getting a title for a old car

Has anyone used Brother's title service

Look up "Vermont title loophole". This is what some of the title services use to get your paperwork anyway.

I asked a guy at the local DMV and he told me how to do it according to TN law.

I have to run an ad in the local paper like they do with bankruptcy's/foreclosures and if nobody responds in 30 or 60 days I bring the ad and a rubbing of the VIN to him and he issues a new title.

Many states have a system to get a title for abandoned cars but few people know or use them.

I would contact the local DMV by talking to the director in person. Nobody will ever help on the phone from what I have seen.

Also you should be able to have a shop file for a mechanics lien-title for non payment for repairs in many states.

Hope it helps.

Agreed, this is currently the cheapest and safest way to acquire "legal" documentation to acquire a title thru one's State, if it can be done here in Massachusetts which has the toughest rules/regulation/laws/idiot DMV-RMV employees, you can do it elsewhere

....... https://youtu.be/hcHKNoMHDSs

I find this to be total freiking BS that it's that easy to get a title. Why because I just had a car STOLEN from me and I had the original OHIO title, the registration was up to date and the car was insured, I had the car at what I thought was a good friend's home body shop and was in no hurry to have him re-paint it. Then he started to ghost me every time I offered to pick the car up and bring it to my storage. He kept saying it was okay and in safe storage in his pole barn and not to worry. Finally got to him the day after I checked with BMV and title bureau that the title was still in my name and the registration was still current. I said I'm here for my car when he says "It's gone". "What do you mean it's GONE!" He goes into this wild a$$ story of how he had to move it to his father's place and when he went to get it back it was GONE. The county sheriff and the insurance company did an investigation and even flew a drone around his home and his father's home and nothing. They think he re-titled it out of state and then sold it. So I say this is total BS that it's that easy to get a title for ANYTHING and I don't know how many times since I've heard the VERMONT LOOPHOLE BS and now see how easy it is to STEAL someone's vehicle even if they are holding a legitimate title in hand. Rant over........for now.

Hmm. If he retitled it but didn't change the VIN, and it's relatively recent, I would think that your DMV can run the VIN in other states and find out where it went. IF that was what happened.

Right. If that VIN was used it would come up right away.

I am not a lawyer and I have not played one on TV either but I have to ask how this would play out.

Obviously it would take some days in court but would the new "owner" have to turn the car over or would the person who sold it after re-titling it just have to pay restitution (with possible jail time) and the car is now owned by someone else.

I have heard that with real estate it can be the latter in many cases.

What year car was it?

Stolen property in almost all cases leaves the guy with the car screwed. Legally no mater what its considered illegal possession of stolen property..The crooks in between should face legal prosecution charges as they are felons.

Read up on the Wild Cherry van

https://www.motorious.com/articles/news/wild-cherry-van/

I know for a FACT that the person who holds the oldest legal title will ALWAYS win in court. The problem is most cars are destroyed or parted out before that ever happens...

This is the legal and legit way to do it. You do not want to be looking over your shoulder wondering if a leagl owner or Heir is going to pop up and CLAIM your investment. You can also Call the state DMV Office for added help if needed.

Here's a video explaining how to navigate the Vermont process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcHKNoMHDSs

Wow, A12. That’s sucks. Hope this was not a classic car. There are only two ways you can get a title in Texas. One is a long process that requires an inspection of the car by a certified LEO of the current vin in all places to verify that vin. The current owner of record is sent a letter stating that someone is trying to get a title for the car. If no reply, then you contact a bonding agent and get a bonded title on a pretty big dollar amount of more than the restored value of the car. The bond is not expensive though. That’s where most people end the story. I called a bonding underwriter and asks what happens if within the three years of the bond, someone claims the car. He said, “ We pay the bond to the person and come after you legally for the entire bond amount in court.”
The other way evolves a judge to grant a title. It’s a little complicated and most judges won’t take time to do it. I know a guy that is doing it and I’m afraid he is “ stretching it” somewhat. He may get in trouble someday and the judge may too. And in my best a Forrest Gump voice, “ and that’s all I’m going to say about that.”

Only problem: You’ll be paying a 6% Vermont tax based on sale price. If the sale price is too low in their opinion, do they use a classic car value guide?

Every state rules are not the same on tilting cars with missing titles, been there, done that.
California was a lot harder than Oregon is, I bought a 1966 Dodge Coronet and a 1967 Plymouth Satellite from a local tow yard, both had been their over 20 years, the tow yard owner told the local DMV office here in Oregon that he had lost the titles and gave me a bill of sale and they issue both new titles to me after checking to make sure that cars had not been reported stolen or had liens on them
They are not salvage titles.

not sure if it has been previously mentioned before or not, but some states do not have titles for vehicles made before a certain YOM.
possibly just a transferable registration.

