Ok, so a friend and I found a mint 79 in our apartment building. It hasnt moved in about a year now. It hasnt moved once, the keys are in it, as with all of the registration, title and all. It recieved a tow notice a whil ago, and tommorw it will be towed if its not moved by 3:00 pm. Is it legally ok for me to move the car across the street to avoid this? As I would hate to hate such a pristine car to go to the tow yard. Also what steps would I need to follow in order to attempt to legally make the car mine. Any help is greatly appreciated, and the car is located in gresham oregon.

 

Sign the back of the title and sell it to yourself...!!!

 

Yes, move it!

When was the notice placed on the car? I am in the process of getting a title in my name for a car that was abandoned at a shop.

Get on your state DMV website and see what they require to get it in your name.

 

yeah if the keys and papers are in it, grab it!

 

Don't listen to these guys unless you want to leave yourself open to legal issues.

I recommend that you get with the manager of the apartment building and see if they have any records of who the vehicle belonged to. Since it is on private property belonging to the owners of the apartment building they have the right to have the vehicle towed if it has been abandoned by it's legal owner. After that point the tow company can put a lien on it and if the legal owner does not come forward then they can offer the vehicle for sale.

 

which is true, but it depends in the state your in. In CA, once it's towed, the towing company will contact the titled owner and give him/her a 72 hour notice to remove the vehicle from the impound yard, if the owner fails to pay the fees and remove the vehicle, it will go to an auction.

 

the title will have the owners name on it. just contact them. if you just take the car with out proper channels you may or may not be held liable for a stolen vehicle (even though it looks as if no one wants it)

there could be leins, ect on the car.

1st take title to DMV and have them check it out for you. if that is the orginal title or if new has been issued and thats just the title from a previous owner. they will tell you if it has leins agains it.

then talk to land lord, tell them you are in process of acquiring the vehicle and what you should do to prevent its tow.

third make an attempt via certified letter to contact the owner that the DMV provides you with (they have now started to charge for this info so be prepared at the DMV)

in Washington state you need to have a police officer come out and inspect the vehicle and sign off on it, most states have this law now. if car is wanted, stolen, someone is looking for it the police need to be involved.

(now this is washington state here) they then will issue a temp title for period of 1 year in your name as temp owner. this gives anyone the right to step forward and claim the car providing they are legal owner before you. after 1 year period a full legit title will be issued to you.

i have ran into this in AZ, WA, ND, MN so I am assuming that most states will be same.

tow companys are different they fall under different laws thats how they can turn cars like they do.

hope that helps you

BTW my 1979 was also an abandoned vehicle that was signed over to a girl i work with she never transfered the title and orginal owner went to jail. when i took car the mother steped up and caused all sorts of legal drama for me to get the title in my name. but after lots of paper work its mine now.

 

well what happened?