Sold car now police knocking at my door

1600vw

1600vw

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My son sold a car. He did not remove the license plates from the car. They are expired for this car sat a long time. But he forgot to remove the plates.

Now he is getting tickets through the mail from the chicago area. He called the police and reported he sold the car but they could careless.

He is taking care of this through the DMV today, paying the fines and reporting the plates not active or something like this, he told me some paperwork must be filled out.

The kid who purchased this car is in school in the Chicago area. My son would have to go to cook county to deal with this, any other way he can do this? He works m-f, 7-5.

Also what should he do? I think this kid owes my son some money. I told my son maybe this jerk will get pulled over and arrested for driving on expired and the car is not registered to him.

Tony
 
Did your son retain records of the date of sale?

In most instances, you should be able to provide reasonable proof (and an affidavit from your son should be reasonable proof) that the vehicle had changed hands, and the tickets should be dismissed (as against your son).

If you simply accept the word of the bureaucrats who answer the phone (whose sole job it is to collect money, then you are volunteering. It may well be, of course, that the sheer distance makes the fight difficult.

It was me, I would NOT pay the fines. The penalties, generally, attach to the vehicle.

If the state provides an easy means of reporting a sale, that may burn him.
 
Gotta do stuff like selling a car correctly or you set yourself up for a lot of headaches. Remove the plates or make sure they are transferred in states where the plates stay with the car. And make sure you get your money before giving up your car. I hope you son gets out of this without too much damage to his wallet and before the kid he sold the car to kills someone with it.
 
Don't pay the tickets.
 
I can only speak for TX, but the agencies don't care. It's just about collections, not justification. We sold a car, and did the right paperwork, and the buyer drove on the north TX toll road every day. The key is to have all the correct info on the sale. Name, addr, date, and driver license number of buyer.

We continue to get bills from them every month, even though we've filled out the section on the bill for 'vehicle transferred, destroyed, or incorrect plate info'. We still get bills every month. In TX the plate stays on the sold car in private transactions. They don't care about a bill of sale, or anything else, they just want to collect. We say no.
 
If you have already paid the cops, report the car stolen. Cops are trash, so they won't ever give your money back. Never, ever hand over money to the legal system unless you are guilty. All you need is a signed statement by friends that says you sold the car on whatever date. Then the police should go after the new owner. But, since all cops are lazy trash, they will go after whoever is the most likely to give them money.

I had a similar situation where I traded in a truck, but the dealership was running toll roads multiple times a day, every day for over a year with it. All I had to do was fax in the sales receipts, and the fines were off my record. A year later it happens again, so I reported it stolen. 2 days later, I was getting threats from the dealership. After meeting with lawyers, the dealer found out they were liable for so many fines, it was cheaper/easier for the owner to let his son rot in jail for grand theft auto. And I got the truck back, as well as a Viper to keep me from going after them for fraud.
 
docmirror said:
I can only speak for TX, but the agencies don't care. It's just about collections, not justification. We sold a car, and did the right paperwork, and the buyer drove on the north TX toll road every day. The key is to have all the correct info on the sale. Name, addr, date, and driver license number of buyer.

We continue to get bills from them every month, even though we've filled out the section on the bill for 'vehicle transferred, destroyed, or incorrect plate info'. We still get bills every month. In TX the plate stays on the sold car in private transactions. They don't care about a bill of sale, or anything else, they just want to collect. We say no.
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That is bizarre.... I guess the moral of the story is, when you sell a car, tell the buyer the tags were stolen and new tags are on him to get... :rolleyes:
 
In NY and MA you can't cancel your car insurance until the plates have been returned to the DMV. Sorta reminds you of being forced to buy health insurance, does keep old plates off the streets.
 
The bill of sale is the key.

Same thing happened to me, but I donated the car to a charity.

Cleared up right away, even with the heavily bureaucratic city of St. Louis.

But they go by the VIN number in writing tickets (visible through the front window), so with or without license plate makes no difference.
 
