7 Comments

1. 

   If it was simply lost, you should be able to get the owner to sign a notarized affidavit of lost title to transfer ownership to you. If it was not in the name of the person selling it……walk away. There are too many cars out there that have clean paperwork to bother jumping through a bunch of hoops.

   Comment by Patrick — October 30, 2008 @ 8:09 am

2. 

   Since cars are sold by title, if the owners are unwilling to get a duplicate title to replace the one they lost, you don’t want to buy the car. It is possible to do what is called a bonded title, but it’s both complicated, time consuming and expensive.

   And if the car turns out to be stolen or not theirs to sell, you will be out the money for nothing.

   Comment by oklatom — November 2, 2008 @ 2:39 pm

3. 

   Check with the Texas DMV. Laws are different in each state. Some do not require a title on cars over a certain age. Some will simply run the vin number through the system and if it comes up clean will issue an new title. Do not buy it until you know for sure you can get it documented properly or you will never be able to register it.

   .

   Comment by Jacob W — November 5, 2008 @ 3:31 am

4. 

   u have to apply for lost title go to local license branch they will help u

   Comment by jherder2@att.net — November 8, 2008 @ 10:05 am

5. 

   Contact your local DOT office. There is one in Longview Texas but I am sure that there are more. Notice I said DOT (Department of Transportation.)

   If you don’t know where to go, go to your local tax office where you pay your registration or taxes. They will instruct you as to what you need to do next.

   Then, the DOT office will supply you with a packet to apply for a lost title. In the packet, there is a STATEMENT OF FACTS page that you complete with what, when. who, where basically telling the State WHY you need to apply for a lost title. Then, you need to have an appraisal of the value of the car for tax purposes. You might have purchased the car for $500 but it might really have a tax value of $4000 (just picking numbers here for example.) Typically, if the value is less than $6000, the bond shouldn’t cost you more than $150.

   Then, you send all of this info to DOT and they will send you back a letter granting permission to buy a bond for a set amount. This amount will be the value of the auto and tax. Then you need to contact a local insurance agent that will sell you a surety bond for lost titles.

   Once he has the bond for you, you will then take the entire packet (PLUS proof of insurance on the vehicle) to your local tax office where you pay your registration and taxes on the vehicle and they will give you new plates if required or a new sticker if that will suffice.

   The above process may vary from State to State, but, that is how it works in Texas.

   Takes a little time but it is NOT a hard process.

   Good luck and I hope this helps!

   Comment by Insuranceman — November 9, 2008 @ 1:09 am

6. 

   hey, it’s happened. Guy bought a car, restored it, then found out it had been stolen 40 years ago. He had to give it back to the rightful owner!

   Comment by Wolf Harper — November 9, 2008 @ 2:01 am

7. 

   Well, once you restore it, you’re going to have a really, really hard time getting it registered and titled to you. And if the prior owner has reported it stolen, after it’s restored, it goes to him. And you don’t get to charge him for all the money you’ve put into it.

   Don’t do it. It’s a bad idea.

   Go down to the DMV to ask how to get a title – it’s a pain, it costs extra money, there are a lot of steps you have to take, and it takes a long time.

   Comment by mbrcatz17 — November 9, 2008 @ 6:04 am

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.