Dealing with a missing Title

[Jim_Gruber]

Folks I need some advice on how to deal with this one on a '59 BE I learned about and have been working with the person who has the car in his possession. Car has been in storage in an airplane hangar for some time. It has unpaid storage fees. Car was verbally given to my contact's son in exchange for storage fees and abandoned. The legal owner of this car who holds the title, car BTW has not been titled since '78, refuses to return calls. I can pick up this car for a fairly modest cost. I have not looked at this car but it will likely need a rotiserie restoration but it is unmolested and all of the parts and pieces are there. Here is the note I received this AM.

Jim,

My son was here this past weekend and we discussed what to do with the Bug Eye. As far as we are concerned the car is yours. As you recall the person who was looking after the car verbally gave the car to xxxxxmy son. However, we have no title and no matter how many times we’ve talked to xxxxx (the person looking after the car) he has not come up with a title from the owner, a distant relative of his wife. So if you want the car it is yours as far as we are concerned and you will have to deal with xxxxxx for title purposes. I know this is not a clean deal like we wanted but Rick will be leaving for Japan the end of July and needs hangar space to store his belongings. Let me know if you are still interested and when you would like to come to xxxxxx.

I need some advice from the group on how to deal with this one. I know there are ways.... but how best to deal with this so I don't have an issue later on.

 

[Gerard]

Jim,

I'm not an expert in this area and don't know what the rules/laws are in Ohio, but I think what needs to be done is to file a mechanics lien.

"lien- noun Law
a right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged."

I think your local DMV can provide exact instructions. I think the person who is owed the money has to do it before he can give it to you, but I'm not certain. You could probably do all the leg work, but paperwork probably has to be in his name.

Some info here:

https://bmv.ohio.gov/registration_titling.stm

https://bmv.ohio.gov/new_resident_info.stm

 

[Bayless]

That's how it works in Oklahoma too. The person who is owed storage fees has to file the lien. After a bit of paper work and public posting, he can legally take possesion of the property and can even get a replacement title.

 

[Deleted member 8987]

And whatever you do, take MANY pictures in the existing storage location, to prove condition and parts that are there or missing, BEFORE you move it. Make certain you can identify the storage location in the photos.
YOU probably cannot file a lien, as you are not owed any monies. The guy who owns the storage location must do it.
You can obtain the paperwork for him, but you filling out a lien when you are not involved will not work.

Next, until you obtain clear title, do not even wash the car.
Leave it as is in the photos you took.

Sheriff's Sale is something else, but vehicle has to be in the storage location, notices in papers filed (and for some reason they never specify YOUR local papers, hence the Seattle Times with such notices posted out of South Carolina and such).

BTDT.

 

[regularman]

Jim, I know someone who went through this for a car here in NC and it ended up not being worth it. He had to fill out all kinds of paperwork and list things in the local paper and then auction the car off on the court house steps and bid on the car himself.
I have a 76 junker with no title and I was going to make some sort of alternate fuel vechicle out of it, but its just not worth it.
Perhaps it works differently in different states. You can do a mechanics lean if you performed work on the car for the titled owner and had him sign some sort of paperwork for the work to be performed. That one is easier to do, but I don't think that is what we are talking about here.
Now, if you could find the cowling piece with the VIN on it from a junker with a legal title and cut out yours and weld that one in, then it becomes that other car. You just replaced everyting on the car but the cowling with the Vin number.

 

[ichthos]

I went through a similar experience in obtaining my second bugeye without a title. The original owner that owed storage fees could not even be located. I just applied for a conditional title with the DMV. After three years when no one claimed the car, the title became permanent and is now in my name legally. No real money involved, just a pain waiting for so long.
Kevin

 

[Guest]

Broadway title, about $550 and DONE!

 

[regularman]

What is a broadway title?