I had a friend in California who had the same problem. There the plates stay with the car so it's up to the buyer to re-register it. We found out that there you can report the sale of your vehicle to MVA and if the buyer does not register it you are off the hook.
 
jtheune said:
I had a friend in California who had the same problem. There the plates stay with the car so it's up to the buyer to re-register it. We found out that there you can report the sale of your vehicle to MVA and if the buyer does not register it you are off the hook.
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Florida has a tear off portion of the title which you, as the seller, fill out and send in. This removes the car from your name even if the buyer doesn't re-register it. Tags stay with the person.

John
 
ClimbnSink said:
In NY and MA you can't cancel your car insurance until the plates have been returned to the DMV. Sorta reminds you of being forced to buy health insurance, does keep old plates off the streets.
Click to expand...

As opposed to the 30+ ones I have in my library.
 
docmirror said:
I can only speak for TX, but the agencies don't care. It's just about collections, not justification. We sold a car, and did the right paperwork, and the buyer drove on the north TX toll road every day. The key is to have all the correct info on the sale. Name, addr, date, and driver license number of buyer.

We continue to get bills from them every month, even though we've filled out the section on the bill for 'vehicle transferred, destroyed, or incorrect plate info'. We still get bills every month. In TX the plate stays on the sold car in private transactions. They don't care about a bill of sale, or anything else, they just want to collect. We say no.
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N801BH said:
That is bizarre.... I guess the moral of the story is, when you sell a car, tell the buyer the tags were stolen and new tags are on him to get... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

My practice and advice to folks who call my business wanting to sell their vehicle is to never let the plates go with the vehicle. As Doc's story relates, Texas doesn't do the best job updating the system to show the existing plates equal the new owner.

I have always advised to do the sale transaction at the DMV office, so the seller can witness the buyer completing the title transfer paperwork, registering for new plates, and paying any applicable fees. Seller hands the title to the DMV clerk. Buyer hands over the cash, receives the keys. And the deal is done.

Doc, I get what you're saying that all of that isn't required by Texas, but I'm approaching this as reduction of the PITA factor.

There's also the chance that the new buyer NEVER registered the car or switched the title into their name. So until that happens, it could be construed that the former owner is legally and financially responsible until that is rectified. Including being contacted by a LEO because your vehicle was involved in a criminal action.

For the OP, I can't offer any specific advice beyond what was suggested with supplying documentation of the sale to the correct person at your state DMV.
 
jsstevens said:
Florida has a tear off portion of the title which you, as the seller, fill out and send in.
Click to expand...

Texas has same, but I don't trust that the change over happens, or happens quickly.
 
The kid who purchased this car is in school in the Chicago area. My son would have to go to cook county to deal with this, any other way he can do this? He works m-f, 7-5.
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If he knew where the kid lived, your son could go there after he gets off work and steal the plates. That would solve the problem!
 
I just got a violation notice from a red light camera scam - wrong car, but with a plate that almost duplicates mine.

The good news for you is the scam system, all run by the camera vendor, has an affidavit form that has a checkbox "[] I no longer own the car (attach proof)" but in interest of maximum aggravation you have to have the form notarized and mail it in and hope.

In my case the picture showed that the car they busted didn't run the light either.
 
Damn I didn't know other states were so different when it came to plates and transfer of ownership. In California, the plates stay with the car (you can keep personalized plates if you wish), but when you sell a car you fill out a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability and submit it to the DMV. Once filed, that relieves the seller from any liability of tickets or anything else the new owner gets themselves into.

-Brian
 
I did this same thing.
I did not pay the tickets
They showed up on my credit report

I had to file a bunch of paperwork to get them removed.
 
SomeTexan said:
If you have already paid the cops, report the car stolen. Cops are trash, so they won't ever give your money back. Never, ever hand over money to the legal system unless you are guilty. All you need is a signed statement by friends that says you sold the car on whatever date. Then the police should go after the new owner. But, since all cops are lazy trash, they will go after whoever is the most likely to give them money.

I had a similar situation where I traded in a truck, but the dealership was running toll roads multiple times a day, every day for over a year with it. All I had to do was fax in the sales receipts, and the fines were off my record. A year later it happens again, so I reported it stolen. 2 days later, I was getting threats from the dealership. After meeting with lawyers, the dealer found out they were liable for so many fines, it was cheaper/easier for the owner to let his son rot in jail for grand theft auto. And I got the truck back, as well as a Viper to keep me from going after them for fraud.
Click to expand...

