The legal owner of the Saab 96 I bought dropped it off at a body shop 12 years ago, then passed away. I bought it from a guy at the body shop. Maybe he had no legal right, but it's done.
In New York, a shop can put a Mechanic's Lien on a car for payment and eventually own it. It's not easy, not fast and you're dealing with State government.
Any other routes?
As far as I know the only other route would be one of the online title services, which I'm going to need to use sometime soon to get the title on my inherited Suzuki Swift resolved from a dropped ball in the estate paperwork... :(
In SC, the lien process isn't that bad. It can be a storage lien or mechanics lien. I almost bougt a 1980 Spitfire with OD for $100 through the process from the towing company. The car had been rolled, but the only damage was to the windshield frame.
Got a friend in Tennessee? They have a simple form to fill out if the car is under $3000 or more than 30 years old. Sell it to them, get them to take care of the title work, then sell it back to you.
Any Volunteers on board that can help or just confirm this?
Dan
Do you have a bill of sale? Perhaps hiding in a drawer that you forgot about...
I've done the bonded title process on a cheap ATV, and it was surprisingly painless. Cost was $50 for the bond and about 2 weeks of back and forth with the DMV.
SAAB 96's didn't have titles.
NYS didn't have a title law then.
Just info.
Here you go. I sold a title-less car to a guy in TN once, and had to fill this out for him.
https://secure.tncountyclerk.com/forms/Certification_of_Ownership_Application.pdf
In reply to iceracer :
Quite right, too. I have a '51 Plymouth that I'm going to get a title for this afternoon. I have a NYS registration card for it, signed over from the previous owner. The card says "TRANSFERRABLE" on it, and I checked and MD does accept that as proof of ownership and will issue me a new MD title with that.
Check around the car and see if you can find an old NY registration card. Perhaps you'll get lucky.
No luck with Registration cards, I knew NYS only had "Transferrable Registrations" back then. Going through NY, they would notice it was registered in NY once upon a time, they would send me back to the legal owner, now deceased.
Vermont has a pretty slick way around this problem. For motorcycles, it's got to be 15+ years old. I think the rule is the same for cars. It's a fairly well-documented method to title older vehicles with just a bill of sale.
Along with mechanics lean there also is abandoned vehicle thing.
Talked to a friend that owns a shop about the Mechanics' Lien.
Send a letter to the PO asking for help with paperwork. When it is returned unopened, DON'T OPEN IT.
Send this along with a laundry list of forms including one from the local police admitting they couldn't help.
Copies of Bill of Sale, old Title, Registrations etc. It's not easy or fast and doesn't always work.
I like the $200 option....
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
In response to weird TN law.
Well Gol Dang, I live in TN, and have never heard of this. Gonna need it, since I flubbed up on my Bugeye title.
Also, O.P., I'll help if I can. Does anyone know if they need to see the actual car?
I went through a title search, fight for title on my only vehicle in Co once. Nightmare. I finally got a title after a year of DMV inspections, letter writing, temp tags. etc. ad nauseum.
I lived in Upstate NY for over 40 years and I had the best luck with going into the local DMV office and explaining the situation and I've never had an issue with registering older cars with little or no paperwork. Things may have changed but I'd still start there. If you go in with just the bill of sale from the shop you bought it from they'll probably just register it. As part of the process they check the database to see if it's stolen and if not you're good to go.
My brother did some work for an older lady around the corner, she paid him but also offered him a 1985 Honda 750 Shadow; "Just take it. It was my husband's, what am I going to do with it?"
I sent him copies of the paperwork for the $200 Vermont Title thing, will let you know how it ends. BTW, only $50 for a bike.
Dan
As it always happens, people tell you how it's done in their state but all that matters is how it's done in your state.
Call or visit your local department of motor vehicles and ask them, or look at the state website for information.
Another resource: SEMA has a web page that summarizes the procedure in all 50 states. https://www.semasan.com/resources/everything-you-need-register-and-title-your-hobby-car-all-50-states
Already talked to the local DMV, it didn't end well.
I'm hoping for a positive outcome. That car should be saved.
Good luck.
Here is how I think it works. No direct experience but the logic seems solid.
Step one of titling an out-of-state car purchase in your state first starts with assuring that you have proper paperwork from the selling state..
Example, I buy a car from Florida. I have a Florida Title and I want to register it in Ohio. My Ohio Title office opens a book which contains a sample title from Florida and they compare the documents that I have to the book to assure that it is a proper title that was handled correctly. Once they have a verification that the document is good by Florida standards then they will issue me a title for Ohio.
Example an Ohio owned car requires a Notary stamp to sell the car. What the Notary does is verifies that the person trying to sell the car is the genuine and rightful owner of the car. An example of what this is trying to curtail is a grandson does not sell his grandpa's car (for drug money) when grandpa only allowed the grandson to borrow the car for the weekend.
A Florida title does not require a Notary stamp. An inexperienced worker in an Ohio Title office might try to tell you that your Florida title needs a notary stamp. What they are actually quoting to you is that OHIO titles need the stamp and since what they see all day are Ohio titles they have made the assumption that all titles need notary. Not true. Repeating, step one is to assure that the documentation meets the rules and requirements of the sellers state .
Some states ( I think Georgia) do not require titles on older vehicles. Not sure how old but I bet a Saab 96 qualifies. If someone from that state was genuinely and truly selling you that car they would sell it to you with just a bill of sale. This bill of sale should satisfy the step 1 of being paperwork that is valid from the selling state. You would then take this bill of sale to your NY office and they would verify that it contains the correct info and issue you a NY title since NY requires a title.
So here seems to be your homework and the line of deception you need to cross...
In reply to John Welsh :
Obviously this is all state-by-state, but I know that at least one notary state (Kentucky) will be okay with a non-notarized title if it comes from a non-notary state. But they will require a notarized copy of the Kentucky application for title which requires the seller and buyer to sign (and be notarized). Not sure how much relevance that has to this specific circumstance, but just another arrow in the quiver of "every state is pretty different"
Hate to say it but a talk with an attoney might help.
914Driver said:Already talked to the local DMV, it didn't end well.
You should reconsider moving to GA :) Sorry I don’t have anything constructive to add beyond that.
They put a glass pane with a 3" hole in it for a reason.
The NYSDMV site has a lot of information on the subject.
Might be worth checking out.
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