The Expert Podcast

one of the most common request that we get is what to do about an abandoned vehicle can you claim it and hold it for yourself. in many ways different counties cities and even states have specific regulations that are different from one another regarding abandoned vehicles. so we're gonna go through in this video what most of the counties and cities have in common with the process and also at the end of the video we'll tell you what you can do to get a title for a vehicle that you may look at as being a abandoned but may have a better way to get the title then filing for an abandoned vehicle. and here's why there's a very simple explanation from the state of Michigan question right on the website so it tells you how common of a request this is can I claim ownership of an abandoned vehicle left my property right it's a very simple an individual or business is not allowed to claim ownership of a vessel or vehicle abandoned on the property. the vehicle must be removed and process according to the state's abandoned law. we'll get into what those laws look like momentarily you may have the opportunity to bid on the vehicle at auction but you can't claim it. and the abandoned law it'll get into the details for this particular state what abandoned means if it's been left for more than forty eight hours. if the following conditions it's of poor condition a hazard to the public legally stopped. so most of the vehicles that you would think of as being abandoned fit the definition but the question is can you get a title for here's another example statute eight point forty this is from a county in California and it talks about what the definitions are of chief of police city administrator once it gets into what you can do abandoned or discarded vehicle investigation and notice first what you have to do is the police department has to investigate if it's stolen then make a notice. and within five days of the day of posting the notice the vehicle must be removed. so the short answer is if you file for an abandoned vehicle you also have to say it's abandoned meaning that it goes away gets towed away. so much of a this is a problem that in the state of Hawaii they're towing companies that are having problems themselves with abandoned vehicles. these are companies that are towing the cars and getting them to their toll lot and even then they can't get the title for them. these towing companies are complaining because there's been over two million dollars paid for to handle towing of vehicles but the towing companies have received very little of this and the cars are piling up on their lots. right and the contractors have received you know here's a hundred twenty eight thousand sixty thousand on staffing but they're talking two million dollars so that's a drop in the bucket. the bottom line is that vehicle ownership is protected under DMV statues and even federal law so that changing a title for an abandoned vehicle is very very difficult. states have a very specific form that you have to fill out and even on the form it is who stated very conspicuously that vehicles purchased or gifted do not qualify for an abandoned vehicle report. so a lot of times people call us up and they'll tell us we have a vehicle that they purchased on Craigslist or eBay or Facebook and they want to file for an abandoned vehicle because of title problems. well this happens so frequently that the largest text on this form this happens to be from Arizona says that you cannot use this if a vehicle has been purchased or gifted it does not qualify. right so what happens with this well for step one is you get written authorization the step to you do this. when you cite it as a property owner it says I have no interest in this vehicle. right that's what the form you're signing says and this is very common in almost every state in every jurisdiction. you're signing not only is it abandoned but you don't have any interest in it because if you have an interest in it it's really not abandoned. now you're claiming ownership of it you're not just saying that it's abandoned. on this form what you find is if you have a written or verbal contract for storage does not qualify. right so this is another thing that people want to do is say well I have stored against the vehicle does not qualify. right indemnity the statement I certify the vehicle was towed abandoned and all information concerning vehicle and persons claiming interest is correct. meaning that you're saying you have no interest in the vehicle. you're claiming that to be correct so if you have an interest in the vehicle meaning that you purchased it or it was traded or you know how it got there if you can't use this form. and that's going to be pretty much the same in all jurisdictions some states and counties may have something slightly different but in most cases it'll be the same. here's the thing using this form once it's signed and submitted to the proper authorities they're just gonna come towed away. you're not going to own the vehicle so what can you do. well in most cases a vehicle that is abandoned on a property has a story behind it. if it's your property or your business property you know where it came from it was a tenant who left it there it was maybe an employee who left it there. there is some known story behind the vehicle which means it's really not abandoned it just means that the owner isn't there to come get it. if that's the case the better way for you to process the vehicle if you want to become an owner