In California, that's what was famously called a 'pink slip'. Had a go around with my DMV over that. I won!

The problem with old cars is that unless the car has been listed as stolen, and has not been registered in the last 10 years, most State held paper work disappears from the records after 7-15 years. Once the time the records drop off, most States do not have a record of the vehicle's last registered owner.

In IL if you go through the process and get a bonded title, after that 3 year bond period, the State deems their bonded title as the original. The process includes a national stolen car title search, if the car has been processed as stolen or turns up as registered in a different state the process stops immediately. It it clears the stolen car data base, the bond process displays what they claim is a legal search for the original owner, which could be a simple statement in a local paper. Any person holding a title for the vehicle in the search has 3 years from the printed date to make a claim the vehicle. After the 3 years has passes and no one has made a claim of ownership, the State has determined that the bonded title shall be considered as the original title. IL sends you a written and dated statement that says the bond requirement time has been completed and they give you a reference number if anyone at any time challenges your title. Any person holding older dated paper work past the end of the bond time has wall art.

The bottom line is, as a vehicle owner that may have a vehicle in any kind of storage for what ever reason, it is your responsibility to be sure your car is where it is suppose to be. You probably need to go to the location every couple of years and lay your hands on it. If the storage facility can't or won't let you lay your hands on your car, you probably need to contact the local police to start the stolen car process. If the storage place won't let you look at your own car, something fishy is probably going on. Any title processing starts with a stolen car title search, if the car title number shows up in that search, the process stops, and the process to get you involved begins. However, if you have received payment for a stolen car from an insurance company, the rights to that car are no longer your rights, those rights for claim belong to the insurance company. The insurance company has the right to sell a theft recovery vehicle that they have paid out on. Usually, once an insurance company pays off on a stolen car, that title is removed from the stolen car data base. The car that was stolen from you 20 years ago that the insurance company paid you for, may well show up at a car show near you, but that guy can legally own the car now. You have no claim to it.

I don't buy many vehicles that don't have a title that matches the vehicle ID number. The few that I have bought, I have known their history dating back at least 10 years. I often talk with a former owner about the car and its history. Then before I buy it, I do the stolen car search to see if it coms back clear. Then its on to the bonded title process for me.

How do you do a stolen car search? Do you have to be a public official?

Thanks

We have to take the car and the proper Kansas bill of sale to a Highway Patrol inspection station. The do a 50 state search there. If all comes back okay, they give you the paperwork to the DMV. At least that's how it works here in KS,

We have also learned that the earlier the date is on your bill of sale, they put you in the front of the line and process getting a title quicker. We've had a title within 3 days of inspection.

I'll start the process right away with the seller on the 56 C series pickup I bought last week. Another reason I moved on buying this truck, aside from its solid condition, its a local truck and I can get a list of names back to the original owner. The original owner sold it to a local well know collector of tractors and old vehicles. That person is the father in law to the person I bought the truck from. However, in WI the sale of a vehicle requires the seller to have a valid title to transfer to a new owner, a bill of sale is not enough to allow me to take legal possession of the truck, even if it has not been registered for 20+ years.

Wisconsin DOT has a title replacement program that starts with MV2896 form to trace the previous history of known owners. Given I have a known history of previous owners of the truck that will help the process. That along with WIS DOT MN 2928 should get the process going, possibly to the point of a surety bond process to get legal ownership of the truck in my name. I assume I can't take/move the truck from the seller's property until I have that done, even if, as he says he did not get the title from his father in law before he moved it to his garage. To the WI DOT, the truck may still be titled to his FIL, and I will not have legal ownership until that is resolved. But, the WI Collector plate on the truck is still current to the WI DOT, so through contacts I have at the Sheriff's Dept I can have the plate number traced to the "owner". So far the seller has been very up front and helpful, so I'll work with him to insure no issues before I can take it.

The last one I ran was before covid, so that might have changed everything.

A couple years ago there was an online site you could type in a vehicle ID number and do a search (back then it was free). I don't know if that is still available. Google may be your friend.
I have a friend that is a police officer, he will run a vehicle ID for me, if we don't do it very often (its not something they are suppose to do for the public). The police used to be more helpful then they seem to be lately.

A private investigator can run the VIN and find the same things law enforcement can. There used to be a member here who was a P.I. who did it for me for a very reasonable fee. It was years ago, and I can't remember his name here.