would you be worried or not

[928007]

ok, here's the story. i bought a mopar 20 years ago with no title, the reason i was told was the brother was fixing up the car for his sister part way through he was injured in a hunting accident. he then recieved money from the accident, left the car at a body shop didn' t come back for it for quite awhile. they pushed it off in the corner. a plumber comes in to do repair work sees the car asks about it also a mopar guy. body shop guy tells him he is sick of it sitting around, and sells it to the plumber. a few years later i buy it. i write a letter to dmv to ask for info on the owner before i buy it.they give me the name. i look in local phone book and she's is in the book ,i call her and ask her if she used to own it she says yes , she said that car was stolen,i ask her if she still had the title, she says yes,i asked her if she wanted to sell me the title,and she did, so i registerd it in my name . i don't think there was a stolen car report dmv didn't say it was stolen, i think the brother lied to her about it being stolen because he left it at the body shop and did not come back. so is this car mine because i bought the title from her. and it is titled in my name.

[billschroeder5842]

Possession is 90% of the law....

I think you are okay...the DMV is not actively looking for the car...you have the title... no stolen vehicle report.

Stupid brother = clean charger for you.

Relax and enjoy

[Ghoste]

I agree, if you have a title and its in your name then I would tend to think its all yours.

[41husk]

If she knew you were buying the car and had no interest in it any more, I would say it is legaly and moraly good. 

[Ghoste]

Moral.  Hmm, there is that part too.  When you inquired about buying the title did you imply in any way that you had the car?

[nvrbdn]

i would think if the dmv had a stolen car report they would have mentioned it at the questioning, but definately at the time you turned up with the title to register it.

[928007]

i did tell her i had the car and alot of the parts were missing

[Ghoste]

I'd say you're solid gold then legally and morally.  Go enjoy the car and quit worrying.

[billschroeder5842]

If you are still concerned you could aways sell it to me for cheap. That way you can assuage your guilt as I'm willing to accept your burdon

[928007]

funny

[nvrbdn]

man, thats nice of you to be willing to accept that burden. a noble gesture.

[hatersaurusrex]

I'm wondering who gets their mopar stolen then doesn't ask to get it back when someone calls saying they have the car    Is it a k-car or something?

[Benji]

Actually if a car is stolen and the car was insured, a police report MUST be filed before the insururance company will pay the insured for the loss.  Then when (or if) the car is recovered, the car is actually owned by the insurance company and not the insured because the insurence company bought the car from you when filed the claim and signed the claim check.  If the car was not insured and it was stolen and the owner never filed a police report it will not show up anywhere that is was stolen.  If the car was not insured and was stolen and a police report was filed the state may or may not have it on file.  I don't know how long records of stolen vehicles are kept, and it may vary from state to state.  Usually the insurance company will be willing to sell the car back to you at salvage value.  If it is real old they may not even be interested.

I was a P&C insurance claims adjuster for about 10 years.

Benji

[Cooter]

I would think if the lady that sold you the car gave two sh*ts, she woulda first asked you Why you wanted to buy a title to a "Stolen car". Then, she woulda asked you why you wanted the title to HER supposedly stolen car...



YOu have the title and car. in YOUR name...I'd say you were good.

[crankypat]

      AND  WHAT KINDA CAR WAS IT ANYWAY?   pics

[nvrbdn]

  need pic's

[model maker]

The lady sold you the title & signed it over to you, therefore  Your the proud owner of a Charger.

[Patronus]

Did you buy a "signed" title?

[928007]

i bought a signed title, should have gotten a bill of sale,other thing maybe i should have made copies, for a backup plan.

[Ghoste]

If she sent you a signed title I would say quit worrying.

[crankypat]

    STOP WORRYING>      WI.   free and clear if she signed over title,even after theft,recovered and resold?  dont believe me call DMV      ENJOY YOUR CAR!   NOW ABOUT PICS OR BETTER DESCRIPTION OF CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nvrbdn]

ok, ive been patient, but, if you have a signed title and a car to match said title, and a camera laying around somewhere, then why havent i seen a pic of this car yet?

