. The previous house owner (an old man) bought it many years ago, and then let it sit at his property until he sold the house to the lady. The lady said that the old man gave her the key and the title to her after she bought the property. Initially, she thought he was joking to give the car to her for free. Anyhow, She thought she had the key/title kept in somewhere in the house after she moved into the house, and then renovated the house a little.
We paid for the car, and then were hoping she can find the key/title. But she tried, and couldn’t find the key/title of the car. We saw and checked the car in person, and talked to the lady a lot. I believe she is not a liar about this whole thing. She was even trying ever hard to help me to obtain the title by doing some online search, and asked her friends for suggestions.

Any way, to make the story short: we have this car without key/title.

What We had tried:
1)DMV.
we had tried to go to MD DMV for advice about how to get a title for this car. the answers was not helpful. Basically, the old fat lady at DMV told me that I can buy the car again with salvage title from police auction after calling police to impound it. or I need to have Circuit Court to order DMV to issue the title of the car to me.

2)Circuit Court.
we went to the Court House, and were told that we will need to submit a civil case to against DMV, and then see what the Judge will decide, basic on the evidence. What information do they need for the case? I don’t know. I would expect that we will have to go through some process and sign some paper. but we still don’t know how long it will take.

3)Title Companies from out of states.
Many of you already heard about this, and might have used their service. We had done some research about those research companies, and not very sure about how reliable they are.

The reason#1: After you pay them, you won’t get a real title from them. What they will give you is some kind of signed paper that the title companies claim that those are good enough for DMV to issue a title of the car to you. But what I found out that may not work in all the states due to the different law. Even some title companies make it clear that their service will not work in some states. But some title companies don’t even mention those.

The reason#2: There are some online title companies don’t look very right to me. for example, this one person title company from TX claim she can do anything, but she wants your SSN, while the other companies don’t. I am very sensitive to that. And the other company from Main just ask you to pay them without answering all my questions when I called them. and There are couple companies never called me back after I left them the message. If they are in kind of good business with good customer service, they should have called me back.

4)buy a VIN plate/title from some one, but that is illegal. We rather not to try that.

What We can do with the Car:
1)part it out. But this is a very nice car for dismantle. nice body with almost complete interior. not rust.

2)sell the car to someone. well, that can be one of the possible solution. But We still want to give it another try.

3)Junk it. Well, that doesn’t make sense to us. And I am sure that a lot of people will take it.

4)get the title for the car.

What kind of help from you guys:
The idea came across when I was exploring the #4 option to title the car. I was merely looking for a more reliable way to get the title of the car. As we know, and some of you mentioned in the forum, some states don’t require a signed title to title a car, basic on what I learned from the forum, such NC or Main, etc. Most of the time, they only need a bill of sale from you when you go title the car. so, if there is someone can offer the help to get the title in his/her state with the bill of the sale statement I provide, and then sign it back to me. Then I can title the car with the MD DMV. here are the steps:

1)I mail a notarized bill of sale to you, by saying I am selling you the car. but you don’t have to pay me anything.(it needs a day or two)
2)You go to your local DMV, and title the car under your name. DMV will send you the title shortly. (it needs two weeks for DMV to do that normally.)
3)You send me the title so that I can title the car with MD DMV.

The process is the exact same process that those title companies are doing. You sign the form to sell the car to them, then they return some signed paper by telling DMV that they are selling the car to you, so that you can title the car.

What you will be award for helping me this:
$75 + whatever fees you pay at DMV. You must provide receipts for it. You get paid $75 for going to DMV/post office. If you include a legit CARFAX report with the title, another $25 will be given, which means $100 + the fees.

(Note: only $2 will be given for the CARFAX report if the report says the car was NOT stolen, but you don’t help me with the title)

What the concerns you may have:
1)How can I be so sure that the car was not stolen? well, CARFAX will tell you the detail. you can run the CARFAX report on it, and then decide whether you want to help me. if you return CARFAX report with title, I give you another $25 to cover the cost of the report. I don’t care how you get it: free from your friend or just pay $2 to share with someone.

