Abandoned vehicle title questions...

[Geeesammy]

So my girlfriends parents bought their home in the early 90's and a barn is located in the back of the property and they have told me that a truck is located inside. Her father estimates it to be an " late 60's early 70's something" and has offered me a decent amount of money and ownership of the truck IF I can cut down the growth around the barn and yank it out. I have not laid eyes on this thing, BUT my interest for some reason has been peaked by this thing. How would they go about getting a title? I know there has to be an abandonment clause or similar in Ohio, I am gonna look up on Google shortly and see what the deal is. Would they consider 15-20 years ownership of the property enough to issue a new title to the truck?

 

Thanks in advance.

[STEVE-O]

You have to send letters to the registered last owner than after a period of time you can then refill for ownership and a title. Usually also it has to be a business of some sort that has to file and send in the paperwork I am not sure if a regular individual can do it.

[Geeesammy]

So I'd be better off making it a "self built" vehicle.....

[STEVE-O]

No it would be easier for someone who owns a auto business to file for the title iirc process takes about 1-2 months and it seems like the have that amount of time without issue

[Geeto67]

What year is the truck exactly?

 

Go get a Vermont registration. Vermont doesn't issue titles for vehicles 25 years old or older, and the dontvrequire you to be a resident of the state to register a car there. They do require you to have it inspected by a police officer to make sure not stolen. Anyway, you'll even get Vermont plates to use for the vehicle, and after a year re-register/title it in ohio.

 

I've done this a few times for bikes I bought without titles.

 

I'll tell you a quick horror story about cars in barns. So back when I was more active in GTO clubs (1990s) there was this guy in the club who found a GTO rolling shell in a barn in upstate NY. Same kind of story, people bought the house and farm with car in it already and no papers. So he buys it. Goes to register and the vin comes up stolen. Turns out the previous owners of the house used to rent his barn to a couple of local hot rodder kids and they must have stolen it in the 80's for the drivetrain and just left it. So the buyer is out the $1500 or whatever he paid, and the cops impound the car to return to the old owner.

 

The moral of the story? Before you do anything, take the VIN to your local pd and have them run the number just to make sure it doesn't come up stolen. If it does the PD might remove it for him for free anyway.

[gillbot]

There are some online sites that will run a quick vin check against the stolen database. That's a good place to start, but going to the PD for a thorough check is best.

 

Edit: that's good to know about VT though, I passed on a couple old bikes because there were no titles. I may have to revisit that.

[Green Bastard]

Something that may help you get a title sooner is just see if you can find out who the last registered owner is (verify it is not stolen first) and just ask them to sign it over. If they refuse then tell them that they owe storage fees on the vehicle, something like 1200 a year for 20 years should do it lol ($100 a month would seem reasonable to charge someone for car storage).

[STEVE-O]

Something that may help you get a title sooner is just see if you can find out who the last registered owner is (verify it is not stolen first) and just ask them to sign it over. If they refuse then tell them that they owe storage fees on the vehicle, something like 1200 a year for 20 years should do it lol ($100 a month would seem reasonable to charge someone for car storage).

 

If thy are still among the living

[Geeesammy]

If thy are still among the living

 

I think it is a safe bet to say the owner is dead. The previous owners were 80 at the time of the sale of the house.

[Geeto67]

 

Edit: that's good to know about VT though, I passed on a couple old bikes because there were no titles. I may have to revisit that.

 

here is an adv rider write up on how to do it:

 

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=655441

 

haven't done it in a while because I haven't bought anything newer than 1972 in a while and in NY, you don't need anything other than a bill of sale, a tax form and a vin rubbing, to get a transferable registration for 1972 or older.

[coltboostin]

here is an adv rider write up on how to do it:

 

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=655441

 

haven't done it in a while because I haven't bought anything newer than 1972 in a while and in NY, you don't need anything other than a bill of sale, a tax form and a vin rubbing, to get a transferable registration for 1972 or older.

 

 

 

Thats a long way to go to register a stolen bike . :gabe:

[Geeto67]

Thats a long way to go to register a stolen bike . :gabe:

 

Well....it requires a police inspection so if you were a bad guy doing bad guy things you'd probably get caught. Good news is you don't actually have to go to VT for the inspection. Actually the whole process is done by mail. Works for cars and bikes of a certain age.

 

Also considering titled bare frames usually run about $150 for most old Japanese motorcycles and Harley's older than 1971 don't have frame numbers there are easier ways to get stolen old bikes paperwork.

[2 Sweet]

Have you learned anything about the truck yet? Year, make, condition?

[Geeesammy]

So I went over yesterday and took a look for myself. The truck is in super rough shape, but I did get a VIN, and found the build date, 03/73. I am actually really interested in it, but it's basically sunk into the ground now so getting it out would be near impossible. I talked with Jordan (2hipsi) and ran the VIN online on the .gov sites he pointed me to, and learned nothing from those as far as it being hot or not. If anyone on here is a Police Officer and is willing to run the VIN for me I'd greatly appreciate it, just shoot me a PM and I'll fwd the info. I can go to a station but I don't want to go to that length just yet unless I have to.

 

It looks like it rolled over or has something heavy land on it's roof. It's super dented in. It is an inline 6 truck with what I'm assuming to be 3 on the tree. Kids got in to the barn a few years back and busted all the windows, taillights, etc. out. The front end is damaged too. I couldn't get the hood popped. They do have another barn I could shove it into while working on it, and I may be able to talk her father into funding it if it is kind of a shared truck. My GF is even more interested in making it run than me, so who knows. Maybe I'll get an LS/4L60 to throw in it and call it done after making it roadworthy..

[Exodus]

court order title?

 

In a limited number of circumstances a judge of the Common Pleas Court can order the Clerk of

Courts Auto Title Division (title office) to issue you a motor vehicle certificate of title. These

circumstances include:

I. When the original certificate of title issued by the State of Ohio or any other state has

been lost, destroyed or stolen and a duplicate of that certificate as provided by Section

4505.12 of the Ohio Revised Code is not available from the Clerk or BMV due to a lack

of historical title records;

II. When you have purchased a vehicle but the previous owner has failed, refused or

otherwise been unable to furnish you with a properly assigned certificate of title;

III. When you have been given a vehicle or it has been left in your possession and

ownership, but the previous owner has failed, refused or otherwise been unable to

complete the transaction by supplying required documents; or

IV. When you are owner of a repair garage or vehicle storage facility who is in possession of

a vehicle valued at more than $2,500.00 after deduction of repair and storage fees, which

vehicle has remained unclaimed by the owner more than fifteen days after notice to

reclaim the vehicle.

 

http://www.franklincountyohio.gov/clerk/docs/at/62613NewInstructions.pdf

 

http://www.franklincountyohio.gov/clerk/docs/at/62713NewFlowChart.pdf