Vehicle title and ownership paperwork

I am debating with an Ole Sr Citizen retired and living in Floridah.
If one buys a car and does not register said vehicle for any reason even with the bill of sale and any other documents normally required by your DMV,,must you still apply for a new ownership? If not driven on public roads like a long resto or just track use can physical damage and theft be obtained without registering with your local DMV? I say nothing is needed and does not require informing DMV and the old sr cit you have to register.
What are the rules in your state or in a state like Conn that taxes you by what you have.........


Did I make any sence??

You, he, whoever....

It should still be transferred, even as non-op (non-operational) for a project car.

Lower fee, no plates needed & if the car bought was stolen, the sooner it is registered, the sooner the buyer knows & the better chance of getting the money back.

Never, ever leave a car in the last owners name.

If they report it stolen out of spite or sellers remorse or whatever, not worth it.

Register ASAP & get it done.

I know for 100% sure that you can insure any vehicle. I bought a 70 VG Ute off of a well known member here a decade ago and owned it for 7 years. I never attained a title, just the shipping invoice from Australia to the U.S. I drove it for years without ever registering it or buying plates (tags in the slower states) I had it insured the entire time. Now I didn't every have an accident or ticket with the car, so who knows what would have happened then...

FORGIVE the OP ... he’s .....

Where’s that 63 HELLvedere grille ... for that Chebby ??!!

Let’s set the stage correct definition of the words ..... IMO

OWNERSHIP paperwork ? .... the actual title

REGISTRATION..... the process of getting legal license plates

Good post Doc!!!! Damn......right on the money. No BS......

Thank you PacMan ....

Whatever happened to the OP old guy ?

He must have DOZED OFF after that extensive hard fought post !

But REALLY... we like to ZING each other ....

but I’m way more successful than he is !

You should transfer the title. here in Mich they give us X days to transfer it or you get a penalty to pay.. ypu
wont get plates until its transferred

But P ... if you leave the date and amount paid OPEN (like many person to person transactions) .. “they” never know !

Let em EAT CAKE !

Not transferring the title into your name after purchasing a vehicle and selling it to the next person on an open title is called title skipping and is illegal.

In a title state if you have a vehicle and the title is never put in your name, legally you don't own it.

It would be foolish to drive a car that isn't legally in your own name even if you think you have insurance on it.
If the insurance company figures out that it isn't in your name, odds are they will deny any claim on it since you don't legally own the car.
It's one thing if you just bought the car, but you are legally required to transfer the title and put legally registered plates on it withing 30 days.

As Popeye once said: "You rolls your dice, you takes your chances"...

I did that once.. they taxed me 50% of the car value,, try it and take your chance

Is the OP the guy who professionally tows cars? Seemingly trying to skirt the system?

What happens when the tow truck drivers rig is on the other tow truck? Make a great selfie.

Yes he is the tow truck driver

But SNK .... going ONE MPH over the speed limit is illegal too !

So how many times have you been an OUTLAW with your Viper or SRT8 300 ?

pOtO .... skirt the system ? Perish that thought !

jsta how many times have you been an OUTLAW... today ??!!

I'm pretty sure by now that most States have some time requirement for a buyer to re-title & register a vehicle.
Some may be rather lax in enforcing that date.
Some will be pretty aggressive, as it's revenue for them.
Title is proof of ownership, which would seem - but may not be - a requirement to be paid for an insurance claim.
Registering in your name would be a pretty logical follow-up from a DMV perspective.
For off-road use, it varies: some have "non-op", some have fees & tags for off-road...
Also:
Some if not all States have time limits for out-of-state plates if you've moved to a new State; I avoided that on a CA car I took with me when I lived in NJ for a couple years.
It was a toy, didn't see daily use, and never had an LEO stop me while driving it.
But on the PA vehicle I bought for a DD I went ahead with NJ title & "tags" (license plates) rather than risk a battle.

Just writing checks for my monthly bills, maybe a crime for some.

As long as those checks aren’t made of rubber ....yur being a good boy ...

Now about that OP .. I talked to him earlier and he’s as busy as a beaver .....

He says his toe biz is booming and can’t get ON LINE now ..., I did say he’s getting here !

Me thimks he’s HIDING ! .... ZING !

I thought he had a sense of humor?


I will get the census people after him, not sure for what yet. But they are persistent buggers.

MANY people here have lost that sense !

And that ole guy from Long Island DOES have that sense but he’s dug a deeeep hole ....

to TRY and get out of !!

Mr pOtheAD,you would need the CON-census buggers to find me

Day-ummm itis ... I thought you had fallen - and couldn’t GET UP !

Take it EZ on the pOtO guy ..

