Buying a car without a title, but how do I get one?

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Woodsman341

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Hey everyone,

So I'm looking at buying a pretty nice daily driver from Georgia, but the buyer has no title, just a bill of sale. The titled owner was put into a nursing home some years ago with dementia, and his house was sold at an estate sale, Dart was in the barn. The house buyer sold the car to a friend, who is now selling it years later. There's no feasible way to track down the original owner, if he's even still alive.

How in the world do I get a title in my name from just a bill of sale? South Carolina DMV says it's impossible, that even salvage yards carry actual titles, so I can't even register it as salvage.

Thoughts? If I can't do it, then obviously I won't buy the car, because what I really want is the body, not the mechanical bits.

Edited After Getting Good Replies:

Okay, so the Vermont option seems to be the best (if not ONLY) legal way to go, though it may be sort of an end-run. That said, is there anyone that can verify PERSONALLY that the state of South Carolina will title a vehicle based on a Vermont registration of ownership?



Thanks!
 
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GA is a "no title" state for cars over a certain year old.

Most other states honor the GA state bill of sale if the other required paperwork is present, IE current registration.

SC DMV should (but possibly doesn't) know, but it should be public information.
 
Woodsman341 said:
Hey everyone,

So I'm looking at buying a pretty nice daily driver from Georgia, but the buyer has no title, just a bill of sale. The titled owner was put into a nursing home some years ago with dementia, and his house was sold at an estate sale, Dart was in the barn. The house buyer sold the car to a friend, who is now selling it years later. There's no feasible way to track down the original owner, if he's even still alive.

How in the world do I get a title in my name from just a bill of sale? South Carolina DMV says it's impossible, that even salvage yards carry actual titles, so I can't even register it as salvage.

Thoughts? If I can't do it, then obviously I won't buy the car, because what I really want is the body, not the mechanical bits.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Im curious.

Are there plates on the car?

Also, if the house was sold and the car was in the barn but not listed as part of the estate by vin #, technically, it wasn't sold and still belongs to the original owner ( hence why I asked about the plates). If the right person wanted to , it could easily now be reported as stolen.

Its very straight forward.

No bill of sale and ownership transfer by the original owner or the estate, the car still belongs to the original owner.

Not sure how US Motor vehicle laws work in SC but I'm fairly certian there has to be a papertrail to determine ownership in order to transfer the vehicle to a new owner.
 
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In California you can file a mechanics lien and state the vehicle was left on your property, if the lien is not contested after (I forget the time frame) so many days they will issue you a title.
 
FYI, maybe ask independent vehicle registration businesses as well about your problem. I bought a car in CA that hadn't been registered in roughly 20 years and had changed hands multiple times from the last registered owner to me (so no way of tracking down last owner) and no title Tobe found. I spent about a month going to the DMV and each time the employee told me I had to do something different but none of them could really help me.
I went to a small business vehicle registration company (mom and pop type business) and they took a look at everything and said the DMV employees had no idea what they were doing and he had a title for it in about 2 weeks and it cost about $120 at the time to register it non-op. Once I'm ready to register he said I would need to buy new plates, and them pay the typical registration for that year and that's it. I couldn't be happier with the process after what I had dealt with.
 
The form for VT still requires the Seller info and signature, roughly 13 min mark.
 
My interpretation is that a current GA registration is required.

In most states having license plates has nothing to do with it.
 
YY1 said:
GA is a "no title" state for cars over a certain year old.

Most other states honor the GA state bill of sale if the other required paperwork is present, IE current registration.

SC DMV should (but possibly doesn't) know, but it should be public information.
Click to expand...

Okay, this is information that's good to know.
 
YY1 said:
GA is a "no title" state for cars over a certain year old.

Most other states honor the GA state bill of sale if the other required paperwork is present, IE current registration.

SC DMV should (but possibly doesn't) know, but it should be public information.
Click to expand...

Okay, I checked, and that only applies to cars before 1962. Good to know, though! Thanks!
 
Okay, so the Vermont option seems to be the best (if not ONLY) legal way to go, though it may be sort of an end-run. That said, is there anyone that can verify PERSONALLY that the state of South Carolina will title a vehicle based on a Vermont registration of ownership?

Thanks!
 
I bought a 65 Barracuda out of GA a few years ago. I had the VIN checked by an NCDMV Inspector before I even went down there to look at it, and it was clean. I had to have an official GA Bill of Sale with all of the info from the last registered owner in GA to be able to get a NC title. The people I bought the car from were morons that were of no help, but I was lucky that the car had old tags on it. I had a private investigator that works for a friend who is a repo guy run the plates. The name matched some old papers I found in the glove box, so I had all the info to fill out the bill of sale and get a title.
Go to the Georgia DMV website and poke around until you find a link to the Official GA bill of sale, then save a copy and print it out and you can figure out what you need from there.
I also understand your frustration with SCDMV! My wife and I have a camper set up permanently in a campground in Myrtle Beach. We had to have 2 documents like a light bill and lot rental agreement to get a title for the camper in our names. The service address and billing address were different on the light bill because we had the bill sent to our home in NC. The DMV lady in Little River could not figure that out to save her life. I was able to get a lady from Santee Cooper to make me a redneck photoshop of the light bill showing both addresses being the one in Myrtle Beach. Went back to DMV and BAM...had a title in our name in 2 weeks! :BangHead: Good luck to you.
 
