A guy wants to buy a car from me for his brother in law. He doesn't want to get it notarized at the bank since that'll put him as the owner and then he'll have to pay $$ for the transfer to his in law. He proposes that I give him the title with my name and signature on it and his brother in law will get it notarized later. He agreed to sign a bill of sale in his name. Is this shady or should I care less since I'm getting the money and the bill of sale?

[Edited on May 11, 2009 at 4:40 PM. Reason : ]

5/11/2009 4:37:25 PM

Most people that do this want the title blank so they can re-sell the car for more without ever titling it themselves.

5/11/2009 4:42:01 PM

if this is being handled by the bank, they may not like that part. i have bought cars like this before, and sold them. sellers signature notarized with buyer section left blank. i bought a car whose owner was not even on the title, he got a signed notarized title from the guy he got it from, but never registered it himself.

shady? maybe, but it works.

5/11/2009 4:44:04 PM

^ Yeah, I know banks can notarize a title as long as you put the seller's name on it. This guy doesn't even want that. Just wants my signature on it.

What I'm mostly concerned about is property taxes or some other shit that might come back to me if they dont get it re-titled.

5/11/2009 5:12:52 PM

Quote :

"What I'm mostly concerned about is property taxes or some other shit that might come back to me if they dont get it re-titled."

bill of sale
cancelled plate
cancelled insurance


those are required to end the property tax billing, iirc

5/11/2009 5:56:05 PM

so i dont have anything to worry about if i just hand the title over with my sig and let him notarize it later?

5/11/2009 5:59:23 PM

if i turn the plate & registration in, can any illegal shit that he does come back to me if he doesn't get it re-titled or registered?

5/11/2009 7:01:01 PM

na this guy is just gonna try and flip the car. screw him and get him to meet at the bank with his brother.

5/11/2009 7:46:24 PM

^Yep. Which is technically tax evasion, but it would be on him, not on you.

5/11/2009 8:05:16 PM

and its fun to screw other people that think the other person.

5/11/2009 8:21:08 PM

^ lol, what?

5/11/2009 8:44:45 PM

lol shit.

........doesnt know any better.

5/11/2009 9:02:58 PM

all you have to do is fill out a dmv form (can't remember the number, it's on their website or available at any office) stating that you are no longer the owner of the vehicle. that removes any liability from you. cancelled tag/insurance is fine for taxes, but does NOT protect you in the event he does something stupid like kills someone in a wreck with it still titled in your name.

also, it's perfectly legal for you to have the title notarized without him filling out any of the buyer portion. all that's being notarized is the seller's signature. your bank will even do it for free. some stupid notaries will try to tell you both the buyer and seller have to be there, but that's completely false. if you run into one, tell them to call the main 1-800 dmv number and get educated.

while it's technically illegal to re sell a vehicle on an open title in nc (the state wants their cut on all transactions), i wouldn't worry about it if that's what he's going to do. there's nothing they can do to you if it's been notarized and you fill that form out. there are plenty of legit reasons for a person to not want to immediately transfer a title into their name, and the law allows for that. maybe he's performing the transaction for someone else, or maybe doesn't have the money to get insurance, or doesn't have a license at the moment... and the list goes on.

[Edited on May 11, 2009 at 10:51 PM. Reason : reason he doesn't want it notarized is to avoid the late penalty whenever he/future buyer retitle it]

5/11/2009 10:36:57 PM

5/11/2009 10:52:19 PM

here, pretty sure it's this one.
http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/forms/vehicleregistration/download/MVR46F.pdf

5/11/2009 11:02:06 PM

^ awesome, thats exactly what i need. thanks ivan!

5/12/2009 12:26:25 AM

^^^ to give one other valid and legal reason:

If he (or his brother in law) live out of state, he may want to re-title it in the new state. The money works out the same, but it's a hella lot less of a hassle than transferring + tax differencing. I did this with a car I bought shortly before moving, and it saved me several forms and several calls to the NC DMV.

5/12/2009 3:10:20 AM

i didnt read the responses but from recent experience the current owner just needs to get it notarized on his end for intent to sell, then hand it over to whomever buys it. the purchasing party doesn't need to be there necessarily. just be careful with it after that because from then on it's like a signed check, whoever holds it owns it!

5/12/2009 4:29:09 AM

sign it in blood

5/19/2009 9:30:59 PM

They said, "Breakin' up."
They said, "It's hard to do."
Y'know it's just not true

5/19/2009 9:34:19 PM

5/22/2009 8:05:34 AM