Title advice

[FirstRide]

I just want some opinions because I'm kind of in a bind with a title. I bought a 71 c10 a while ago from a guy and his brother had lost the title and was in the works of getting a new one 1. But while in the works of getting a new title they have somewhat lost contact with one another and it leaves me in a tuff spot because I don't have a title yet what are your recommendations?

[The Pitt]

All it takes is a day at the DMV to get reissued a title. Get in their arse! Do you have a bill of sale?

[OhioChevy]

Which ever brother had the title in his name he can go to the courthouse and have a new title made. Just needs the vin number of the truck and they can verify whose name it is in.

[FirstRide]

No I don't have a bill of sale bought it from a coworker and it was in his brothers name so I just don't know what to do

[FirstRide]

Supposibly the brother that has it in his name got a new title for it but he's not the brother I ve been dealing with

[OhioChevy]

Did you write the guy a check. Hope you didn't just hand him cash without getting a receipt or something to prove you paid him for the truck.

[FirstRide]

No we haven't paid the full amount yet

[FirstRide]

Just not sure how I should go about it cause I don't want to sound like a jerk for keep asking him about it if he hasn't talked to his brother

[hugger6933]

Jerk or not you may not have any recourse on getting a title without a BOS and since you bought it from a coworker[assuming he is NOT the brother, acting as an agent for him] you may be without any recourse on getting a title. See that is called title "jumping"when one person sell a vehicle without putting tags on it or registering it with the state[see it leaves the state without the chance to make money on it]
I am sure it will all work out it just may be on their time table and not yours. I have had a dealers tag since the late 1980's so I have seen pretty much everything. I have a 67 Chevelle rotting down in my shop yard cause the guys[other dealer] were gonna get me the title "in a day or two". I didn't have much going in the shop so I got it ready for paint then stopped cause I figured no title coming.
You can do a bonded title but they are a pain and if you have no BOS your stranded.
One last thing don't spend a dime on that truck until you have a title in your name. Some third part may just stroll up with the proper paperwork and a guy with a gun and badge and drive off in "your" truck

[hugger6933]

I hate to be harsh and on the negative side but there are some pretty nasty people in the world today that don't always look out for anyone but themselves. Jim

[FirstRide]

I know they are brothers I don't know the whole story but it sounds like there's some issues going on in the family and that's why theyve lost contact bit I just want the dang title for it

[farmallboy15]

If you haven't paid the full amount then why would you have the title yet? Find the guy and talk to him.

[FirstRide]

We agreed that we would not pay the full amount until we had the title in our hands

[Stu Pidd]

I'd probably back out of the deal. Give the truck back when they hand you your cash back.

There are plenty of these trucks available with clear titles.

[cypressbog]

Vehicle purchase 101:

Lesson 1.1

Never exchange money for a vehicle until you confirm there is clear title that can be transfered to you. Never.

[FirstRide]

I didn't pay the full amount only a small amount I understand that there are plenty of ones out there with titles but other ones also need a lot of work and cost way more then are agreed upon pri e

[SeniorVerde]

In my state, you can apply for a lost/new title and it goes something like this:
The truck is going to be registered to someone, somewhere.
Find out where that registered address is, current or not- in this case, the brother who owns the truck. If he moved since the truck was first registered in his name, even better...

Then, you send a certified letter to the address that the truck is registered to along with the lost title paperwork from DMV. In your letter, say something like "I have this truck in my possession and it's about ready to hit the road. I'm giving it to my 16 year old daughter who hopes to have her driver's license by Friday if she doesn't fail again. Insurance is a little picky about the truck though because it's still in your name."
Slip that letter in with the lost tile application (even if you don't have a daughter).

If you send it certified mail, it has to be signed for upon receipt- if the registered owner of the truck doesn't live there anymore, the letter gets returned and you can take the returned letter to DMV, and say you tried, last owner doesn't seem to miss it, and proceed with the process of getting your title.

IF the owner still lives at the same old address, they could either sign the return letter and A) demand his truck back, not signing the lost title application at which point you'll have contact with him to work out the rest of the sale, or B) sign the application and you are on the road to getting the title or C) He'll do nothing, you have record that certified mail made it to him, and he didn't care that you are proceeding with the title transfer.

Your results may vary, I'm not a lawyer, but I have bought old cars with lost titles and used similar methods as above. In my cases I had (1) All paperwork sent back to me and got my title, and (2) Nothing, no contact made, I proceeded with title transfer after a 3 year probationary period in which case I had a working title and the truck was essentially mine until the real title was cleared.

[FirstRide]

Could I still do that the way you said even if the brother that supposibly lost the title already applied and recieved a new title?

[SeniorVerde]

The process would be the same, but the registered address would certainly come up as his current address, so the chances of the certified mail going unanswered is reduced, but yeah, the steps are all the same.

[FirstRide]

Would it be worth doing that or should a person just wait

[SeniorVerde]

It's a lot of paperwork, service fees, stress and time that could be wasted in ways that are more fun, that's for sure.
I'd try to track the guy down- you probably at least know his first and last name, so he can't be too hard to find.
He either wants to sell the truck and get the rest of his money, or he wants his truck back.

I'd just figure out how to find him and say "what now?" I'm not a big fan of drama, myself. Going with the certified mail method can feel a little lawyer-ish and puts people on the defensive.

It is really hard to do much with a car that isn't titled though, so the sooner your truck and its title are in one place, the better.

I bought a motorcycle in a similar situation as yourself; guy had the bike, couldn't find the title which was in his Dad's name (from another state).
I withheld some money until the title came, and luckily he emailed several months later and all went ok. It worked out for me to be patient because the title weirdness scared other buyers off, helping the price come down, but I try to stay away from title games when possible.

[67ChevyRedneck]

You need to point blank ask the guy you work with what the deal is with his brother and that you want the title now and will pay as soon as you get it.

Who is currently in possession of the truck?

What gives him the right to sell a truck in his brothers name? Maybe that's why he's pissed, maybe he didn't want to sell it.

Maybe he was promised half and hasn't received anything yet (although you said you've only given a small amount.)

The whole thing sounds shady to me.

[FirstRide]

Both of the brothers lost interest in the truck that'd why they sold it I'm in possession of it right now

[72gmguy]

If you really want the truck and you scored it for a good deal you can get a title through a number of agencies. I have done this with cars and trucks over the years when getting a title was either to big of a pain in the but or I got tired of waiting around. It does cost $200-$300 dollars and about 2-3 weeks. I can look for the name of the company if your interested.

[jeffahart]

In California it's a lot easier. See, you just steel the truck! If you get caught you claim your the victim of society(left behind and down trodden so to speak) they will let you go, give you a welfare check and a free cell phone... you can then call a lawyer to sue the police for arresting you in the first place. It's a little backwards here, but you just gotta learn the system.