Well, I'd like to thank everybody for their help, but I no longer need help. I was set to go down and pick up the car tomorrow, and then noticed that the listing had been marked as sold. I contacted the guy to thank him for marking it sold and I would see him tomorrow, and he informed me that he had already sold it to somebody who just walked up. Everything had been negotiated and I had already rented the hauler and was set to go and he pulled this little piece of joy. All is well though, I'm picking up a different one tomorrow that's in better shape so in the end it worked out better for me. It's still a crappy way to do business.

Thanks again folks!
 
JDMopar said:
I bought a 65 Barracuda out of GA a few years ago. I had the VIN checked by an NCDMV Inspector before I even went down there to look at it, and it was clean. I had to have an official GA Bill of Sale with all of the info from the last registered owner in GA to be able to get a NC title. The people I bought the car from were morons that were of no help, but I was lucky that the car had old tags on it. I had a private investigator that works for a friend who is a repo guy run the plates. The name matched some old papers I found in the glove box, so I had all the info to fill out the bill of sale and get a title.
Go to the Georgia DMV website and poke around until you find a link to the Official GA bill of sale, then save a copy and print it out and you can figure out what you need from there.
I also understand your frustration with SCDMV! My wife and I have a camper set up permanently in a campground in Myrtle Beach. We had to have 2 documents like a light bill and lot rental agreement to get a title for the camper in our names. The service address and billing address were different on the light bill because we had the bill sent to our home in NC. The DMV lady in Little River could not figure that out to save her life. I was able to get a lady from Santee Cooper to make me a redneck photoshop of the light bill showing both addresses being the one in Myrtle Beach. Went back to DMV and BAM...had a title in our name in 2 weeks! :BangHead: Good luck to you.
Click to expand...

So it's :easy to get a title" like a lot of ads for no title cars say IF:

you hire a DMV inspector and have a friend that's private investigator and/or a repo man.

Sounds easy to me now.
 
greymouser7 said:
bonded title company this is there bread and butter, meat and potatoes
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IF your state allows bonded titles.

FL just started allowing title bonds BUT the previous title MUST be a FL title.

That's kind of limiting and .....how can you be sure?
 
WI allows bonded title, I have done it (and I am the reason the state wrote the statute allowing it). Bond came from my car insurance company. 5 years with no ownership claim and you get a clear title. Even a bonded title, you can legally sell the car per WI DMV. Pretty easy. Just pictures and whatever paperwork you have, an agreed value, then a bond at 1.5x the agreed value.
 
I bought my 66 Valiant from a salvage yard about 15 years, ago. Just got a bill of sale (no title) as it was just going to be a race car only. Last year I decided to try and get a title. The short story is: I contacted a towing/recovery company in my area and told them what I wanted to do, and showed them the bill of sale. They ran the VIN, got the last titled owners address. They sent them a registered letter, detailing towing and storage charges. After waiting the required time, filed for a "mechanics lien" and got a title in the towing companies name, then transferred the title to me. Wasn't cheap, but only took about 1 1/2 months. Major cost was the Florida DMV fees. Totally legal, and now have a clean title. Now I can spend some time and money to put it on the street.
 
Sounds like your luck was same as mine. Couple years ago I found a big truck and trash trailer that was what I was looking for. I called the number and talked to the guy that had been driving the truck and confirmed condition.He was a fireman and his Chief owned the truck I called him and told him wanted it and he gave me directions and I put it in GPS and what time I would be there 3 1/2 hrs later. He said to call when I got there and he would meet me. When I got there and called he said it just went out driveway. I was pissed
 
71GSSDemon said:
WI allows bonded title, I have done it (and I am the reason the state wrote the statute allowing it). Bond came from my car insurance company. 5 years with no ownership claim and you get a clear title. Even a bonded title, you can legally sell the car per WI DMV. Pretty easy. Just pictures and whatever paperwork you have, an agreed value, then a bond at 1.5x the agreed value.
Click to expand...

Was the car previously titled in your state?
 
Charrlie_S said:
I bought my 66 Valiant from a salvage yard about 15 years, ago. Just got a bill of sale (no title) as it was just going to be a race car only. Last year I decided to try and get a title. The short story is: I contacted a towing/recovery company in my area and told them what I wanted to do, and showed them the bill of sale. They ran the VIN, got the last titled owners address. They sent them a registered letter, detailing towing and storage charges. After waiting the required time, filed for a "mechanics lien" and got a title in the towing companies name, then transferred the title to me. Wasn't cheap, but only took about 1 1/2 months. Major cost was the Florida DMV fees. Totally legal, and now have a clean title. Now I can spend some time and money to put it on the street.
Click to expand...

Was the car previously titled in FL?
 
Woodsman341 said:
Well, I'd like to thank everybody for their help, but I no longer need help. I was set to go down and pick up the car tomorrow, and then noticed that the listing had been marked as sold. I contacted the guy to thank him for marking it sold and I would see him tomorrow, and he informed me that he had already sold it to somebody who just walked up. Everything had been negotiated and I had already rented the hauler and was set to go and he pulled this little piece of joy. All is well though, I'm picking up a different one tomorrow that's in better shape so in the end it worked out better for me. It's still a crappy way to do business.

Thanks again folks!
Click to expand...
Sounds like a blessing in disguise.
 
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