 

[regularman]

I found broadway title company. They look absolutely insane to me.
It doesn't look like they are willing to help anyone who wants to title an old car to fix up. Looks like it has to pass all kinds of inspections.
Plus they list several states that are excluded and then later say that they are not titling the car in you state, so why would it matter where you live.
Every once in a while they catch a company like this doing bad things.
This page was just amazing
requirements

 

[69sprite]

Jim,

This sounds VERY similar to what I had to go through to get a title to my car. The guy I bought it from actually inherited the car from a friend of his. They had planned to restore the car and had started when the friend had a heart attack and died.
The friend had purchased the car from the titled-owner a year or so, but had never transferred title and the title was now lost.

The guy I bought my car from held on to the car for another year, but couldn't bring himself to work on it, as he had other projects and that the car reminded him too much of his friend.

I ended up going to the state DMV (Texas) and was able to find out who the title-owner was and was lucky enough to find out he was still at the same address as the state had.

The DMV office gave me forms to have the title-owner to sign for a duplicate title and to transfer said duplicate title to me. I found a phone number via the Internet for the title-owner and he agreed to sign all the papers over to me, so I finalized arrangements with the guy who had the car, got a trailer and drove from Austin to Dallas to get the car. I got to the title-owner's house at around 10PM, he signed everything over. I got to where the car was at around 11:30PM to find the guy I bought the car from working on his Ferrari. We exchanged money, closed the deal, loaded the car, and I drove back to Austin.

All I had to do then was go back to the DMV office, work through all the paperwork and title fee payments and , magically, 4 weeks later, a snappy new title for the car with my name showed up...

Hope you can have the same experience. If the title-owner can't find the title...maybe you can find a duplicate for him to sign over!

Good luck,

Larry

 

[regularman]

Jim, that looks like a great fixer upper. I wish you the best of luck with that. Its just a shame that some things, like getting a title for an old car are so hard to do. It makes no rational sense and its a good reason why people have junk cars around that don't get fixed up but go to the crushers or get parted out.

 

[Guest]

That's new. AL shut down the old car title program. It was the best in the country and only cost $150 through Broadway. Broadway then started doing it out of TX. Looks like TX got wise and came up w/ the rule list. Looks like the party is over. Glad I can still get a bond title here. That's one reason I moved from La.

 

[taskadog]

You may be able to find a state that doesn't require a title to transfer ownership, only a bill of sale. Georgia maybe?

 

[regularman]

You may be able to find a state that doesn't require a title to transfer ownership, only a bill of sale. Georgia maybe?

Yeah, it seems like to me that in georgia after a car gets so old they don't even require a title. I am not sure how that works exactly. The last used car I bought in georgia had a title.

 

[jlaird]

Alabama only requires a Bill of Sale last I knew.

 

[Jim_Gruber]

I'm going down to view the car in person on Saturday and will have better info from present holder of the car and can get more details etc. More to follow. This one was last licensed in '78. Lots of rust underneath as if it has nbeen stored in a barn with a dirt floor for part of hte time but all important bits are there. Engine frozen but that's why I've had a spare 1275 and a rib case in the back of my garage for the past 6 -7 7 years. Now I potentially have a good place for it.

More to follow. Thanks all for the help and advice. I haven't told the wife yet. That may be a much harder battle to win!

 

[regularman]

I'm going down to view the car in person on Saturday and will have better info from present holder of the car and can get more details etc. More to follow. This one was last licensed in '78. Lots of rust underneath as if it has nbeen stored in a barn with a dirt floor for part of hte time but all important bits are there. Engine frozen but that's why I've had a spare 1275 and a rib case in the back of my garage for the past 6 -7 7 years. Now I potentially have a good place for it.

More to follow. Thanks all for the help and advice. I haven't told the wife yet. That may be a much harder battle to win!

If it looks too far gone Jim. I wouldn't mind getting that front end to put on my midget :wink:

 

[jlaird]

The easy way is to buy a parts car with a title. I mean a real parts car, what parts.

 

[Bayless]

Times have changed. My Prefect was a "gift" with only a hand-written bill-of-sale. It came from a salvage yard. After a quick records search (presumably for stolen vehicles) Oklahoma gave me a title without even inspecting the car for the VIN. Of course, that was in 1963. It still sounds like the mechanic's lein for the storage should work. Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Alabama only requires a Bill of Sale last I knew.

No, that's the problem.; they shut that down. That's what Broadway did.