[928007]

it is a 1969 dodge charger sunroof car 928007= seventh one made. put pics on last week

[nvrbdn]

oh, i was looking here for the pic. ill run over to  post a pic of your charger, or post a pic of your 69 charger and check it out. thanks. 

[nvrbdn]

hey, found the pic's. thanks. sorry for the harrasement. somehow missed the posting. 

[Old Moparz]

It sounds like you did the right thing to cover yourself (and morally, too) by tracking down the last known owner, but like mentioned, maybe the car is owned by an insurance company. There are stories of cars being purchased many years after they were stolen, then restored, & later returned to the last owner. The resto cost isn't something you can ever get back from anyone, so a previous owner gets a fully restored car for free. I wouldn't think that some insurance company wouldn't want to get a restored car that they may have paid pennies on the dollar for to resell at auction.

If there is a better way to check on the rightful owner before you pour cash into it, I would at least give it a try.   

[bakerhillpins]

If you are worried about it being listed as stolen you should be able to have your local PD run the VIN to see if it was ever listed as such.

[model maker]

You have the Charger & she signed the title over to you and now you ARE the owner. If she tried to take you to court to get the charger back for any reason, she would NOT prevail, Not in MY court or any other of the lower courts in the judicial system. You paid her for the title & do you really think she would want to go through  all the work & everything else the Charger may need to get the car back in shape to drive it ?  I am confident you have no worries,    & " THAT IS MY RULING "    

[Old Moparz]

Not to strike fear, but.....

Texas man finds his car 42 years after it was stolen:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/16/us/california-stolen-car/index.html

Stolen Car Returned, 37 Years Later
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-1216695.html

Stolen VW bus returned — after 36 years
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/12/vw-bus-reunited-with-its-owner-36-years-after-it-was-stolen.html

Missouri man recovers stolen car in Utah, 16 years later
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705392753/Missouri-man-recovers-stolen-car-in-Utah-16-years-later.html?pg=all


I bought a car about 15 years ago that only had a bill of sale. The seller was selling it in New York, for a friend who moved to Florida, but was supposed to have come from Texas, but was last registered in Alabama.

I wrote down the VIN before handing over money & checked with the state police before buying it. It came back clean & I've had it since & registered in my name & have never had trouble. It's better to be safe than sorry.   

[Tilar]

Not to strike fear, but.....

He already has a title for the car signed by the owner transfering ownership to him. He might call and have them run the VIN to be sure it's not reported as stolen, but other than that I wouldn't go around searching for trouble.

[Ghoste]

Thats what I think too.  She knows he has the car, she seems to be aware of why he wanted the title, it seems squared away.

[model maker]

I can surely understand his concern,  Can you imagine getting a charger such as this, investing a ton of money making it exactly  the way you want it,  something that will now last another 40 years and then  one day you find out that someone says they saw your Charger in your driveway, or in the newspaper story about how YOUR Charger won BIG at a car show where it just won BEST OF EVERYTHING  & before you can thank them for the compliments, they tell you your Charger LEGALLY BELONGS TO THEM  & they want it NOW    just as you invested your last dollar into it. Sure they KNEW you had the Car from seeing it at earlier car shows but decided to wait a little longer, waiting until you completed EVERYTHING possible and now they have a showcar winner. I am sure this has happened to someone somewhere, but in your case 928007 . you are in the clear.
Bert

[Ghoste]

Oh absolutely, the world is full of shady characters looking for an easy out.  I think in this case he's good though.  No bills of sale or anything to suggest a problem other than saying it was "stolen".  I think that once she signed that title with the knowledge that the car was also in his possession, everything was good at that point.
Enough lawyers can undo anything but you can't spend your life worrying sometimes either.