[chucho999]

My question involves an auto loan or repossession in the State of: Texas
I bought a car in DFW area, paid in full with cashiers check and credit card. I'm driving with my bill of sale and a copy of the Texas registration form.
The used car dealer hasnt submitted or paid the registration fees or sales tax. All my calls to the dealer are bounced from person to person.
I have filed a dealer complaint with TX DOT, filed a transaction dispute with my credit card company, and I have "paper" tags good for 30 days which can be renewed with fees every 30 days. My car title service friend looked online & said the car is registered to the last Texas owner and they didnt see any "problems" with the title
How can I get this car registered in my name if the dealer isnt doing anything. Filing a lawsuit seems like a waste of money. I paid 10 grand for the car
Does the dealers surety bond company pay for this?
Can a district judge issue a court order to transfer the title? what are the shortcuts for getting a title. Thanks

[Mr. Knowitall]

I don't have a full answer for you; that would take a lot more research than I have time for at the moment. You may want to try to get a free consultation with a local lawyer.

I would not worry about whether the district judge has jurisdiction to order the title transferred. If you sue for the full purchase price of the car, and ask for transfer of title as alternative relief, and odds are the dealership is going to transfer the title in order to get out of the lawsuit long before the judge's authority becomes an issue.

If the entire value of the car was charged to your credit card, the dispute may have a similar effect. Document to your credit card company that there's nothing showing that the dealer holds title to the car, as absent that they don't have the legal right to sell you the car. I'm assuming that they are holding the title from the former owner, and have authority as a dealer to sell it to you without necessarily registering themselves as owner, but let them worry about documenting that - after all, if they are able to prove that they hold title and are able to transfer title to you, they should be able to resolve the dispute by doing exactly that.

Unfortunately, unless they act on the complaints you have already made, I don't know of any way to get relief other than by suing them.