2)How do I get paid for this? the award/cost will be given after everything is done. I can Paypal you the money or cash or whatever form you want. I have been in the forum for a while, and buying/selling stuff with good reputation. You don’t have to worry about not getting pay. the car is not like a muti-million dollar car, it is just a 85 GSL-SE, so, not big deal there. Plus, a lot of local people can help you track me down here, so you can come down and kick my butt if I don’t pay you.

3)What if the CARFAX report says that the car was stolen. if you come back with legit report saying the car was stolen. we terminate the rest of the process. I will pay you $25 for the report. then the car will be sold as a parts car. You may wonder why not to get the CARFAX first for myself. Well, I was going to do that, but then why if I truly believe the car was NOT stolen? if you run the report, that is fine with me, since I am willing to pay for that. if you believe me, and get the title without the report, fine with me too, since I can save $25.

So, I am seriously looking for some help to save this beautiful car, and get it back on the road. Wish you can help if you can.

Here is the VIN# if you are serious helper, and Please PM me if you have any questions.

JM1FB3328F0882756

Thanks

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

Have her (the original owner) request a duplicate title from the DMV, as she lost her old one. Then - have her sign it over when she receives it.

Nismo Convert86

iTrader: (7)

Do you have a Vehicle info package, up here in Ontario we have a package the person can buy with the VIN number it lists all the owners of the cars, you can look up the last owner on 411.com, and get him to buy a new ownership if the State allows to buy a replacement one. If the older fellow has died you can likely try to contact his Power of Attorney and have them get a new one because if he passed on they are now responsible for his belongings.

fong

iTrader: (77)

thanks for the inputs. however,

1)unfortunately, neither the lady nor the previous house owner(old man) title the car under their name. otherwise, it will be very easy, and I won't have to post here for help.

2)I am not sure there is such package that allow you to get such information. even CARFAX report only tells you where the car has been registered, not who the last owner was. so, that may not work in U.S.

thanks

fong

iTrader: (77)

here are more information about the car from carfax report. thanks for Wranked_FC for this.

Date: Mileage: Source: Comments:
01/17/1985 NICB Vehicle manufactured and shipped to original dealer
02/19/1992 69,996 California Inspection Station Yorba Linda, CA Passed emissions inspection
03/15/1994 91,165 California Inspection Station Yorba Linda, CA Passed emissions inspection
10/17/1995 108,866 California Inspection Station Palmdale, CA Passed emissions inspection

fong

iTrader: (77)

here is the link to the CARFAX report:

http://www.carfax.com/phoenix/extern...Mg3tbDgDaCTSi3

so, that was a clean CA car, NOT a stolen, or salvaged car. very nice to know that.

fong

iTrader: (77)

correction: the CARFAX report was from Wanked_FC, without the "r". thanks

F1blueRx7

iTrader: (5)

Alabama will re-title a non-titled car with a salvage title. I think that's the only state that businesses can legitimately perform these "Salvage Title Operations". They do exactly what you are looking for.

In my honest opinion (And I'm really not saying this to be rude) You need to ask the lady for your money back or at least a large portion of it. What she did was sell you a car that she didn't legally own. Without the title of the car, the car's value is significantly less.

There may be a legal loophole where her contract to buy the house included the sale/transfer of the car. That's a legally enforceable document that could be used to procure the title of the car. However it would be her responsibility to pursue that avenue.

Again, not to be rude, but I would never put money in anyones hands unless they had the title to the car at the time of sale with their signature on the back as the seller. The previous owner (that the DMV assumes is the owner) could, out of the blue, wonder what happened to the car, and claim it stolen just to be an *******, or screw you over. Not only would the car be impounded, you'd be charged with theft. This has happened to a friend of mine.

