The Expert Podcast

We were alerted to this story by a consumer a client that bought a car didn't get a title and was looking for assistance on how to get a title. And we did some research and investigation and we found that the last owner of the vehicle was never paid for it. Here's what happened The car dealer Promise to sell a car for a consumer and give them the money after they sold it.
And they got the title from The seller But the title wasn't signed properly. Wasn't signed over at all because the seller said I'm not going to sign it until I get my money. So the dealer still sold the car Took the money from the buyer Didn't have a legal title Now the buyers out the money And the seller is out there Car. Now this dealer was arrested. Deal was arrested for the third time He'd done this before this happened to be in upstate New York. arrested for the third time after allegedly sold a car without giving the victim the money for it. the investigator received a complaint fraudulent vehicle sale In Bethlehem found that the owner had sold the victim's car at auction and withheld the proceeds after promising the victim compensation for the sale. So they took the money for the sale Didn't give it to the victim Now the buyer at the auction He has a car but no title. This happens a lot So if you're buying a car without a title And even if you get a bill of sale this person got an auction receipt.
You're not going to be able to get a title if the last owner Has never been fully compensated. Because that last owner still has rights of the car even if you paid for it. The owner way to be for sure That you're going to be able to get a title for the car Is if somebody hands you the title certificate when you buy it and it's properly signed in it's a valid title. So any time You purchased a vehicle without a title you're at risk. In fact We had another example of that Earlier today One of our reps on the phone was talking to a customer asking about what they should do They're buying a car And and our Rep told him you shouldn't buy the car. If it doesn't have a title you shouldn't buy it. This was a different story This was a barn fine 19 six
GTX Classic car muscle car that somebody was selling. The grandfather had died and car had been in the barn for 20 years and they were talking about doing the Vermont process or a bonded title. And they were probably going to do the Vermont but then at the end they said well what would you do
And our rep told them We would never buy a car without a title. Even though we're in the title business and we do Thousands of titles Every month We don't recommend ever buying a car without a title now most of the time when you contact us you already bought the car So you have to do something. but if you haven't yet purchased a vehicle And you're not getting a title Put it back on the seller to get that title. Now you may never end up with the car because they might find some other sucker to go buy the car without a title
But that's their problem Not yours. You're better off buying a vehicle that has a title Even if you have to pay a little more because Look some of the title fees you see online you know we charge 159 to get a title You might have to pay some other fees and you might think well if I just discount the car five or 600 I'll be ahead of the game Well not so fast. not every car is eligible for a title If it's stolen if it has liens if it has back taxes If it's a salvage If it has any claims against it No title method is going to work. Right So there's a chance That you'll never get a title So make sure when you're purchasing a vehicle either they hand you the title or don't hand them the money otherwise you could end up like this guy he was charged with Third degree grand larceny falsifying business records both felonies scheme to the fraud Third time arrested this person the last year or so Don't think that just because The person is doing something wrong There'll be off the streets This person did it three times already He was arrested on May 10th For falsifying business records.
So be aware that you have to get a title when you buy car. If you don't just keep in mind that every dollar you spend for that car is at risk until you get that title which most of the time will be okay But a lot of things can come up to keep you from getting a title. Let us know what you think in the comments