The Expert Podcast

Very often, the subject comes up with an open title or a jumping title. What that means is that if you have a title certificate like this one, it'll have all the information on the front about the vehicle, and on the back, it has a place where the owner can sign their name as the seller to the new buyer.

If the owner just signs their name and leaves the buyer blank, that's called title jumping or title skipping. What happens is that many times a buyer will want the title to be open so they can flip the vehicle. So let's say somebody's selling a car on Craigslist or Facebook, and the buyer comes to you and says, "Hey, I want to buy your car. Just sign the back of the title. I don't know what name I'm going to put it in yet, so just leave it blank. I'll fill it in later." Well, if you do that, you may be guilty of title jumping.

Title jumping is right on the back of the title. It says, Do not sign a blank title. There are many reasons why this can create problems. You might not think as a seller it's any problem for you because you don't care who buys the car, right, as long as you get your money. But what happens is that if you sign an open title, you have no idea who you sold it to. You have no idea if they're actually going to put it in their name right away, which means you're liable for things that could happen with the vehicle.

You also don't know if they're avoiding taxes or evading taxes, and if you help them do that, you could be liable as well. In most states, there are fines, penalties, and imprisonment if you are caught jumping titles, and as the seller, you could be just as liable. On the back of that title, it has language that says a violation could be a criminal offense.

What it spells out is that if someone sells a car to another person, they only sign their name but do not fill out any additional information about the sale, such as the price or mileage. That's another problem that can come up. If you don't fill in the back of the title, you don't put in the mileage. Someone could roll back the odometer and have a vehicle with an illegal odometer reading. You could also change the price so that if somebody gives you $3,000 for it and they say I only gave you $1,000, they pay less tax, and that could be title or tax fraud or tax evasion.

According to this article, and this is a little bit of an exaggeration, title jumping is considered a felony and highly illegal in 50 states. It's not a felony in all 50 states. It's a crime in almost every state, but if you're caught doing it intentionally, the penalties can be pretty severe.

As a buyer, if you have purchased a vehicle with an open title, sometimes you walk into the DMV with that title not filled in, and they'll seize it from you. They will impound the title and, sometimes, the vehicle. If that happens to you, you may be able to do a bonded title, you may be able to do a court order title, and you may be able to do some type of magistrate title. One of the things to keep in mind is that if you get a title bond, it will only cost you about a hundred dollars. Many people think it's going to cost you thousands of dollars for a title bond, but there are some states where you can't get a bonded title.

Here's a list of those states: There's about 10 states that you can't, but you can do a court order title. All the information on bonded titles, court order titles, and jump titles is available on our website at cartitles.com. Just make sure that, when you're buying a vehicle, you get a good certified title transfer to your name. If, for some reason, the seller doesn't have it, think twice about giving them your hard-earned money unless they're going to give you a valid legal title.