Thought I would share my experience and give a heads up to anyone thinking about using a title company. I bought my Dart in the Fall of 2001. At the time of purchase it was a race car, and hadnt been on the street in a decade and the title had been lost long ago. Before purchasing the car, the seller contacted the North Carolina DMV to inquire about filling out the paperwork for a lost title. The seller was informed that the title was indeed on record, but because the car hadnt been registered on the road in so long it would have to be inspected by a DMV official before they would issue a new title. I dont know if this is just a NC thing or not. I assume that they think a parts car doesnt need a title, and anything that does need a new title issued needs to be proven road worthy before they'll issue a new one. Anyway, this was a big problem as the car was stripped down for racing. No horn, no wipers, fuel cell in the trunk with no passenger compartment block off panel, and some hack did a job on the wiring so none of the turn signals, tail lights, or brake lights worked. It was a rolling death trap. I didnt want to buy the car without a title, even though I was pretty confident the car wasnt stolen. I wanted to put this thing back on the street someday but there was no way in hell I was going to start dumping a bunch of money into a car that I didnt have a title for.
I was informed about a particular title company and checked into what all was involved. In a nutshell, its a gray area in the law where the owner of the car simply sends several hundred dollars to an out of state car lot ( the title company), who then writes the owner a bill of sale and a title from a different state. After recieving your new title and bill of sale in the mail, you take your brand spanking new out of state title down to your local DMV and have it switched over to the state you reside in, thus bypassing your local states red tape. Completely painless and best of all, legal. Atleast thats what I was lead to believe.......... So I bought the Dart and then promptly sent several hundred dollars to the title company for a new title. Everything went smoothly and I had a NC title for my dart in just a few weeks.
Now fast foward seven years to now, Fall 2008. I come home to find a business card stuck in the house door, a card from a DMV Inspector from the Theft and Title division.
I spoke with the inspector over the phone and I was asked if I used a title company to obtain a title for my car, to which I replied yes. I was then informed that what the title company is doing is ILLEGAL and that the out of state title that I used to obtain my NC title was bogus. I was pretty upset. I was told the cars VIN would have to be inspected. I feared the worse. What if the car turned out to be stolen? What if someone else had a title to my car and was trying to claim it as theirs? Was I going to be fined for using a title service that was supposed to be legal? The inspector came out and inspected the VIN, and everything checked out thank God. I was told that the DMV would honor my current title and I would be grandfathered in since it had been so long since it was re-issued. If the title had been re-issued within the past three years, my title would have been revoked by the state, I would be out several hundred dollars from the title company, and I would have to start all over with the state to get a title. Upon checking the website of the title company I used, it appears they've updated their information to include the fact that you need to check
your states specific laws regarding title services, and specifically wheither or not the car needs to be inspected before hand. NO SHIT right?
I guess I'm not the first to get caught up in this. I'm sure if my state is cracking down on this sort of thing, other states will follow suit if they havent all ready. Check the fine print if you decide to use a title company, and definitly call your local DMV to check state laws regarding titles and title companies. I dodged a bullet on this one, learn from my mistake guys.
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