My Old Truck Has a Mechanics Lien

[ghuns]

Got a weird letter the other day stating my 1997 K2500 Chevy truck has a mechanics lien against it. Weird cause I do all my own wrenching. Weirder, cause I sold the truck this summer.

I call the number on the letter and ask, WTF? I sold this truck. Nice lady says dude you sold it to got himself arrested, truck was towed. Money owed is for towing/storage bill. He must have never went to the BMV with the signed title so when the VIN is run, you show up as the legal owner.

The letter says I have until 12/24 at which time the vehicle is considered abandoned. The lady I talked to said given the age of the truck, they probably wouldn't bother with auctioning it off. Just sell it for scrap.

Sure the truck is old, it was my wood hauler/farm truck, and I'm not attached to it or anything, but it's far too good a truck to just scrap. I didn't keep the contact info from the dude who bought it. I just had it in the front yard with a for sale sign. He showed up with $2500 cash and drove it away.

The lady I talked to said that as I am listed as the legal owner, I could pay fees, drive it away, and just apply for a duplicate title.

This seems, IDK, kinda shady to me. I sold this guy the truck for $2500. Sure he's a dumbarse for driving it around for months without registering it his name, and for getting arrested for who knows what. But if I walk in and pay the fees, around $750, I kinda feel like I'd be stealing it. I'd feel better if I had his number and could tell him, go pick up the truck or I will.

I don't need the truck. My wife says drop it. What says INGO?

 

[HoughMade]

Do you have written proof that you sold it?

 

[ghuns]

Do you have written proof that you sold it?

Nope. Just signed and dated the title.

 

[daddyusmaximus]

Were it me, I'd say I got paid already. I'm not getting involved in any legal crap.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

If I wanted the truck, I'd let them know I'll buy it for the scrap value once they've got the lien paperwork completed and have paperwork in hand. Anything short of that is theft, IMO. The fact he failed to register it doesn't alter that he's the legal owner.

Now, once they've "repo'd" the truck for failure to pay, it's their truck and they can legally sell it to whoever. If that whoever is you, nbd.

 

[indyblue]

The fact he failed to register it doesn't alter that he's the legal owner.

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?

 

[HoughMade]

Nope. Just signed and dated the title.

The reason I ask is that I don't want you getting a small claims case filed against you for storage fees. If you don't own it- and can prove it (in ways other than a bill of sake), probably not a problem.

If it were me- I sold the truck, so I'm done with it.

IMO it is shady to pay the fees as if you own the truck just to get it back.

 

[HoughMade]

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?

No. registration with the BMV is evidence of who the owner is. You either are or are not the owner and if you sold it, you are not the owner. That being said, it can get a pain if a guy needs to prove they are not the owner.

 

[armalitesheepdog]

If you are the registered owner on the title it seems it will be you they come after for towing and storage fees. Left unpaid it will probably be reported to the credit agencies. I would go get it. Wait 30 days for the buyer to come forth and offer it to him for cost to get it out. (The fees will continue to mount)
If he passes sell it and keep what your out and give the remainder to the buyer. That way you protect yourself. You do a solid to the ahole who caused you the problem in the first place and you get your money back on the fees.

 

[Lost Californian]

...snip...

Sure the truck is old, it was my wood hauler/farm truck, and I'm not attached to it or anything, but it's far too good a truck to just scrap. I didn't keep the contact info from the dude who bought it. I just had it in the front yard with a for sale sign. He showed up with $2500 cash and drove it away.
...snip...

I don't need the truck. My wife says drop it. What says INGO?

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

 

[Butch627]

I wouldn't bee very keen on the idea that a guy who is tied up in the legal system and knows where I live might not be very happy about the idea that I got the truck back.

 

[sp1shooter]

I wonder if a legal notice in your local paper would protect you.
If a person doesn't care enough to get a title, **** em. Been in a mess with that and the DMV before. DMV gave the guy who bought my old car new plates in my name, then bitched at me for not taking the plates. But I did. Screw the DMV and crappy buyers.

