Need Auto Title Advice

A while back I bought a project car. It came with a New York duplicate title. The title was last transferred in 1986, and there were two New York owners between that one and me. The two previous owners didn't transfer the title (probably to save sales tax), and the car hasn't been on the road since. I knew all of this when I bought it, but the deal was too good to pass up. Now, I'm in Ohio, not NY. I would like to transfer the title and make it all legal, but am unsure about what I might be up against at the DMV. I'm wondering how I should approach this. My concerns are the two owners that didn't transfer the title, the fact that the title is a copy, and that I have to title this New York car in Ohio. Any advice? Thanks, Jim

Head into the title office and see what thay have to say. It may go smoothly. If it does not, learn from the visit. This may include what to say and what not to say. With that new gained knowledge, visit another office and take another try at it.

My initial thought was to prepare myself as much as possible before going in the the title office. But you make a point I didn't think of - If they give me a hard time, I can change my approach and go to a different office. I may do that, but I'd still like to hear from anyone else here that may have some useful information. Thanks.

in ohio: duplicate title negates any originals.

is new york a notary state?

if so is the title notarized?

if not is it signed and dated?

if one or other of the above do you know a notary who will be cool with notarizing someone else's signature while not witnessing it and are you morally opposed to signing someone else's name? i'm not advocating signing someone else's signature

once that is taken care of:

tow car to BMV for out of state vehicle inspection - they check the VIN to the title and the mileage, color, make, and model. pay $1-2

take title and inspection form to title bureau and get car transferred to your name.

It's really tough to say since titles are handled by the state and there are apparently wide variances from state to state.

If you were in MO, where I'm at, you'd have to take the car to an inspector and have them fill out a form to verify the VIN on the car (has to happen on any out-of-state title car). This could be an MVI "safety inspection" or an ID/OD (verification of vehicle ID only). Then you just take the title and that form in and apply for title. If the title is signed over by the last titled owner and your name is in the purchaser section, you'd be good to go (unless the date of the sale was listed more than 30 days ago).

That info is probably not applicable at all to your situation though...

Clem

patgizz wrote: in ohio: duplicate title negates any originals. is new york a notary state? if so is the title notarized? if not is it signed and dated? if one or other of the above do you know a notary who will be cool with notarizing someone else's signature while not witnessing it and are you morally opposed to signing someone else's name? i'm not advocating signing someone else's signature once that is taken care of: tow car to BMV for out of state vehicle inspection - they check the VIN to the title and the mileage, color, make, and model. pay $1-2 take title and inspection form to title bureau and get car transferred to your name.

I don't know if NY titles need notarized or not, but this one is signed and not notarized, IIRC (don't have it with me).

Don't volunteer any information that isn't explicitly asked for and don't be afraid to ask what the correct answer to a question is. I've found the people at the BMV like dealing with questionable titles about as much as we do. Sometimes they'll "fix" things for you if you're nice.

skruffy wrote: ...don't be afraid to ask what the correct answer to a question is.

Ooh! I like that piece of advice. It can work well in so many different scenarios!

Cool! I'm going to vote your post up for that one...

Clem

I agree with Skruffy.

What kind of car? What kind of project?

Ask if you can use a lifeline.

Here you would write a bill of sale with the person's name that is on the title, selling it to you, and go play dumb at the courthouse. Easy, but not exactly legal.

I don't speak from experience, or anything.

bamalama;

i highly doubt that you are not speaking from experience

Bill

When I lived in MA, cars worth less than a certain value didn't need titles. That was a problem when i moved to CA but they had a copy of the MA state laws so I was able to title the car in CA. If your project car is worth less than a certain amount, perhaps OH will be the same way.

Jerry From LA wrote: When I lived in MA, cars worth less than a certain value didn't need titles. That was a problem when i moved to CA but they had a copy of the MA state laws so I was able to title the car in CA. If your project car is worth less than a certain amount, perhaps OH will be the same way.

Nope, pretty much anything with wheels needs a title in ohio. Including worthless cars, trailers, dirt bikes, etc...

