Title question about car to be junked. (vehicles, auto, salvage)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Here goes the story
The mother in law to a freind of my wife sold us a car. We paid the car off about a year ago. We never did the title transfer to my wifes name. Mainly the car spent almost as much time collecting dust due to recurring auto trouble.
We come to find out that the lady who the car is still under unexpectedly passed away. Much to my annoyance, my wife never has the title transferred to her name.
My wife decided to have car junked. Will I have any problems selling pick and pull a junk car even though its not in our name and lady who owed it passed away. Or will they give trouble and we got to fix the title thing first? We do have the title in our possession. Thanks for any advice.
Last edited by Fraptree; 05-13-2013 at 01:23 AM..
Reason: used wrong words
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,690 posts, read 57,994,855 times
Reputation: 46166
You need to get a (title, or) release of ownership from the estate of the deceased.
You will not be able to sell it or scrap it or crush it in most states.
You CAN park it along the road late at night,,, and a towing company will come and fetch it. They will put a mechanic's lein on it, and be able to get a replacement title so they can sell it or scrap it. THEN you can buy it BACK from them (That would only work if you LIKED it....I have had to do this with several cars that I needed a title for.)
It is CAPITAL PITA to get a replacement title as 'joe average guy'. (Requires State Patrol inspection $$$, + a few months waiting / filing different paperwork)
This is STATE regulated. Let me know what you find out. I have some scrapped cars in Kerrville, TX I need a replacement title for.
Do you have the old title in hand? If so, is there buyer information on the back or bottom? With that information you might be able to scrap it out without having to file new title.
As said above, this will vary greatly between states.
It seems to me that if there was a note on the car that you paid off, then the title would have either been held by the finance company or there was a lien on it from them. You might check with them to find out where the title is located or what they did to release the claim on it.
So you have the title? Is it filled out properly? If so all you have to do is sign it over to the scrapper
Yes, if the previous signed the title you should be able to transfer it into your name despite the fact that she's no longer upright. If it was dated at the time of the transfer you may wind up paying late fees but it still shouldn't affect anything.
If it's not signed, it's really not that big a deal providing the family doesn't make it one. You will just need to have the executor of the estate sign the title and have them give you a copy of the death certificate. That's the program in all the states around here, anyway.
If the title isn't signed, and getting it signed will be an issue, your only option may be to sell it to an individual who will dismantle the car himself and sell the pieces for scrap.
Some states do have "fence row" clauses that will allow salvage yards to take cars without titles (so named because often people will buy a piece of rural property where vehicles have been hauled out and parked along a fence row when they were no longer needed) but yards generally don't pay anything for these cars, they just take them in exchange for the hauling. If you don't expect to get anything out of the car you could check into this, but it sounds like you'd like to get at least something for it.
Yes, if the previous signed the title you should be able to transfer it into your name despite the fact that she's no longer upright. If it was dated at the time of the transfer you may wind up paying late fees but it still shouldn't affect anything.
If the title isn't signed, and getting it signed will be an issue, your only option may be to sell it to an individual who will dismantle the car himself and sell the pieces for scrap.
.
Aw, heck. if it's unsigned, just sign it. Nobody will ever know. Backdate the sale to when she was alive. Pay a few extra bucks to the DMV because it took you so long to title it. "It wasn't running when I bought it, Ms. DMV Employee. I got it running the other day..."
Here goes the story
The mother in law to a freind of my wife sold us a car. We paid the car off about a year ago. We never did the title transfer to my wifes name. Mainly the car spent almost as much time collecting dust due to recurring auto trouble.
We come to find out that the lady who the car is still under unexpectedly passed away. Much to my annoyance, my wife never has the title transferred to her name.
My wife decided to have car junked. Will I have any problems selling pick and pull a junk car even though its not in our name and lady who owed it passed away. Or will they give trouble and we got to fix the title thing first? We do have the title in our possession. Thanks for any advice.
In my state you only have to have the title signed by the owner to take possession of the car. I have sold several cars and left the buyers name blank.You do have the original title dont you? If you dont you have made a major mistake because getting one now would be hard to do.
If you just want to get rid of it, give it to someone to come and pick up. Metal prices have been up and scrappers are looking for old cars to scrap. They'll likely cut it up after they part it out. If you have a signed title, then you have a title to the car.
If I had wanted to sell it for scrap, my local Texas scrap company told me I would have to cut the car into three pieces without a title. Acetylene is just too expensive to be cutting up cars.
Someone gave me a junk motorcycle and it has an up to date title,and registration. How can i transfer it to my name?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