I call BS on this, all the dealer would have to do is show the "lazy trash cops" the paperwork and then you are on the hook for filing a false report, the son then sues you for damages which would probably be more than the amount for the toll fines.

To the OP: I would suggest contacting the district attorney's office in the area, this could probably all be resolved by filing out an affidavit, getting it notarized, and then sending it in. As long as you have proof that the sell date is prior to the date of the offense, the fines should be dismissed.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Don't pay the tickets.
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Yup. What are they gonna do, charge you and arrest you? That requires a trial - which means I want a jury trial, as is my right - and they are gonna look might damn stupid in front of a jury when you present your evidence of the sale (bank deposit, cancelled check, bill of sale, etc etc).
 
Don't call the cops trash - first off, parking enforcement is rarely done by police anymore, but rather, by parking enforcement officers who are simple money collectors.

Next, you must always aggressively challenge each bill / statement you get, provide sworn statements, demand proof, be a bigger pain to them than they are to you.
 
Reporting the truck as stolen is a good way to end up in jail yourself.:nono: You had a civil matter with the dealership and made it a criminal matter, I am no attorney, but I don't think I'd have handled it that way. :rolleyes: I really doubt the owner's son rotted in jail for your made up stolen vehicle story, but maybe the kid was a crack head and needed to be clean for a while. :rolleyes:

SomeTexan said:
If you have already paid the cops, report the car stolen. Cops are trash, so they won't ever give your money back. Never, ever hand over money to the legal system unless you are guilty. All you need is a signed statement by friends that says you sold the car on whatever date. Then the police should go after the new owner. But, since all cops are lazy trash, they will go after whoever is the most likely to give them money.

I had a similar situation where I traded in a truck, but the dealership was running toll roads multiple times a day, every day for over a year with it. All I had to do was fax in the sales receipts, and the fines were off my record. A year later it happens again, so I reported it stolen. 2 days later, I was getting threats from the dealership. After meeting with lawyers, the dealer found out they were liable for so many fines, it was cheaper/easier for the owner to let his son rot in jail for grand theft auto. And I got the truck back, as well as a Viper to keep me from going after them for fraud.
Click to expand...
 
jbaker72157 said:
I call BS on this, all the dealer would have to do is show the "lazy trash cops" the paperwork and then you are on the hook for filing a false report, the son then sues you for damages which would probably be more than the amount for the toll fines.

To the OP: I would suggest contacting the district attorney's office in the area, this could probably all be resolved by filing out an affidavit, getting it notarized, and then sending it in. As long as you have proof that the sell date is prior to the date of the offense, the fines should be dismissed.
Click to expand...

Very sensible! I would have immed. Gone to a good lawyer. Calling the cops trash is as dumb as leaving the tags on the car. Very immature. Be sure and call the cop that when he pulls you over! See how that works for you.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
Very sensible! I would have immed. Gone to a good lawyer. Calling the cops trash is as dumb as leaving the tags on the car. Very immature. Be sure and call the cop that when he pulls you over! See how that works for you.
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Ah but if the cop isn't trash you will be able to call him trash to his face without any repercussions.:wink2:
 
N747JB said:
Reporting the truck as stolen is a good way to end up in jail yourself.:nono: You had a civil matter with the dealership and made it a criminal matter, I am no attorney, but I don't think I'd have handled it that way. :rolleyes: I really doubt the owner's son rotted in jail for your made up stolen vehicle story, but maybe the kid was a crack head and needed to be clean for a while. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

They were using the truck as a shop truck. They could have fought me, but they would have been liable for fraud, and lost their dealership. For them to use the truck, they would have had to title it in their name, leaving it my name was a violation of the sales contract that made the sale null and void. Letting the owners son do a few years kept them from further prosecution and losing their tax id. Plus insurance fraud, truck was being insured under their sales blanket, not as a company truck. Truck was full of parts and had their stickers all over it when pulled over, running the tollway, still in my name... Also, I require them to sign my sales agreement, and I do not sign theirs.

