title help

[55metalmonkey]

Originally Posted by timberjim36

Hey guys I've been creeping on here for a while and thanks for all the advice and build help
My problem that having now is trying to title and register my truck
The truck came from a farm in Montana and was under a farm plate so it never had a title or registration I've looked into title companies but they want around two grand to get me a title
I only paid 800 for the truck and money is tight for me now and after spending the past 8 years building this thing i just want to drive it

Does any one have any ideas that could help it would be greatly appreciated

Timberjim,
Sorry to hear about your dilemma but if there are title companies where you live that can get a title for you then it's not unreasonable that it can be done by you. Based on the price they charge it will take a lot of foot work on your part to get one.

Unfortunately I'm at work at the moment and the computers are so painfully slow that doing the research on the specifics is frustrating the hell out of me. I am in no way a Lawyer but have researched it several times, I recommend consulting someone familiar with the laws in your state and some offer free consultations. Keep in mind I'm going from memory specific to my area but the basic process is fairly universal everywhere in North America (except a couple states maybe.)

If you have the bill of sale you might want to try registering in your name it in Montana first as a salvaged vehicle http://www.dmv.org/mt-montana/salvaged-vehicles.php
then re-registering in your state the same as if you moved from Montana to Massachusetts.

If that isn’t an option you will have to do it the long hard way, you will need to contact the people you bought it from (notarized letter via registered mail is best) and ask them to obtain a duplicate title in Montana (explain to them that you will pay the fees) http://www.dmv.org/mt-montana/replac...lost-title.php. If they are unable to get a title for various reasons (abandoned on the farm when they bought the place, property of a deceased relative ect then that complicates things. They will have to register it as part of the estate then transfer it to you

If they don’t respond to you then you have a notarized/ registered letter that proves you made the effort and they have basically washed their hands of the vehicle. From there you will need to do a title search in Montana for the last registered owner (if any) and repeat the process if the name comes up different than who you bought the truck from and also do a stolen property search from the state police. Again used registered mail/ notarized letters. If you don’t get a response again you can apply for a title/ registration for an abandoned vehicle in Montana, same as any tow truck company would do http://www.montanatowing.com/abandonedvehicles.html then transfer it to your name then re-registering in your state the same as if you moved from Montana to Massachusetts.

One thing though, if the property search comes up stolen from way back when you might not be happy, there has been cases of people restoring old motorcycles/ cars without a title and find out the vehicle was stolen 40+ years ago and had to return it to the proper owner. When you contact the previous owners don't let them know the truck is restored/ complete. There are some people out there that would see it as an opportunity to withold the papers just to hold you over a barrel or even claim it was stolen from them, tell them you havent started the project and want to get the papers in order before you start.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-s-man...ears-1.2434067

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012...-his-home?lite


Again, I’m a layman and not a lawyer, if you don’t want to pay the title company to do all this work which could take months and months to sort out you might find a property lawyer to be fairly cheap, they generally know how to cut through all the red tape and get it done as efficiently as possible or at least advise you on your best options.

Good luck