Unfortunately there is a lot of fraud in vehicle exchange. I remember one where a guy bought a motorcycle then years later a cop did a check, found a hidden VIN, and determined the vehicle was stolen. They impounded the motorcycle, gave it to the insurance company that paid for the theft, but the statue of limitations made it so the fraudulent sellers could not be charged. The buyer lost his cycle with no recourse.
In Massachusetts, years ago, one could provide a receipt for vehicle sale for $1.00 to avoid a large’ish excise tax bill when registering a car at the DMV. The Commonwealth caught on and changed the law to a minimum valuation of $1000 for any vehicle.
BMVs can be maddening. Or rather some of the workers can be.
I had to have multiple rounds of visits because I traded a car hauler trailer for another one that a guy had that was lighter in weight. We were assigned this woman who just couldn’t get it through her head that barter is real. I had to refill forms I think 3 times and drive back to wait only to have her say dot this “I” or cross this “t”.
My advice is if anyone trades just make up a dollar amount and say you paid each other. I noticed she didnt work there many months after that.
That happened to an old boss of mine, only it was a very expensive classic Corvette. Gone.
This hurts.
I’m in the process of selling a trailer owned by my employer. I can’t find the Title. We have several trailers and of course all of the others are right where they belong.
I’ve got the lost title form filled out and ready to go.
“Shockingly, state government officials instructed him to sue the state in order to get his title.”
Perhaps we are accustomed to seeing lawsuits as a form of lawfare. Seeing it that way, it is “shocking.”
On the other hand, there may be nothing shocking about government employees explaining rights and procedures to the public. An arrested person may be told they have the right to remain silent and a right to legal representation.
An old Arkan-saw scam was to take wrecked or stolen autos to salvage yards in Missouri, rebuild the car to a driveable condition, run it down into Arkansas and sell it as an ABANDONED VEHICLE in the auto auctions.
For a few $$ you could get a clean Arkansas title showing it had never been wrecked or stolen.
We had a local cop tell us “Don’t EVER buy a used car in Arkansas!” but he would not say why.
So Dad, who thought he knew everything, scoffed and continued to buy them and could not understand why he could not get a decent car.
Our company bought a brand new auto off the dealer’s show room floor for our plant manager.
Several months later I was walking by it and noticed the paint on the front was just a shade different from the real. I told the maintenance foreman about it and a check deep inside showed the back to have been wrecked and lots of bondo used to cover the dents.
No title, no sale. Period.
Texas used to have a sales dollar amount in the title transfer application. Private sellers and buyers would just put “$10.00”. The State got wise to that and now calculates the tax on the fair market value.
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/does-texas-calculate-sales-tax-BjYqFH1ATjuiyMu23y1HTw
Skip title. I call it an open title.
IF you buy a car with an open title, take it and the seller to the state title office (county clerk here in Texas) and do the transfer.
Years ago I bought an old Corolla with an open title. I think we settled on a $1200 price. I told the seller the cash would be handed over when I got the White Slip which confirms the title transfer then and there with the state; the official title comes a month later.
I told the seller that I would pay the taxes on the sale, but if there was any penalty for the open title, HE would be responsible for them. There was. About $200.
He had to pay that or lose the sale. He paid it and I got a clear title and he lost money on the deal because he didn’t register the car when he bought it a year prior.
Which, if he had registered it, it would have cost him about $200 then.
If there’s ever any doubt about the title to a vehicle, do the sales transaction at the local state office and get the white slip first while the seller is there also.