Maverick Alert! Please read

As many of you may remember, I had to sell my red and white 1977 Maverick last year due to finacial reasons. I think the car was sold back in late August or early September. Today I got a surprise in the mail: the registration papers for the car's plate. Now I admit I goofed by not returning the plate to the state when I sold the car. It completely slipped my mind. That's the reason why I got the papers in the mail and I am going to return the plate as soon as possible. When I talked to the people at the Department of Motor Vehicles here in PA I got another surprise. It appears the guy who bought my Maverick has never registered the car or gotten the title transfered. A little something about the buyer and the sale of the car. The guy lives somewhere between Pittsburgh and Erie PA. When the guy came to get the car he claimed he was a disabled cop and he brought his uncle with him. Judging by the guys attitude and the way he interigated us rather than talking like a normal person, I had no doubt that he was a police officer. He paid cash for the car. We did sign the title over to him , but he declined to get it noterized because one: it was a Sunday, two: he showed up with an open trailer and he wanted to hurry back home before it rained, and three: he claimed he could get the title noterized through his uncles car dealership. The trailer they brought did have a dealer tag on it, so the uncle's story might be true. I found out today that he has never transfered the title or attemped to resgister the car, so legaly the car is still in my name. In other words; I still own that car. It's very possible that he is driving the car illegally with a dealer tag. If he gets caught not only will he get fined, but so will I. Bottom line: I want to find that car and him. All I can remember about the guy is that his name is Frank ( can't remember the last name). He lives somewhere between Pittsburgh and Erie, PA. He says he's a cop disabled from a car wreck and has had several back surgeries. He is NOT a Ford guy. He's into MOPARS. His uncle owns or runs either a Dodge or Ford dealership in the western part of PA. The Maverick could still be in PA or possibly Ohio with a PA dealer tag plate. It's 1977 Maverick LDO with a 250, automatic and a red interior. He may have swapped the motor out and put a 302 in. The VIN is 7K91L164040. If anyone comes across a Maverick matching that discription in western PA or eastern Ohio, please let me know. I need to get this straightend out. Thanks.

 

That sucks. I always worry about that when I sell a car. Last 2 cars I bought and with my Bronco I met the owners at the DMV office and transferred the title and bought the tag right there.
The Maverick I just bought I have paid the guy and the car is still at his house and I have not even seen the title yet. lol If this old man screws me there is no hope left for man kind lol.
clint

 

Jean,

I hope you find the guy and get it straightened out.

I volunteer at a charity that accepts donated vehicles, makes necessary repairs, and sells them at a subsidized price to clients referred to us by six social services organizations around Raleigh, NC. We always notarize the seller's (donater's) signature on the title and advise them to turn the plate in immediately. We want the donater to be free of any further liability for the vehicle.

I've often wondered how the myriad other charities that pick up cars handle notarization. Is the tow truck driver a notary? Does he/she ID the signator as a notary MUST do? NO ONE should let a car leave their posession without getting their (seller's) signature notarized. If there's any doubt about the future of the car it would also be a good idea to make and keep copies of the notarized title and a bill of sale.

I'm a notary (also mechanic) for the charity. That makes me responsible to ID the person and WITNESS the signature. Any notary that's not doing both those things is violating their oath, can have his/her certificate revoked, and can be partially responsible if things go wrong.

Your story should be a caution as folks sell/donate cars. Hope you don't mind me adding a caution about donations to your thread.

Jim

 

Jeam

Have someone at your local Police Dept. or DMV declair the car stolen . I don't care if he was a cop that will get his attention !!!!!!!!!

 

I think I saw it in MX!
Seriously, I hope you get it worked out, nothing worse than having that over your head--be safe and good luck!
BTW, he may have cut it up for a drag car and just isn't worried about it since it won't be on the street. Not sure how registrations go for that sort of thing out your way, but you might ck into that aspect if it fits.
Best of

 

Remind me not to buy a car in Pennsylvania. In Maryland you don't have to have anything notorized. The seller signs the title and the buyer signs the title and you take it to the MVA and get it transferred or not.

If the car is tagged in your name you better turn the tags in before you cancel the insurance or the MVA in MD. will charge you a hefty fee for every day you have the tags in your possesion after the insurance has been dropped and the insurance companies do notify the Maryland MVA when you drop the insurance on a vehicle.
When you turn the tags in you have to sign a paper stating what you did with the vehicle, Sold it or junked it or whatever.

I can't see how the state could hold you responsible for anything to do with the car after the date you are stating that you sold the vehicle. If he is driving it around with a dealer tag through his uncle's dealership and gets caught I would think that would be on his head and not anyone else's... Especially if you get down to the Motor Vehicle place and turn those tags in, then there is certainly no way they could say you have anythign to do with the car anymore. You signed the title over to the new owner, whatever unlawful things he is doing with the car should be on his back not yours.... I know for a fact that I have a at least a pickup truck, a trailer and probably a couple other things titled in my name according to the Maryland MVA. I mean I signed the title over to the new owner but I know they used the truck for parts and the trailer they guy used for off road/farm purposes so I doubt he ever retitled it in his name but whatever they do with those things are up to them... When I turned in the tags to the Maryland MVA I signed a paper saying that I sold the truck to Joe Smith and and the trailer prolly got sold to Jane Doe...LOL

It just seems wierd to me that the state of PA. is saying that if this guy gets caught driving the care illegally that it may have implications on you??

