Found a car for DS....but the title isnt clear, need advise

[Chris2597]

We finally found a nice car for ds to replace the one that was totaled in the accident he had on 8-25. The glitch is that the owner advised us that he had used the car as colateral on a loan and would need the proceeds from the sale to clear the title..The bank is in a town about an 1.5 hours away..He said he would give us possesion of the car, would sign a purchase agreement, take our check (cashiers check) to his bank, clear the title and bring us the title....I am fairly confident this guy is on the up and up...he works for the same large company where dh works and appears ok. I just dont know how I feel about giving him $$$$....what if he wasnt on the up and up...and came back and took the car....I am sure this happens all of the time and there must be a standard way to deal with it. Is there some sort of form that is used in this type of case....
The car is very nice and well maintained....which is why we are trying to make this work.

 

[robinb]

If this car is as nice as it sounds it is worth your time to drive to his bank with him and take care of all the business at once. It's worth it for your peace of mind.

 

[Chris2597]

That is what I thought....He even offered to pick me up and take me....DH is out of town this week so I have to handle it....If I go with him to his bank I will take ds20 with me.... I keep thinking there must be a formal way of doing this transaction.

 

[sha_lyn]

don't buy it. While it is possible you will have no problems, the fact is you might run into a lot of headaches. We purchased a camper about 5 yrs ago that was set up on a small site in a gated comunity. We had a realestate lawyer , and at the closing were told the seller never bothered to get clear title since he didn't have any intention on pulling the camper. Seems with the camper there were 2 aveneus to go, get a tag, or register it as a mobile home. With the land title he was somehow able to get the mobile home sticker. However we intended on pulling it to Fl on occasion. Lawyer said there would be no problems getting a clear title using a bill of sale and a copy of our closing. Well the lawyer was wrong. Turned out the camper had gone through 3 different owners wihtout the title being cleared. We obtained an address for the 2 owners proir to the seller we purchased from. We had to send them certified letters to be signed to release the title. Never heard from either of them. We eventually had to buy title insurance and get a police officer to come out and sign a paper that stated we had physical possession of the camper. Took 3 years to finally get a cleared title and be able to put a tag on it. When we finally got it all settled we discovered it wasn't towable in its present condition, so we ended up selling it to someone who wanted to use it as a vacation home on the lot it is set up on.

 

[Chris2597]

I think I will call our bank tomorrow and ask how this should be handled. I am wondering if they can oversee this....maybe wire the funds or talk with the owners credit union to make sure that the title will be free and clear after the loan is paid....I am sure this happens all of the time at dealerships...there must be a way to handle it.

 

[Lil_Tink]

Good luck.

 

[golfgal]

Would he take a personal check instead of a cashier's check and that way you could stop payment on the check if he doesn't follow through on his end?

 

[Chris2597]

The bank that holds title to the car requires a secured form of payment such as a cashiers check....
We are either going to follow him up to his bank and take care of the transaction in person..Our bank advised us to speak to his point of contact at his bank to make sure that other than the loan they have that the title is clean and that we will recieve the clear title turned over to us at the time of payment...the second option is....I already talked with our bank and they said they would give us a loan for the car, process everything and we could have the car on Fri....Yikes why does everything have to be complicated??

 

[The Mystery Machine]

That is normal.
I would drive up there with him.

 

[madgomez]

Make sure you check with your DMV what you need to prove the lien is satisfied so you can get clear title. The bank will not be issuing a title, just some sort of document indicating the lien had been satisfied and releasing it, so that clear title can be issued by the DMV.

Other than making sure you get the correct documentation, going to the bank seems to be the way to get it done quickly.

 

[Chris2597]

I talked with the owners bank today and was told they would have the title and when a certified check is given the title will be released and signed over to me. The bank rep said the owner called and advised them that we would be coming in to pay off the loan and sell the car.
DS and I are riding up (owner offered to drive us, as the bank is in a town about an hour or so away) tomorrow afternoon to take care of this....I will post when it is complete....

 

[robinb]

It sounds like everything is going to work out OK. It's nice that he's offering to give you a ride .