Expert: Rob Painter - 11/18/2011

Question
Mr. Painter,
i hope you can give me some feedback on this. my husband bought a car from a used car lot 10 years ago.the president/manager of the car lot started having us meet him at the drugstore to give him the payments in his name and soon the car lot went out of business and we lost touch with him.my husband didnt finish making the few payments left on the car since we couldnt reach the guy, and i think he died in 2005. we have no title and i need to sell the car now. i applied to the dmv to get a replacement title but they need the car lot company to sign off on the car but has been out of business for years. how can i sell the car or get the title to it? Thank you for any imput.

Tanya

Answer
Hello Tanya,


I wonder how you kept the car registered for 10 years without the title. This sounds like a tote-a- note deal where the dealer kept the title in house and when the debt was satisfied, the title was given to the buyer.

You could possibly get a title search on the car and see if their is a registered lien on it. If not, if you can document no lien holder the DMV should be able to issue.

Now, you are going to ask me how to do a title search. It's been 15 years since I did this. You may want to search http://www.carfax.com to find the history first. Then stop by a midsize car dealer and see if they if for a fee can find a lien history.
If its free and clear and you have the documentation, you should be able to get a duplicated.Otherwise, you can find the lien holder and settle up with them. What if the dealer never put your money towards the car?

Otherwise, you are out of luck.

Goodluck

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