 

[Alamo]

If I wanted the truck, I'd let them know I'll buy it for the scrap value once they've got the lien paperwork completed and have paperwork in hand. Anything short of that is theft, IMO. The fact he failed to register it doesn't alter that he's the legal owner.

Now, once they've "repo'd" the truck for failure to pay, it's their truck and they can legally sell it to whoever. If that whoever is you, nbd.

This.
The towing/storage people will have to come up with paperwork showing that they legally acquired the truck (this will be whatever forms the police fill out that seized the truck and transferred it to the towing company) and that they legally disposed of it.

Indiana might be different than Texas, but I would bet that the towing company has to provide documentation to you in a form that you can take to the DMV to get it retitled and re-registered. It will probably look a little weird to the DMV that you’re trying to re-register a truck that according to their records you already own, but the towing company paperwork should help with this.

Also, I would ask for every other bit of paper about that truck, especially tying the truck to the individual who was arrested. That’s not proof that you sold it to him, but it would help showing he had possession of it, and you may need to do an affidavit swearing, that you sold the truck to him.

I am not a lawyer, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn any time in the past decade, but I have had to go through a similar process when somebody abandoned a vehicle at my storage facility. In this case it was a trailer that was not registered to the person who abandoned it, but in fact, was sold to my tenant for cash by some lady out in El Paso, who was scared ****less when I called her about it. She thought she was gonna get in trouble. She didn’t want anything to do with it. Under state law, I was allowed to sell it at auction, But I had to provide the buyer with a state form, and some other paperwork, documenting the whole situation and showing that he was now the legal owner of the trailer, so he could get it registered with the state of Texas. I would not Indiana has very similar provisions for towing companies that have unclaimed vehicles.

Good luck.

 

[Alamo]

If you are the registered owner on the title it seems it will be you they come after for towing and storage fees. Left unpaid it will probably be reported to the credit agencies. I would go get it. Wait 30 days for the buyer to come forth and offer it to him for cost to get it out. (The fees will continue to mount)
If he passes sell it and keep what your out and give the remainder to the buyer. That way you protect yourself. You do a solid to the ahole who caused you the problem in the first place and you get your money back on the fees.

Good point about the unpaid bill possibly going on your record. If it gets high enough, the towing agency may just turn it over to bill collector and scrap the truck. So I would be proactive with them, make it easy and legal for them to “dispose” of the truck to you.

I would go do some thing about this, hope the towing agency will work with you, and next time you sell vehicle, make damn sure you get a receipt, and go with them to the DMV to sign it over.

 

[Mr. Habib]

Just report it stolen.

 

[Brandon]

For a very brief period of time I had a clunker (looks)that ran like a champ,I paid I think 450 for. It was a pontiac sunfire. I sold it to a friend who sold it to a friend of his.

A month or so later I get a letter in the mail saying my recently impounded car could be picked up at a tow yard and the fees where like 175 bucks plus storage.


I debated it but didn't need another car in the driveway so I never did anything. No idea what ultimately happened with it.

Friend made it seem like he wouldn't be out of jail anytime soon.

 

[ghuns]

After a couple calls and some sleuthing over lunch, I tracked the guy down.

Sent him a text and a FaceBook message asking him to take care of this.

He was posting on FaceBook yesterday, so at least he's not in jail. His postings are frequent and involve about a half a dozen vehicles he's working on, all much nicer than my old truck. Maybe he just misplaced it.

 

[Ark]

After a couple calls and some sleuthing over lunch, I tracked the guy down.

Sent him a text and a FaceBook message asking him to take care of this.

He was posting on FaceBook yesterday, so at least he's not in jail. His postings are frequent and involve about a half a dozen vehicles he's working on, all much nicer than my old truck. Maybe he just misplaced it.

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".

 

[manifest destiny]

Apply for a new title, upon receipt take the title to the tow yard and sign it over to them for $0. You're out the cost of a dupe title but issue is closed.

 

[model1994]

same thing happened to me with a little Saturn I flipped years ago. Sold it for $1000 and his mom wrote me a check, which saved my ass months later when an Indy tow service and $$$$ in parking tickets and various infractions caught up with me when he finally abandoned the car. Since he never titled or registered it in months of driving, they tried pinning all that on me.

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