To the guy telling me cops aren't trash, in DFW Texas, you are wrong. Tarrant county has 43 convicted child molesters working as cops. Dallas has well over 50, and hundreds more who have been protected by other crooked cops. Don't even get me started on other crimes they get away with. If you think those are respectable human beings, my opinion of you isn't very far above cat ****.
 
In California there is a release of liability for attached to the title that the SELLER is to fill out, tear off and send into the DMV. That is you only get out of jail free card. Without that, there is no proof that you sold the car if the new buyer does not register it. I would bet all states have this, although may not be physical attached to the title.

I got hosed with that once selling an boat. New buyer took it outta state and didn't register that. Still showed up under my name.

Have bought and soled a ton of things and after that I would fill out the form and make a copy to keep. Now you can do the release of liability on line.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
Very sensible! I would have immed. Gone to a good lawyer. Calling the cops trash is as dumb as leaving the tags on the car. Very immature. Be sure and call the cop that when he pulls you over! See how that works for you.
Click to expand...

Blindly following anyone with a badge isn't any smarter. After a family member of mine was screwed over by crooked cops, I learned what kind of trash they all are. Instead of doing their job, protecting and serving, they will walk all over your rights to protect one of their own. Since that case, I have donated quite a bit to orginazations that help those who have been hurt by cops. And have seen the damage they do. Dallas is infamous for breaking into battered women's shelters to kidnap an abusive cop's wife or girlfriend back... Real good rolemodels don't you think?
 
I just sold a car in KS this spring, but can't remember exactly how it worked (sold to a family member). I think it went like this: Sign the back of the title, hand over the keys - done. Remove tags, take to DMV, turn in to get reimbursed for pro-rated property tax refund. I think that pretty much took care of it. Buyer has to register, pay taxes, and install new license plate.

If I had not transferred to a family member, there is a "Seller's Notification of Sale" that gets filled out and mailed in. It will have the seller, buyer, and VIN on it. The buyer doesn't have to fill it out or sign it, it's the seller's responsibility.

The wording on the KS DMV website says that once you turn in your tags, you are removed as owner of the vehicle. In this case, you don't have to fill out a "Seller's Notification of Sale".

There has to be some way to notify the DMV that the vehicle was sold, and to whom, and when. Until then, I can understand the system sending your son the tickets and other correspondence, because their records still show him as owner.

As far as how to go about settling the tickets themselves, I dunno.
 
The easiest way to deal with it is to go before the judge with the tickets and the bill of sale. The judge will dismiss the tickets with some court costs and give your son a lecture on responsibility for the plates and following the correct procedure.
 
N801BH said:
That is bizarre.... I guess the moral of the story is, when you sell a car, tell the buyer the tags were stolen and new tags are on him to get... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Minnesota as well. The nice thing in Minnesota is the title has a tear-off portion that the seller mails in to the state to inform the state the vehicle was sold. If the buyer does not register/report their purchase then the state gets all over their ass.

Nebraska you pull the plates, give a bill of sale, and hope like hell they transfer the title.
 
I live in Texas, and once made the mistake of leaving the plates on a used car I sold to an individual. I did report the sale to the TX DMV, thankfully.

About a year or so later I got a postcard from a towing company that said I needed to pay for a post accident tow and storage. I just threw that away.

A few days latter I got a call from the buyer. "That car I bought was in an accident, and it was the other drivers fault. But the insurance won't pay the guy I sold the car to."

After pondering this for a moment I said "So you never changed the title?"

Buyer: "Never got around to it".

Me: "But you sold it to someone else??"

Buyer: "Yes, and the insurance owns them money but they can't collect it".

Me: "It sounds like the insurance owes ME money!"

I don't remember the rest of the call from the original buyer, but later the second buyer's wife, who turned out to be a pretty young lady, called and begged me to help them.

I called the Texas DMV, who were incredibly helpful! They said this happens all the time and said that if the second buyer would come to them, get forms A, B, C, and if I would sign form C then the second buyer would become the actual owner of the car.

So we did that and the problem went away.

The DMV here in Williamson county is like that, they really want to help solve these title problems people run across. Not at all like the California DMV!

God Bless Texas!
 