How you figure I dug a hoe?? Valid question as that old geezer I was with couldn't keep up.
Now I have heard from several members here about some rules I never heard of that vary state to state. Back in my flipper daze there were no titles on vehicles older 1971,,,,or is it 1974 ???
Seller would just sign the New York registration as it was transferable.I'd fix 'em up,beat 'em up and sell them. Musta had 40 slanty darts

.... digging HOES ? ... I thought you gave that up when you were a teenager... back in the 40’s ??!

Yes,I'm the tow hoe and yes,I skirt the system by bringing Skirt steak to the track.........and yes,sometimes tow trucks need to be towed,toed,toad

The 40's is when the pePPErMInT twINz were in DEMAND

We are all WAITING for yur attempts to extract yerself from THIS HOE !

I never said anyone was required to follow the rules (law), I was just stating that a vehicle not being legally in your name could cause problems.

It's a foolish way to save a buck, it's could cost you more in the long run.

Have I ever broken the speed limit? Maybe.

But I'm not foolish enough to post any video of driving over the legal speed limit at speeds of 160+ on public roads.

So without video proof no one can prove it ever happened, it's strictly the word me and of the passenger at the time.

No extraction needed.That ole Sr Cit in FloriDAH is trying to light a fire on the beach.........

Probably by rubbing two sticks together like he learned how to do it a loooong time ago before they invented matches.

He was known back then as Doc FiberRubber

Oh my goodness ... LOOKY who shows up .....

.... the infamous 170 /6 Stinker !

WHEN did you GROW uP ?

He's just a little bit younger than you.

And I'm just a little bit younger than him so we're all old.

SORRY I missed this until now ... but yur TOAST !

The preponderance OF THE EVIDENCE (that YOU POSTED) finds you 110% guilty !

SNKster .. two SIDEkicks from MIZZouri huh ?

Younger/older ? Did you see my alleged birth date ? Yours ? 1858 ? ... you really are a seasoned citizen

The statute of limitations has run out so I'm safe.

One of the perks of being old, after enough time passes you're safe from prosecution.

Wading through the crap you guys post, I did not read most of it. So, to answer the OP question with an example that I have personal knowledge. I stored a car for a guy that moved off. He promised to come get it for about three years and never did. The previous owner of the car found it one day in the back of my shop. He described some events that had taken place in the deal that had lead to the transfer of the car. It was not a proper transaction and most people would agree. He went to the DMV. The car was still in his name. He got a lost title. He came to me and said ,” you have MY car in your yard, I want it”. I Went to the DMV and they said as far as the state is concerned, it belongs to the guy with his name LEGALLY in the Texas records. Anything other than that would require a civil law suit and a court would decide. I opened the gate and gave the guy with the title in his hand, the car. I called the guy that stored the car with me and told him to take up the issue with the State and his buddy that he got the car from or bring a lawsuit. The guy with the title in his hand still has the car.

I finally verified this skipping or jumping of titles,in all my 62 years I had never heard of such law. I am guilty of this over 100 times and put myself in confinement for 8 hours.I am free now and hope not to get caught next time.Wish I had all that money I stole It is a common practice in these parts to do this on a flip. I have seen many dealers do this with old cars to avoid giving the mandatory warrentee on an a chit box they sold.
As I say,,,,,I learn something new every day. The hard part is remembering
Now as far as the Sr geezer goes,lets see how that warrentee works out for his new model A
Still thing huffing those resin fumes all these years gave him Dain Bamage!!

Guess this is only in States that have titles on everything, in CT there is a form to go from old title and then many owners to new registration / title depending on how old the car is.

We had it easy for a long time in CT , older than 10 years all that was needed was a in state bill of sale ( no paper trail at all )

Now they want to see history , so we need an old registration or old title along with the Bill of Sale,

And taxes are only on active registrations as long as you don't piss off someone at the assessors office and they visit you and look at what you have.

Tom,Conn is one of those states that taxes you every year on on your vehicles and boats,,,,,how that work??
If it is a long resto do you have to title it before it's done?? What about a a race car or off road jeep or Willys??

This is exactly why you transfer the title into your name.
Any new title that the state assigns supersedes that previous title and that's printed right on the new title.

Whether it's a race car or off road vehicle unless the title is in your name you take the risk of a previous legal owner getting a duplicate title and then having legal ownership.

Non Title states may be completely different.

SNK ... points WELL MADE ...

but not doing what you suggest is the perils of FLIPPING !

... and ANY person that denies they have NOT done that dastardly deed ....

May you turn into a cHeEzY Chebby guy !

Ohio dosent matter how long its out of service.My 58 Harley I took apart and it sat for like 17 years.Put it back together and just took title and got plates.Same with the 65 sat for a long time in the garage.But the title was still good.Rocky