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Cannot Register a Vehicle After Purchasing it From Somebody Other Than the Owner

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  • 11-10-2014, 06:34 PM
    gutek
    Cannot Register a Vehicle After Purchasing it From Somebody Other Than the Owner
    I'm tellng you my story, because it might be a possible scam and I need some advice. It all happened in Los Angeles, CA.

    I bought a car from a guy from craigslist (SELLER) on Oct 31st. I called him, met him and after a little drive I decided to buy a car. It had current tags (!) but salvaged title. I signed the pink slip, he had all his signatures already done. BUT the certificate of title was under company's name (COMPANY X). He said that his wife actually works there. I know I was a bit reckless, but I needed the car, so I kind of ignored all the warning signs and sealed the deal.
    The problem appeared when I tried to register the car in DMV. They said that the car doesn't belong to the company X anymore and it's registered under some woman's name (ANNA). According to DMV she started the registration process, but she didn't finish it. DMV employee said that I need to get ANNA'S statement about the car in order to register it in my name.

    The bad thing was that I didn't know SELLER's real name, he didn't show me his ID. But I googled his cell phone number and to my surprise I immediately found his real personal data inlcuding name, pictures of him and current address. So I know who the SELLER is. But he doesn't know I know. He used fake name at our meeting.
    I texted the SELLER and asked for ANNA's phone number etc. He replied that she wanted to buy the car but changed her mind and I can register the car without any problems at this DEALERSHIP http://www.yellowpages.com/los-angel...ses-inc-138898 He said they will remove ANNA from the system and transfer the title in my name. He didn't give me ANNA's personal data.
    My first question is: is this legal to register a car like this when DMV doesn't want to do it?

    I called Company X to get more feedback about the car and they said that they had sold it 3 years ago and they were obviously surprised that the car's certificate of title is still under their name. They neither know the SELLER nor ANNA. They sold it to a completely different person.
    I also realized that ANNA started to fill out the reverse side of certificate of title for new owners, but it is all scribbled, probably by the SELLER (he said that his kids did it), and hard to read. But I think she bought the car in June this year. I also know that she bought an insurance for that car in August (I found her policy in the glove compartment). So she might have been using the car for couple of months without completing the registration process in DMV. I found her current address and left a message, but she has not responded so far. Maybe she will.

    So my question is clear: how can I register the car under my name in this situation?
    It looks like that car had couple of unregistered owners (or almost unregistered). It doesn't have 'stolen' record.
    Is this just paperwork issue or should I go with this to small claims court?
  • 11-10-2014, 06:57 PM
    Disagreeable
    Re: Cannot Register the Car. Unclear Ownership. Possible Scam
    If you cannot get it done legally, you might need to go through a bonded title process.
  • 11-10-2014, 07:40 PM
    gutek
    Re: Cannot Register the Car. Unclear Ownership. Possible Scam
    Thank you for replying so quickly.
    So as I understood I should send certified mails to COMPANY X and ANNA, wait 30 days for responds and show the results to DMV, right? What kind of questions should I exactly include in these certified mails?
    Will I be able to drive the car legally during all that process?
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