Thanks for all the comments.

In Illinois the plates stay with the owner or person who purchased said plates. In California they stay with the car.

My son did not get any paper work, he just signed the title and handed it to the new owner. He has learned a lot from this. I ALWAYS remove the plates from any car I sell. Now he knows why.

The kid is in school in Chicago. We live in Springfield a good 4 hr drive away. This kids parents live in Springfield. He wants to go over and yell at them, I told him he would be yelling at the wrong people. But it would be a good idea to go talk with them, but keep your cool is what I told him.

Maybe LEO will pull him over and impound the car. He wanted to file a stolen auto report but the police said that is filing a false report for he signed the title.

Last he told me he was paying the tickets the first thing this morning then heading to the DMV to try and get this car out of his name.

Tony
 
The DMV will be able to clean up the title/ownership, and produce some documentation that the transfer occurred on a particular date. I would think with that piece of paper, any tickets written on those tags after that date of transfer would not have to be paid by your son - but he's going to have to get a judge or someone to fix that. It might be cheaper to get a traffic ticket lawyer to handle that, otherwise how many of those tickets will get counted against him for insurance purposes later? I know, they are probably parking tickets and whatnot, but still not something he should have on his record.
 
1600vw said:
Thanks for all the comments.

In Illinois the plates stay with the owner or person who purchased said plates. In California they stay with the car.

My son did not get any paper work, he just signed the title and handed it to the new owner. He has learned a lot from this. I ALWAYS remove the plates from any car I sell. Now he knows why.

The kid is in school in Chicago. We live in Springfield a good 4 hr drive away. This kids parents live in Springfield. He wants to go over and yell at them, I told him he would be yelling at the wrong people. But it would be a good idea to go talk with them, but keep your cool is what I told him.

Maybe LEO will pull him over and impound the car. He wanted to file a stolen auto report but the police said that is filing a false report for he signed the title.

Last he told me he was paying the tickets the first thing this morning then heading to the DMV to try and get this car out of his name.

Tony
Click to expand...

Paying the tickets is a mistake. Most states allow only so many tickets for moving violations before they take your license. He needs to go the dmv first and fess up, they might be able to cancel his registration retroactively and solve the problem that way......
 
PaulS said:
Paying the tickets is a mistake. Most states allow only so many tickets for moving violations before they take your license. He needs to go the dmv first and fess up, they might be able to cancel his registration retroactively and solve the problem that way......
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I'm not a lawyer - but if he pays the tickets, is that some kind of admission that he's actually admitting some responsibility for them?
 
Matthew said:
I'm not a lawyer - but if he pays the tickets, is that some kind of admission that he's actually admitting some responsibility for them?
Click to expand...
Either way the likelihood of getting a refund from the state or compensation from the buyer is pretty much zero.
 
JimNtexas said:
I live in Texas, and once made the mistake of leaving the plates on a used car I sold to an individual. I did report the sale to the TX DMV, thankfully.

About a year or so later I got a postcard from a towing company that said I needed to pay for a post accident tow and storage. I just threw that away.

A few days latter I got a call from the buyer. "That car I bought was in an accident, and it was the other drivers fault. But the insurance won't pay the guy I sold the car to."

After pondering this for a moment I said "So you never changed the title?"

Buyer: "Never got around to it".

Me: "But you sold it to someone else??"

Buyer: "Yes, and the insurance owns them money but they can't collect it".

Me: "It sounds like the insurance owes ME money!"

I don't remember the rest of the call from the original buyer, but later the second buyer's wife, who turned out to be a pretty young lady, called and begged me to help them.

I called the Texas DMV, who were incredibly helpful! They said this happens all the time and said that if the second buyer would come to them, get forms A, B, C, and if I would sign form C then the second buyer would become the actual owner of the car.

So we did that and the problem went away.

The DMV here in Williamson county is like that, they really want to help solve these title problems people run across. Not at all like the California DMV!

God Bless Texas!
Click to expand...

They just want to collect their money is all, sometimes you have to bring the car to trooper or Drivers License office so they can verify numbers is all. Nothing a day and a couple hundred bucks can't take care of as long as everything checks legit.
 
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