my husband bought a car and lost the title now what do we do?

Question

also the person he bought it from never registered the car and doesnt remember who he bought it from. the owner is probably in mo or ill.

Answer 1

Go to your Department of Motor Vehicles, or the Secretary of State (depending on where you are from) and explain to them what happened..and put in as a lost title...do you happen to have a receipt that you bought the car? It might help..

Answer 2

If you have a reciept for the car you should be able to go to the Dmv and write down the serial no. and take it with you and they can look up the last known owner of the car. Take your husbands license and yours and make sure you write all the numbers of the serial numbers and any other pertinent numbers or tags that came with the vehicle or registrations that might have been in the glove box with you. You can always get a title for a vehicle and plates. The state just wants your money and a guarantee that it's not stolen and with the vin number they can run the check for you. Good luck my friend. Just go prepared.

Answer 3

Write this down, put it on your mirror so you can see it every day.

"Never buy a vehicle without getting a clear current title."

If it was never changed over by the purchaser, I'm sure there would be a penalty to pay since most states only give you 30 days from the date of signature on the title. Not to mention that the state will want their cut from the previous purchaser, the "excise tax" or whatever your state calls it in lieu of sales tax.

That being said, go to your motor vehicle department and ask if there is anything you can do. Sometimes you can claim storage and start a lien which will lead to getting a title. Good luck.

Answer 4

go on the DMV web site pay your 10 $ run a title search like it was an abandoned car. this will give you last known address of registered owner. contact them to see if they'll run a lost title and then sign it over to you again. if that don't work then file a title 40,on it. the laws have tightened up some but there are people who make a living out of filling out and filing these your tag agent should be able to give you a couple of names, or try the yellow pages.

Answer 5

If he never registered it then hes gonna have to get the owner of the car to replace the title. You can't register the car without having the title in your name. Also if the person he bought it from didn't have the title in his name he will have to get them to get it in his name then sign it over to you. (well your husband) If the person your husband bought it from can't locate or remember who he got it from then your husband prob. just need to get his money back. Esp. since the dude never registered it in his name.

Contact the DMV and see what steps they require for that. Each state is different.

Answer 6

title search at the DMV (may be called something else in your state) It cost about $50...IT should have the name of the person he bought it from on there...If you have the bill of sale take it back to the DMV and have the new title processed (Yes it will cost you more money)...If you don't have the bill of sale take the new title back to the person he bought it from and have him do a new bill of sale..The car doesn't have to be registered to have had a title change..if the title was never changed then the original owner will be on the title witch can be obtained back at the DMV as public record (some states charge a nominal fee some don't)

Answer 7

have to go to the dmv and file for lost title, since the guy before didnt register it, you may have to file for abandoned vehicle. we had the same problem. you just have to have state police run a check on the vin number to make sure its not stolen.

Answer 8

File with you local DMV for a lost title.

Answer 9

They should be able to run the VIN number at the DMV/courthouse and find the last owner.

Answer 10

Sounds like your in for a lot of grief... go to your local tag office, they can advise you on how to proceed..