Good luck with the ordeal.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Call back to the MVA and after the fat lady gives you a useless response politly ask to talk to her supervisor and keep walking up the chain of command until someone can give you a reasonably well defined process for getting this done. Every state has some way to re-title a vehicle with a lost title. Its interesting to note on the back of form VR-005 for obtaining a new title and registration that for a used vehicle from a non-title state or a foriegn country you can just use a bill of sale and a verification of registration ( would carfax qualify as that, not sure). Heres a link to the form in case your curious http://www.marylandmva.com/Resources/VR-005.pdf.

Good luck.

Kentetsu

The "right way": track down the last titled owner and get a bill of sale from them. The last time I used carfax, I'm almost positive that they listed the owner and their address. Am I wrong on this? Otherwise, the DMV might give you that info if you ask nicely and explain the situation...

mar3

iTrader: (8)

I had the same thing happen to me...the older Hispanic couple had bought the car from a guy that disappeared, telling them that all the papers they needed were in the folder he left them. Of course, it didn't have the actual title, just old receipts showing it was bought from a used car lot.

I paid them cash anyway, played with the hoses and got it started and drove it home with a friend following in case it didn't make it.

As one might guess next, that used car lot had gone out of business and was a barren parking lot when I visited it for more info, maybe the title itself, the following week

To get the title, I went to the TX DMV and told them the story. She gave me a salvage title form and title dispute form, both of which I filled out. The DMV actually had the info on the last person who claimed it was their car by paying taxes in 1994. I was at the desk in 2001. They sent a dispute form via certified letter to that address. I had to pay a "dispute" bond equal to 10% of what I paid for the car...$80. They processed a title to me that was brown.

Last year, I got a clear blue title because the previous owner never responded to the certified mail.

Junia

RI, and GA don't require titles on cars more than 10 years old. All you need is a bill of sale(don't have to be notorized) written on the back of a bazooka bubble gum wrapper and the car is yours

wankel commando

tip for the key...take the door lock cylinder out and take it to a locksmith...shouldnt be more than $20...i had to do this...

matt

steve84GS TII

You shouldnt even have to go that far.
Just ATTEMPTING to contact the last registered owner should be enough,along with a statement of facts.Thats how I got my Samurai titled in my name.
The last couple owners didnt do any paperwork when they bought the car.The last registered owner was 5 years prior,and the truck was still his legally.The DMV furnished me with his current mailing adress,and I sent him a certified letter with all the DMV paperwork to release the vehicle to me.He sent it back unsigned.....cant blame him,he didnt know me and it concerned a vehicle he had sold years ago.....but since it was certified mail,it proved to the DMV that I attempted to work things out with the last owner.That certified and returned letter, and a statement of facts explaining the entire situation,was all I needed.No slavage title,no lein,no bull......

Dont just give up after one DMV employee gives you a cold shoulder.Ive found that different offices and different employees will approach matters from completely different angles.The first time I tried to get back-info on the Samurai,I was told that they couldnt give out that kind of sensative info about vehicle owners,and basically got no where........the next time I went in,a different lady punched me up a full history of the car from 5-6 years back,gave me all the instructions I just described to obtain the title,and did it with a smile.

jgrewe

iTrader: (1)

My short answer is the same as a few others, go up the food chain at the DMV. Here in Florida you have to show that you advertised in the county of the last known owner for a few weeks in a newspaper looking for the old owner. A bill of sale, nobody responding and a car with no 'stolen' paper work on file with the cops and your good.

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

provided it was last registered in MD, the DMV should be able to take the VIN # and get the name and address of the last registered owner. send that person a registered letter stating the situation and asking them to get a copy of the title and signing it over to u. it's possible that the letter will come back unopened. in that case, take it to the DMV and u'll be able to apply for lost title. i did this.

wecycle

It is easier to take out the hatch lock and take it to a locksmith to get a new key. As long as the ignition lock has not been changed this will be the same key.