skinnyt

Well i just got this 91 firebird but my title is no good half of it is missing bottom half!
were i took it to get notorized said to take it to tage place and see what they say!i do have a bill of sale.so do i take it to tag place with bill of sale and see what happens or what... i cant get a hold of the owner cause i dont have a way too.damn im screwed aint i?
thanks
tommy

camaronewbie

Might be screwed. Never hand over cash without a complete clean title! And never complete a vehicle sale anywhere else but at the DMV office

The previous owner will have to request a new duplicate title to be mailed to his address, and then he'll have to sign that title over to you.

Where in NC are you?

Dmans85

Ouch. Not looking good. You know what's on the bottom of titles...Lienholders, ie banks, auto loan agencies and so forth that may have real ownership of the vehicle despite the fact it may be in your driveway. Hope that isn't the case with you. Good luck.
What happened to the guy/girl that gave you this shred of a document and the keys???

MNformula350

iTrader: (2)

I work for a Repo Company (in the Office) and you would be amazed at how many cars we Repo from People who "Bought it Outright" But can't produce a title.

I would Never buy a car without a clean title, but, then again, I have a normal correctly functioning brain.

White'89

iTrader: (8)

I bought my GTA with a rebuilt title and put an LS1 in it. Does this mean I do not have a correctly functioning brain?

sloick

since no one said anything about rebuilt titles, probably.

Klortho

I know in TN if a car has a lien against it, the lienholder takes the title and keeps it until the lien is paid off. Is it not this way in NC?

Jupiter

iTrader: (1)

I heard/read all the same stuff for 8 years about
how screwed i was with no title. I sit here today
with title in hand. Sure it cost me $400 but i got
a valid title. Two words
BONDED TITLE
http://www.google.com/search?q=bonde...na&btnG=Search

P.S. i should have been clear. Actual cost was
registration fee + title fee + bond + lawyer.
However i have since figured out you do not
need a lawyer. Your local Title company can
take care of this for you including the bond.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Every state has different rules.

Go to your state's office that's most closely equivalent to the DMV, and find out what your state requires.

Nobody here is going to know that, unless they're either an employee of that office, or an attorney, IN YOUR STATE.

It's not at all impossible that you just got hit with a levy of a common tax that all of us get nailed by once in a while, that we all affectionately refer to as the "dumba$$ tax" when it happens to ourselves. I've paid so much of that over the years, I'm now certified to be a complete dumba$$ myself. Got the proof in writing. (and bank statements...) Giving liars money for cars that lack ABSOLUTELY PERFECT UNQUESTIONABLE titles is one of the most basic forms of this tax. You may well have just paid your first installment of it.

Jupiter

iTrader: (1)

Let's be clear about something here.

NOT EVERYONE with a title problem is a
'dumba$$'. My car happened to be in my
brothers name before he disappeared. I
had a xerox of the title, insurance on the
car and, had been driving it legally for 5
years when he disappeared.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Nobody said anything about "EVERYONE with a title problem is a 'dumba$$' ".

What was said is, BUYING a car WITHOUT a clean title, costs extra money that's unneccessary and wasteful, and sometimes it's even IMPOSSIBLE to EVER obtain a clear title, depending on the laws of the state; and LEARNING that lesson, sometimes comes with an installation of what is commonly known in htis hobby as "the dumba$$ tax", aka "the hard way". Kind of like, buying old double-hump heads for high $$$ because "they came off an 11-second Vette", and then discovering that you can't use em because they lack the bolt holes for putting the car back together, and then discovering that the heads you paid $800 for, go for $200 all day long on eBay. Ouch.

Not quite the same situation as yours.

The OP is basically screwed; not so much by the state, as by the person who sold it to him. I'm almost willing to bet IF the "seller" is even the REAL owner, that he owed money on the car, to someone who registered the lien officially and therefore has a legal claim on the car; and the title issue probably can't be settled until the claim is settled, which probably means, paying off the loan shark (which is probably what it is... a payday loan place or the like) that holds the lien. But in some states, a new owner can obtain title, and then the PO gets charged with grand larceny and gets the privilege of becoming a guest of the state, with guaranteed free room & board, for several years. All depends on the laws of the state. In any case, it'll be at least a serious inconvenience, and could even turn out to be an ordeal. It may even turn out in fact, that the person the OP gave his money to, wasn't ACTUALLY the owner AT ALL; which even further complicates matters.

As said over and over, something to COMPLETELY STEER CLEAR OF, as a car buyer. Lesson learned the hard way.

A bill of sale, BTW, isn't a legal document at all; it's just a convenience. And, to get a transfer notarized ANYWHERE, the ONE THING that's actually getting "notarized", is the signature (and therefore the identity) of the SELLER; meaning, no seller present, no notarization; meaning, no sale exists.

Has all the earmarks of a thief preying on an inexperienced would-be buyer and possibly on an absent car owner as well. Ouch. Not the way I like to see people introduced to this hobby.

{edit} And I might also add, as a word of caution to the PO, in some states, the BUYER of such a vehicle can be prosecuted for GTA as well, given that the thief and the "buyer" could possibly be in collusion to defraud the real owner. at the very least, he might well now be in possession of stolen property, even though he didn't know it, and bought the car "in good faith", thinking the transaction is legitimate, if the REAL owner reoprts the car stolen then there could be some REAL headaches if the "buyer" has to identify himself to the police for any reason.

In no universe that I am aware of, is a good outcome possible, in situations like this. Best-case, all it will cost is some kind of "lost title replacement" type of fee; possible case, the REAL owner steps forward to claim his car, and the "buyer" basically has no recourse but to give it up; worst-case, the "buyer" could find himself defending a GTA charge.

I SURE hope it doesn't come to that; talk about THE HARD WAY to learn a lesson. That would be truly a bummer. I hope it's a legitimate mistake, and the title can be restored for $30 or the like; but that's far from certain in a case like this.