Anyway Good luck with the whole situation.

 

there was a bank robbery her last week and they said the getaway car was a red and white maverick
hopefully the guy is waiting for the weather to get warmer to go get plates and reg. makes you think good luck

brad

 

Hey I just thought of something that may have happened.

Suppose this guy bought your car to resell. Lets say he buys it from you, changes the oil and gives her a good detailing (not that the car needed it)
So he does this and then sells the car to someone from out of state without ever titling the car in his name. Pennsylvania wouldn't have a record of the car being retitled in another state. Especially if it is one of those stated that don't require Titles for a car that old.

I am just saying this because that is actually the scenario that happened with the Tan 73 Grabber that I bought.

The guy I purchased the car from in South Carolina, bought the car from a friend of his. The guy I bought it from did some work on the car in his shop and then marked the price up and sold the car to me for a profit. When he gave me the title it was signed but he told me straight, at the time when he handed it to me that it was still in the name of the previous owner and not in his name. It didn't make sense for him to retitle it in his name since he bought it with the intention of reselling it shortly there after. It would have just cost him the titling fee for nothing since he wasn't going to tag the car or drive it on the road himself so he just did not sign his name as the buyer when he got the title from his friend he left the buyer's name and signature blank and when I bought the car from him the title was signed by his buddy as the seller and I filled my name in as the buyer and took the car back to maryland and now the car is titled in maryland and as far as any documentation is concerned the guy I bought the car from was never in the picture.

either way I just can't see that you have anything to worry about, unless PA. MVA charges you for keeping the tags without insurance.

 

This brings up something that happened to me. I sold a vehicle (to my son) so he never changed title over to his name heck it was in the family, well he ended up selling the vehicle and of course title never was transfered because I still had it, all this happened without me knowing it had been resold at anyrate the vehicle broke down and was towed well I get a call from towing outfit that they had my vehicle in there impound and wanted $1,200 for towing and storage fee, yikes. Well after pleading my case with them and threats of court I ended up paying $800.00 to get my broken down vehicle back.

Lesson learned never let vehicle go without proper paperwork and I keep the plates from now on on anything I sell.

 

You follow the rules with title transfers, you should have no problems. You break the rules, don't think you're not taking risks. You are. Most often there won't be any problems but why take the risks? Any time I dispose of a vehicle I'm going to have the title notarized and I'm going to have a copy.

 

If you have a bill of sale, that should get you off the hook of any liability, especially if both of you signed it. A bill of sale crosses all state boundaries. Titles and their importance vary from state to state.

 

I talked to two different people from the PA DMV and had a check run on the car's title. It is still titled to my name, 8 months after it was sold. The people from the DMV told me that if I knew where the car was I can take it back and the guy who has it couldn't do a thing about it. I still legally own it. That's were the problems arise. If he is driving the car illegally and is involved in a accident with injuries or property damage, he gets nailed because he was driving the car, and I get nailed because I still own the car. No matter what he does with the car, keep it, sell it, part it out, (I doubt that) or cut it up as a race car ( I doubt that even more ), as long as my name is on the title the car belongs to me. Would I like to get the car back? Hell yeah, but I seriously doubt that will ever happen. What I really want is to get this jerk to transfer the title and get my name off of it.
On another note, I did locate the name and address of the guy who bought it. I can one of two things. I could contact the guy and tell him to get the title transfered NOW. On the other hand, if I contact him and the guy is running a scam I could end up tipping him off. Or I can contact the police department where he lives and find out if the guy is who he claims to be, or if he's driving the car illegally. Either way, I'm going to get this mess cleaned up somehow.

 

In this state, when you sell a vehicle. You sign the title & put the new owners name & address on it. He or she signs it & dates it. There is also a portion of the title that you tear off, with all the new info. The seller sends it to the DMV. If the new owner doesn't get the title changed within so many days, he's at fault & they will fine them. I make sure I send the seller copy, with the info & date as soon as the next day. Covers my butt......

 

Listen to what the PA DMV people are telling you. They BUYER didn't claim to be a dealer, he said his uncle was a dealer (and could get the title notarized). In NC, that car could only be driven legally on a dealer plate if the title has been signed over to the dealer and notarized. Sounds like only the buyer has any document that records the transfer. That's not a good position for the seller.

I'd make a call to the local police or sheriff, explain the situation and see what they suggest. If the buyer is a bad guy they might know him. I got a title situation cleared up for my 16 year old son with the help of a small police station. They called the guy and convinced him to do the right thing.

 

I always do a bill of sale, buy or sell on any big transaction. I have a form and we just fill in the blanks. Copy for them and me. Notarizing is not necessary here even if I buy from a state that requires it.

I hope you find it or him.