Title transfer questions

[George W.]

Okay,
This may or may not be sticky, but here's the skinny:

1) Purchased a '67 five years ago.
2) Came with a clean (non salvage, no lien, no re-assignment, etc.) Missouri Title in the name of the person I purchased from, with the accompanying notarized bill of sale.
3) Back of title was filled in with my name as the purchaser, with my address in Texas, and the selling price.
4) I never got around to putting title in my name---Started "fiddling" with minor items that led to much, much more.
5) Gentleman in Maryland would like to purchase the car.

Question:
1) Can the purchaser from Maryland title this car with the afore mentioned paperwork, or must I first put this title in my name?

Thank you in advance for any insight, suggestions, knowledge of Maryland DMV requirements, and help.

George Wright

[Dick W.]

Re: Title transfer questions

George, in NC, they would require you to title the vehicle in your name, then transfer the title to the buyer.

[George W.]

Re: Title transfer questions

Thanks Dick,
I guess I need to hear from Maryland experts?
G.

[Michael J.]

Re: Title transfer questions

You do, each state is different and complex, with many Byzantine rules and regs. I was once told an old car in Maine was just sold with a BOS, not titled and didn't need to have one, but after I tried to register it in my state, no dice, it cost me lots of money and time to get it done, good luck.

[Michael D.]

Re: Title transfer questions

...I guess I need to hear from Maryland experts?
...

I agree. I would have the potential Maryland buyer check with his/her DMV concerning all the legal T corssings.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Title transfer questions

Okay,
This may or may not be sticky, but here's the skinny:

1) Purchased a '67 five years ago.
2) Came with a clean (non salvage, no lien, no re-assignment, etc.) Missouri Title in the name of the person I purchased from, with the accompanying notarized bill of sale.
3) Back of title was filled in with my name as the purchaser, with my address in Texas, and the selling price.
4) I never got around to putting title in my name---Started "fiddling" with minor items that led to much, much more.
5) Gentleman in Maryland would like to purchase the car.

Question:
1) Can the purchaser from Maryland title this car with the afore mentioned paperwork, or must I first put this title in my name?

Thank you in advance for any insight, suggestions, knowledge of Maryland DMV requirements, and help.

George Wright

If your state has a sales tax I am betting you need to title it in your name to be legal even without your name on it. It's called jumping title. Since it is assined to you I can't see how you can reasign it unless you are a dealer. Not lawyer but did stay at a Holiday Inn.
KEN

[Paul J.]

Re: Title transfer questions

A couple of things here. If Missouri has a property tax the person you bought the car from has been paying tax on it unless he declared that it was sold, since there is no record of the transfer of title. (It makes me very angry when people do that to me.)

Maryland, Texas, and Missouri all require titles for vehicles, and although there are differences in the rules, they are all similar. As far as your DMV is concerned, there has been no legal transfer of title (or ownership) so it's not your car to sell right now. I suppose you could argue that you have a bill of sale and treat it as personal property, but the purchaser in MD will have to go through several procedures such as advertising the car in order to get a new title. If he doesn't go through this and takes the title straight to DMV, they will refuse it and you'll probably be hearing from him to fix the title. You are also in violation of your tax code (as Ken pointed out) since you did not pay the sales tax and any property taxes if applicable. Sales tax is usually collected by the DMV when you title the car.

I don't know of any specific penalties for jumping title, but I've seen court cases where the judge "undid" the deal and awarded the purchaser damages.

I am not an expert on Maryland's rules, so you can take this for what it's worth. I briefly lived there but did not transfer title to a car.

I've had a seller try to give me a title he was jumping before. He was ignorant of the rules and it was probably innocent, but I was p****d because of the time and effort that I had invested in the deal. I do not buy cars that do not have titles, because of the hassle to get a new one.

Paul

[Carl N.]

Re: Title transfer questions

George,

IMO you will need to transfer to your name and pay fees as you have listed your name and other info on MO title. If you had not done so you could have sold as an "Open" title to your buyer. (If the buyer would accept it)

Also note that the tax value will be determined by the value guide not the stated purchase price if your Tax Office is up on the current reg's.

And more bad news (unless you have a friend at the tax office) - you will be required to obtain an out of state inspection to register it in Texas.

You may wish to "network" with some local car nuts (any make) and see what inspection station in your area are "easy" on out-of-state cars.

Last of all you will have to have inspected in the county in which you register the car.

Skip any of these steps and your buyer may have problems in his state with his/her title application.

The recent changes in Texas Vehicle Statutes over the last 5 years have made obtaining a Texas Title on out-of-state transfers a whole lot more difficult.

Good news - until the next legislative session in 2013 you don't have to display a front plate -

Good Luck
Carl
Union Valley TX

[Michael H.]

Re: Title transfer questions

I know in MO if you don't register a car within 30 days you pay a penalty of $5 a month for every month your past due. Plus if you owe sales will pay interest of like 2 or 3% for every month past due. I believe you don't have any issue with MO. Your problem will be with Texas as it should have been registered there and sales tax payed as well, I don't see anyway around it right now. The title needs to be in your name and all penalties paid so its clean to sell it to some else. I'm sure your buyer would want it that way..............put your self in his shoes. That's why you always register a car when you buy it or keep your name off of the back side.

[Keith B.]

Re: Title transfer questions

7 years ago I bought a car from MD that had a open tittle from 1991. the person I bought it from never put it into his name. the back of the tittle was signed off from the person he bought it from. when I put the tittle into my name in PA they had no problem

[Dick W.]

Re: Title transfer questions

7 years ago I bought a car from MD that had a open tittle from 1991. the person I bought it from never put it into his name. the back of the tittle was signed off from the person he bought it from. when I put the tittle into my name in PA they had no problem

Although that is done quite often in this hobby, it still is "jumping" a title and possession of an open title. Felony offense in NC if you get caught.

[Willard M.]

Re: Title transfer questions

Sure is much more simple here in Maine. All I need is a bill of sale to register in my name. No title needed for cars 15 years or older. Should I buy a car, I don't have any tax obligation until I register it. In fact we don't issue titles for old cars although there is a document that can be obtained that passes as a title. Most of us don't bother. When I sell an old Corvette out of state my bill of sale and a copy of my registration always has been enough for the new owner.

[Michael G.]

Re: Title transfer questions

Rather than collect up unoffical, meaningless, best guess opinions from members with no ties to the Texas DMV, get a offical opinion from your home state (Texas) DMV.

[Daniel S.]

Re: Title transfer questions

The title needs to be signed over to the buyer from MD. As the seller, you cannot do so until the title is in your name. Info regarding this can be found online here.

http://www.mva.maryland.gov/Vehicle-Services/REG/titlereg.htm#usedvehicles

[Paul J.]

Re: Title transfer questions

Rather than collect up unoffical, meaningless, best guess opinions from members with no ties to the Texas DMV, get a offical opinion from your home state (Texas) DMV.

George,

It doesn't matter whether you go to the Texas DMV and ask a lot of questions or not.

Your only options are that if you're going to provide the seller a clear title, you have to fix this and get the title in your name. That's the bottom line.

However, you may have the option of jumping the title by "losing" it and selling the car with the legal bill of sale that you have. This depends on if the buyer will accept this. You will have to deal with the moral issues.

Paul