My Old Truck Has a Mechanics Lien

[ghuns]

...I always do an official Indiana bill of sale now. Cover your rear.

I have sold lots of cars and have never done this.

I will from now on.

 

[flyingsquirrel]

My ex got involved in this twice. After a city called her for $750 storage for a $300 car she said keep it. I told her always get a bill of sales. Did she listen? NO. She was called to come get her car out of a driveway that had broke down. Her excuse was but it was a friends daughter. My cost to tow it to the junkyard. Bill Of Sales

 

[model1994]

I have sold lots of cars and have never done this.

I will from now on.

so had my family. my uncle was starting an auto resto and towing business, used to buy sell trade all the time. never did more than title transfer, even open titles usually lol. But he never had something like that happen. I flipped my first car in college and it taught me a lesson lol

 

[model1994]

And to answer your original question, I would be weary. ‘My’ car was filled with illegal substances and paraphernalia when it was found. Might be worth looking at first and determining what to do.

 

[gassprint1]

2 things, 1.. if you bought the truck with a lein on it and got it titled in your name, the lein would be stated on the new title. I'm guessing this lein is a new thing that recently happened.
2...you sold the truck without any knowledge of the lein. You signed off and such on the title, so i wouldn't worry about it.
The guy you sold the truck to has proof of ownership to get it back totally his screw up for not registering it and getting pulled over. Wipe your hands of the problem..

 

[BehindBlueI's]

He might be the current owner, but not the "legal" owner. To be the legal owner, don't you have to have the official paperwork from the BMV denoting such? The BMV/state seems to think ghuns is still the legal owner, no?

If I sell you a gun privately, so no FFL paperwork, who's the legal owner?

If it ends up in a property room and I go pick it up and keep it because I was the last name on a gov't document to own it, is that legal or is it theft? Is it ethical?

Same thing. Like Hough said, it's *evidence* of legal ownership, but once you sell something you no longer own that something.

 

[indyblue]

But at the moment there is no evidence they are the new owner.

Could ghuns not report the vehicle stolen and be considered stolen?

If I sell you a gun privately, so no FFL paperwork, who's the legal owner?

If it ends up in a property room and I go pick it up and keep it because I was the last name on a gov't document to own it, is that legal or is it theft? Is it ethical?

Same thing. Like Hough said, it's *evidence* of legal ownership, but once you sell something you no longer own that something.

I suppose I should have qualified my statement. According to the government it’s legally whoevers the paperwork (registration/title) currently says it is.

I agree, though that possession is 9/10’s of the law.

 

[manifest destiny]

Morally right and legally right don't always run parallel. Of all the players involved, the guy that bought the car and failed to title it would be last on my list of concerns; moreso if his failure starts to cost me money. Ghuns has clearly gone out of his way to be honest and do the right thing.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

But at the moment there is no evidence they are the new owner.

Could ghuns not report the vehicle stolen and be considered stolen?

If he's willing to file a false report, sure. He sold the vehicle, it's not stolen. A cop may wonder why the vehicle has been out of his possession so long and why report it now. The other guy may still have the signed title. There may still be text messages or whatever about the deal. Saying there's no evidence seems like an assumption not proven.

Let's just play it out. He files the false report. The previous owner then files a theft report and produces the signed title. Who actually stole the truck legally? Who now has probable cause against them for both auto theft and false reporting? Who gets the vehicle?

I suppose I should have qualified my statement. According to the government it’s legally whoevers the paperwork (registration/title) currently says it is.

Still no. That's just a record of the last owner. See both my statements and Hough's statements to the same effect.

 

[radar8756]

Indiana BMV sends me Notifications to renew the Registration on my Vehicles (yearly) ... with a option to say it was Sold / Traded

Not sure if you can do that other than at Renewal time

 

[Leo]

If you tried to recover and keep the truck, you would re-enter a relationship with a dummy that got arrested and never was responsible enough to properly register the vehicle. Since you already pocketed your sale price, I sure would not complicate my life with a looser who may turn out to be a wacko.

Peace is worth far more than whatever value it may have.

I wish I could distance that easily from my inlaws........

 

[Alamo]

If you tried to recover and keep the truck, you would re-enter a relationship with a dummy that got arrested and never was responsible enough to properly register the vehicle. Since you already pocketed your sale price, I sure would not complicate my life with a looser who may turn out to be a wacko.

Peace is worth far more than whatever value it may have.

I wish I could distance that easily from my inlaws........

It would be nice if it were this easy, but I am not so sure it is.

While Houghmade and BBI are no doubt correct that “legally” the arrestee is the owner, when push comes to shove that has to be proved.

The towing company wants its money and so far the arrestee has apparently not been forthcoming, so the Tow company puts a lien on it, consults the government record for ownership, and the record says ”ghuns.” Neither the state nor the tow company have evidence otherwise. The only evidence of sale is the (alleged!) signed title, which is in the hands of someone who might have an interest in that title disappearing. And cash transaction leaves no trail. So ghuns gets the bill.