is to use another process. we recommend four steps the first step is to contact the prior owner. and the way you do it is to look up the ownership using the proper DPPA request form from the DMV to have them released to you the legal titled owner. then you fill out the form for that person to get a duplicate title into transferred to you. once you have that form fill it out a hundred percent mail it to the prior owner address that's listed in the DMV records with a return envelope and a stamp to send it to you. you know a lot of times if somebody truly abandons it and they truly do not want the vehicle they'll just signed it to get the car out of their name so they have no more liability. that's step number one step number two is if there is a lien holder on the vehicle many times people leave vehicles you gotta remember the vehicle is a valuable asset. right it's something that usually people just leave around even at its lowest value for cars with three or four hundred dollars people don't leave four hundred dollar bills laying around you know in parking lots. so the only reason people usually leave them isn't it has little or no value because you know it's it's broke into the engine is inoperative or if it has a lien against it meaning that
the car has a loan that's not being paid. if that's the case and now the lien release letter to the listed lien holder for them to sign it to clear it. once you've sent those out the best result would be that those two parties sign it send it back and then you can just walk at the DMV with those forms and get a title in your name. we have other videos and even sections on our website about how to go about getting these form signed so this won't go too far into the other than saying don't try to do it by phone don't try to do by email don't try to do it by Facebook or social media only do it in writing with the actual form filled out so you're not asking the person to do any work to sign their name. right once you've done that in a certain period of time has gone by the step following is to look at a bonded title. in most states you can actually apply for title to the DMV using a title bond. and that would be a scenario where you signed affidavits how you came to acquire the vehicle and if it's approved by the DMV which usually is then you get a title bond certificate and the title is transferred to your name that would be step number two if you did not get back the signed forms from the prior owner. the last step is if the vehicle doesn't qualify for bonded title or if your state doesn't allow for bonded titles then what you do is a court order title or a magistrate title. there also is more information about that on our website at where you actually apply to the court in the county where you reside to have a judge declare you to be the owner of the vehicle by court order. and that's something that is a last resort it's not very expensive usually the court fees are forty or fifty dollars but you will have to spend a great deal of time going back and forth with the court filing forms showing up for hearings. but if the vehicles worth doing you may have a clearer pathway to get ownership of the vehicle using a court order title than any other method as long as you're willing to be patient and go through the process. so the short answer is like we've seen on this form right here right vehicles are not finders keepers you don't get to keep a car just because it is sitting somewhere and nobody apparently wants the car. remember there's a lot of scenarios where this vehicle may be not moving for a while. it could be somebody overseas in the military deployed it could be somebody on vacation that could be somebody attending college and they left it somewhere. so you wanna make sure that you're not taking a vehicle that somebody really wants. if it's a vehicle that somebody really doesn't want then they would have no problem signing over the vehicle to you. now in some cases clients will tell us I don't know how to find the person who owns the vehicle. that's not a problem that's a solvable scenario our website has information how to do that each state has what's called the D. P. P. A. form like we talked about before they can sign that get the information and send them the forms. if somebody really does want a vehicle that is really not abandoned is it right so because the shorter answer is vehicles are not finders keepers these are the other processes you can use to get a title. prior owner contact bonded title court order title those are the three in that order to try. because those are the most direct route to getting a title. once you start the abandoned vehicle process you may find that all your options and in having a tow company tow it away and then you're done and then you have to go bid on it at the tow auction which probably not what you want to do. if you just want to get rid of the car dispose of the car you could probably do that by just calling a tow company in the tow it for storage fees. so that's an overview of the abandoned vehicle process if you have questions our website has hundreds of forms and documents you can download that we have a help desk they can offer you assistance help@cartitles.com if you'd like to have specific questions answered. and keep an eye on our video channel we have weekly live consulting webinars where if you have questions about titles you can attend a webinar are and have specific questions answered that might help you get a title for the vehicle that you're looking to own.