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Posted by David Sherman on Friday, August 14, 2009 at 13:18:15 :
In Reply to: title problem posted by bill in pa on Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 21:54:15 :
What you want might be called a "salvage title" or a "sheriff's title". Most states have some procedure for titling an untitled vehicle, but the degree of hassle varies a lot. I started the process of getting a salvage title on my M37 in Washington because I have a friend who had a HUGE hassle with that in Idaho. In Washington, the process was basically to get the VIN inspected (tow it to the inspection station), fill out forms, pay money, have somebody in Olympia look through the old microfilmed records, and get a temporary title. Then, if nobody reports it stolen within 3 years, the salvage title can supposedly be converted to a real title. I moved before then and never finished the process. Not sure if I can do it out of state or not. Since that truck just stays on the back roads now, mostly on my place, I never bothered to get a title for it.
According to the friend with the hassle the nice lady at the county motor vehicles office isn't allowed to issue titles for untitled vehicles. They have to go through some State lady out of Coeur d'Alene who does all of North Idaho. She personally believes that civilians should not own military vehicles and so she would not issue a salvage title for this guy's M37. What he ended up having to do was sue the seller, who was a friend of his and cooperative, in order to get a judge, who was also on his side, to order the state lady to issue the title. I don't pretend to understand the legal complexities of all this.
So far, all I've concluded is that the process varies a lot from state to state, that you're likely to get different answers from different government people, and that your best resource is someone who has actually successfully done it in your state. Hence, the popularity of Broadway Title -- you pay them some hundreds of dollars and they give you a clean title that your local DMV clerk can't refuse.