If ghuns ignores the tow company, I suspect after a statutorily determined length of time they will either try to auction it or sell it for scrap. If the proceeds cover the towing and storage fees then ghuns is likely clear, and he might even get a check if the proceeds exceed the fees, Since, as far as the towing company can document, ghuns is the owner.

More likely the auction or scrap sale will not cover the fees accrued, which leaves the tow company holding the bag. They might bill ghuns for it but if its over a certain amount, more likely will turn it over to a bill collector. This gets it out of the towing company’s hair and off their books so they can stop wasting time on it, and they can hope to receive some payment after the bill collector has squeezed it out of ghuns with associated hassle, cost, credit rating hit, etc. I don’t know, maybe in Indiana mechanics lien goes to small claims court?

If I were ghuns I would work this right now, By either getting the chowderheaded arrestee to own up to his responsibility, or working with the towing company to not turn this into a bill collection or court claim.

SO. Were it me, I would not let the sleeping dog lie, because he can wake up and bite me.

And I would for sure get a bill of sale for any future vehicle sales, and only sign over the title in person at the DMV.

 

[russc2542]

I'm in the camp that it's not worth the can of worms to resume possession and resell or deal with the original buyer/arrestee. Lets say you pay the fees and take possession of the truck. you get a hold of the arrestee who wants "his" truck back. He doesn't want to pay you for the towing fees. He does have the keys and a title signed by you that it's no longer yours. Is it worth the effort to go to small claims? Is it worth the effort to put your own lien on the title?

I'd talk to the BMV and see what you can do to have it on record as already sold. Then I'd talk to the towing company and let them know that you sold it, arrestee didn't register it and you want no part of it. How can you ensure having no fees to your name/record.

 

[hopper68]

Do you have a camera on your phone? After the title is filled out for the sale, take a picture of it for proof. Never just sign a title and hand it over without filling it out.

 

[Super Bee]

This very thing happened to me. Sold my Yukon I had for 20 years. The guy never titled it, in that time the transmission took a dump. I received a letter stating I was still the vehicles legal owner and I could pay the fees and get the Yukon back.

I was going to do it but he trashed the truck within that 6 months.

If you can get it cheep and want it back, grab it.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Let's just play it out. He files the false report. The previous owner then files a theft report and produces the signed title. Who actually stole the truck legally? Who now has probable cause against them for both auto theft and false reporting? Who gets the

THIS is the wrinkle in many of these ideas. Its all well and good until that title magically appears.

Get him to admit he bought the truck from you and never registered it, then screenshot and save it.

If he gets schwacked with a huge impound bill it suddenly won't be "his truck" anymore, it'll be whoever the state says the owner is. "Nah man I just borrowed it".

THIS. So this.

Its not his if there is a bill. Once that bill is gone and Ghuns has it back, suddenly that signed title appears and he's got a truck free and clear and Ghuns is out storage and/or scrap fees.

Get him to admit it he owns it. Might not hold up in court, but its worth a shot.

 

[KokomoDave]

Change "my old truck" to "my old girlfriend" or "my ex-wife", and ask yourself the question again.

Thank goodness they don't need BMV registration or I'd be living at the VA Home for displaced veterans.

 

[Ark]

THIS is the wrinkle in many of these ideas. Its all well and good until that title magically appears.

THIS. So this.

Its not his if there is a bill. Once that bill is gone and Ghuns has it back, suddenly that signed title appears and he's got a truck free and clear and Ghuns is out storage and/or scrap fees.

Get him to admit it he owns it. Might not hold up in court, but its worth a shot.

I think he can probably plead his case in court successfully if it comes to that. After all, the other doofus was arrested driving it. That's in the arrest report. But, any corroborating evidence helps.

 

[Old Dog]

My brother had a situation where a truck he sold was used in a crime. Guy paid for the truck picked it up along with signed title. 6 months later the sheriff deputies laid my brother over the hood of his car and cuffed him at my parents home. Truck VIN came back to my brother and a warrant was issued for his arrest for bank robbery. He was able to get it straightened out in a day because he had the name and address of the buyer.

Lessons learned: 1. never leave your plates on a sold vehicle.
2. Make the buyer sign the title as buyer before you sign as seller.
3. Prepare a dated bill of sale (signed by seller and buyer)
4. Use your phone and take pictures of both.

 

[ghuns]

...Get him to admit it he owns it. Might not hold up in court, but its worth a shot.

Not quite an admission, but at least he didn't say, who are you and WTF are you talking about? I then sent pics of the documents from the towing outfit.

I'm gonna check in with the tow company after work today and see if he made any effort to take care of the situation. If not, I'll follow up with another, less friendly, message. I think Monday is a reasonable deadline to give him before I take some kind of action on it.

I should also add, I have no idea who was arrested while driving the truck. This kid could have given it to a buddy, a family member, a random stranger for all I know. I googled a bit and didn't find anything about him being arrested recently.

I imagine he's either beating a trail to the BMV today to register it and get the title transferred, or he's burning the title I signed and will blow me off completely. We will see.