I need a little help/advice from you guys. I am looking at purchasing a car I found here on the HAMB from California. I am in Texas. The seller says the CA title is clean and signed by the previous owner, but that he (the seller) never registered it in his name. Is there any reason that this could become problematic for me?
in cal they have a non op registration and if this is not done the next person has to pay the fines they call them. not sure if they go away when being registered out of state. ok one of you cal. guys chime in.
You will be required to pay registration from the day the registration became out-of-date to the date it is re-registered, and back fees. Every car here has to be registered, either as operational or non-operational, at all times, or junked.
It looks like you will be doing what they call a "title jump". As long as any spot for purchaser info is blank, (and then you enter your info) you should be okay. When you go to register, do not mention the name of the middleman. If asked, you bought the car from the person who's name is on the title. If they suspect otherwise, they will most likely tell you that the middleman must register the car in his name first.- A big hassle you don't need. One other thing- Here in Texas, sellers are supposed to notify TXdot using a form when they sell a car. This form protects the seller from liability in case the car is involved in an incident while still in the seller's name. If CA has such a system and the original seller used it, you could have problems depending on how well the TX and CA computers are talking. Hope this helps, good luck! PS- I'm not a lawyer, I just play one on the internet.
Is it currently registered? If not and it's been sitting for a long time, it may be out of the system. In that case you could have just as easily found it out there. I also know that some states require the car to be currently registered in another state before letting it in. If it's out of the computer in CA then it will have to get a verification before it can be registered. Can be a Pain in the ass.
You California guys have a whole other set of worries. This guy is in Texas. We're sane folks here. He needs to take the car to get it inspected. The inspector will fill out a green form since it's from out of state. Then take the old title and the green form to the DMV, pay your sales tax and registration fees and they mail you a new title.
What AyersGArage said; I'll add. If the seller gave you a bill of sale with his name on it, don't present it. Bill of sale with different name than of previous owner on title will only complicate matters. Take the signed title(only) to DMV, they'll direct you to have it inspected, then they'll collect the taxes and issue you a new Texas title.
What Ayers Garage and 29Nash said. Kind of off topic, but I did an out of state transfer once and had to have the previous owner sign one more form. The clerk handed me the form and said "I think I just saw him walking down the hall." They aren't all assholes. Larry T
Thanks for all the replies fellas. Fuel to Burn is right in that this seems like a "Title Jump." The car is currently registered under the original owner and the tags expire next month. From what I can tell, the seller has been driving on the original owner's registration (illegal, i know). I guess the best bet here is to just pretend that I bought the car from the original owner??? Ayers Garage and others, thanks for the info. I just moved to Texas, so it's helpful to know the reigstration process here is pretty sane. Is there any reason that I will need a Bill of Sale that matches the name on the Title? It sounds like all I need is the Title, correct? Thanks again guys.
I am in Missouri and I have a good Missouri title for my car, 1936 Ford, but it was dated several years ago. By the time I pay all of the penalties it cost less to get a new title from a title company It might be cheaper to get a title from a title company.
In Texas, you don't need a bill of sale. The title is what they want to see. There are no notary public needs with titles either.
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