I live in Dayton, BTW

N.Y. is a PITA state, but all they really want is your $$$.The two" in between owners" don't count, unless the title is signed over to one of them. Otherwise, just fill in your name as the buyer. If the title is signed over to someone else, it's just a little more complicated, but not insurmountable. Call the NY State DMV office (closest one), explain the situation and do what they say. Make sure you get the name of the person you talk to, as you may have to make multiple calls. As long as it isn't a salvage title, it's pretty straight forward. Trying to license a salvaged titled car in N.Y. is a major pain that takes months. The duplicate title supersedes the original, and shouldn't be a concern.

Like Minimac said, if there is no name in the Buyers section just fill yours in (SECTION 1) and put in the date if it's not there. No Notary is required in NYS and the duplicate does supercede all other titles. I can send you a NYS DMV bill of sale paper if you want one to fill in as additional evidence (contact off forum). Or you can download one from their website."http://www.nysdmv.com/". Can't get pic to load but there's a title here. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/14912539@N02/3026244636/]

Thanks guys. Hopefully some of you are still following this thread - I kept forgetting to see what the situation was with the title. Here's what I have:

-A New York duplicate certificate of title. It states this -

"THIS IS A DUPLICATE CERTIFICATE AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO THE RIGHTS OF A PERSON UNDER THE ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE. ALL TITLE CERTIFICATES ISSUED PREVIOUSLY FOR THIS VEHICLE ARE NOW VOID."

That somehow sounds contradictory to me, but that's what it says.

-The title was issued in 1986.

-It is signed on the back by the seller, and lists the buyer 's name, but with no signature. It also states the mileage at that time, which doesn't really matter now.

So it seems like things might be a little more complicated, since the buyer's name is already on the back. What do you guys think I should do? I don't know anyone that can give me advice locally except the DMV, and I'd kind of like to know what to expect before talking to them. Help!

A simple crossout of the "buyers name" and yours added and signed below should suffice. Otherwise there is a form to be notorized and signed by the old "buyer", but it shouldn't be needed because it wasn't signed. You can say the original guy filled it out before completing the deal, but the deal fell through. As far as the title itself, it's stated that way only to protect the possible interest of a lien holder, which is listed on the original.Not contradictory at all.

So I should be able to cross his name out, fill mine in, sign it and take it to the DMV and transfer it? If it's that easy, then I'm a happy man!

If you cross out the name and change it, in Georgia, it voids the title. Don't change anything on the title. Go down to the DMV and see what they say. I have had messed up titles, and they just processed them. It may take a few times to get it done.

Don't line anything out on a title, ever! It'll be voided for sure, especially in Ohio, which is one of the strictest with regards to title errors.

I think when you said the buyer didn't sign the title what you meant was that the signature of that buyer exactly matches the one on the bill of sale you got from him transferring the car to you, right? For clarification you should call your local DMV and ask them what you should do from the perspective of they guy selling the car. Stress that the new buyer is out of state and will not wait for you to get a duplicate title.

clownkiller wrote: If you cross out the name and change it, in Georgia, it voids the title. Don't change anything on the title. Go down to the DMV and see what they say. I have had messed up titles, and they just processed them. It may take a few times to get it done.

Same here. I would do a bill of sale from the original owner to myself, and take the title to the DMV and explain that the other guy never took possession of the car. I have had to do that more than once, and the clerks corrected the title for me.

Okay, I'm not sure I follow you guys entirely, but what I have is a bill of sale from the guy I bought the car from. His name is NOT on the title anywhere. I am the 5th owner of this car, and the title I have is in the name of the original owner. The back of the title lists the second owners name (not a signature) as the buyer, and is signed by the original owner as the seller. I believe what happened is that the second owner never transferred the title, started to restore the car, and the third and fourth owners never finished it, so they didn't transfer the title either. So the buyer listed on the title is not the person I bought the car from.

Take this for what it's worth...but here in Missouri they'd tell you (and have told me) that the ONLY way to get a title for this car is to get the titled owner to apply for duplicate title and sign the title over to you as buyer. I realize this is NOT a viable option in these sorts of cases...but that's what they told me here.

If that's what they tell you in OH and/or NY...and it was my car and was worth the extra cost...I'd be contacting one of the title services on the net.

Clem

Title services?