Unbelievable at the DMV

[Seahawk]

With a nod to Milt...

I bought a used 4 Runner from Onewhippedpuppy two weeks ago. I was on business in San Diego so I fly into Wichita on my way back to Maryland to pick up the car.

I meet Matt, great guy, the car is EXACTLY as described.
Life is good.

Off we go to the DMV and I get, after Matt signs over the title, a 30 day temp tag from Kansas so I can drive home. Insurance is happy, I have a Kansas registration in my name, Bill of Sale just in case and the temp tag is on the car, life is great.

I wave good-bye to Matt and his family...trip home is cool, back roads about half way. Everything is bueno-ificent

I get the car inspected here in MD, everything is perfect so I trundle off to the Maryland DMV.

With POI, inspection, title, BoS and KS registration in hand, all that's left is to pay the MD tax to the lovely clerk and be on my merry way.

Nope. Kansas is an, "and/or" state on car titles, meaning if there are two name on the title either one of them can release the title, both do not have to sign. Maryland does not recognize and/or titles, both parties must sign if they are listed on the title. Only Matt signed the title. My oxygen tanks have just been stirred. Houston, we have a problem.

No amount of logic will sway the DMV folks...after all, I plead, I HAVE a KS title IN MY NAME. Kansas has RELEASED ownership TO ME. While this stuns her momentito, a bureaucratic rally ensues...since the has never seen this little biscuit of a problem, she launches the clerks bureaucratic photon torpedo: There is no president, it is not in the rules, you must go talk to my supervisor. Next, please.

Upper management, good there is hope, I have a path to righteousness.

Nope: my little DMV yellow brick road is under construction. The supervisor is a good sort, and understands my desire to depart his company with my "Save the Chesapeake" plates in hand soonest. But, since he has also never seen this particular conundrum, he quickly dips into the bureaucrats bag of customer kryptonite: There is nothing I can do, you must get the other signature. Next.

I'm pissed now and tell him that it is not possible that the law in KS cannot apply. The car is registered in my NAME!!! I'm not leaving until I get a ruling for someone qualified...you MUST call the head shed DMV and speak with the Generalissimo of Titles or I'm not leaving.

To my chagrin, he does.

A ray of hope, a sliver of opportunity, a crack...you get the picture, I'm still a contender, baby!

Somewhere Casey, mighty Casey is whiffing like the mighty chiquita he remains forever cast in literatures bronze, but not me, Sportsfans, I am standing exactly where Thayer wanted:

"Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout the Generalissimo of Titles has a solution!"

Sort of. Here is the deal. I have to call Matt, get his wife to write a quick letter assigning me Power of Attorney for the single purpose of transferring the title of the 4 Runner and fax it to the supervisor. Once that is done, I can sign the title over to myself. The irony is not lost on me and I choke the urge to point out just how stupid this all is.

I run out to the car and call Matt. He is in, understands the pickle I'm in and agrees to the deal. He also has a fax machine! Five minutes later I'm got the DMV in my rear view mirror!

Thanks Matt, thanks G of T, whoever you are!

[mschuep]

That is a pretty good one...has me beat.

My worst experience was having to get an ORIGINAL signed Letters of Testamentry from my aunt so that I could buy my recently deceased uncles car. (Both of their names on the title, and copy of death certificate in hand wasn't good enough)

They wouldn't give the Letters of Testamentry back, and refused to make a copy because somewhere down the line at the capital (Trenton, NJ) it would get rejected if it was only a copy. Yeah right.

Anyway, I spoke with my aunt and she ok'd me to give it to them.

I had the lady agreeing with me as well... Hell, that letter entitles my aunt to his entire estate! Why the hell should the state of NJ need an original signed document in addition to my Aunt's signature on the title!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

There's a special place in hell for bureaucrats.

[Dantilla]

Government workers are your best friend. They are looking out for your best interests. Nothing could please them more than pleasing you. Just ask Superman.

[widebody911]

I had a close call a couple weeks ago. I bought a 1959 VW Ambulance a few months ago, and finally got around to registering it. I didn't have a title for it, just a bill of sale, so I had to fill out a "Statement of Facts" to the effect that a) the title was lost and b) the bus hadn't been driven in X period of time. No problem; I put down that it had been in a barn in Oregon for several years, yada yada yada. Not so fast! The DMV chick now wants a letter from the Oregon DMV stating that the bus isn't in their system. Of course I have no such letter, and she asks me if I want to start the process now, or come back when IO have the letter. "I'll come back..." The next day I go back with a new SOF, quietly omittng the "Oregon" bit, and all is well.

[stomachmonkey]

They are process driven. Every I must be dotted and T crossed.

In NY the DMV would never question how you left, flew back to KS, got the signature and flew back in the 5 minutes it took you to walk over to a counter and sign "her" name.

Can't tell you how many times I "stepped" aside from the window and John Hancocked something in plain site.

If they beleive you that it was just an oversight and everything is really on the up an up they let it slide.

[Seahawk]

Originally posted by Dantilla
Government workers are your best friend. They are looking out for your best interests. Nothing could please them more than pleasing you. Just ask Superman.

There is good and bad. We lost power at about 0500 this morning. Called the local power guys, who belong to a Co Op.

They get here 45 minutes later, get busy, tell me what is wrong and call in the calvary.

I have a ground fault that needs fixing. They "thump" the line, fine the fault, dig to the line and have me back in the high life in under 4 hours.

'course they are "and/or"

[on2wheels52]

me (you) "I just left Matt and his wife at the cafe down the street, let me run down there and have her sign it"
Everyone should have a working knowlege of lockpicking and forgery. Don't they teach these things in school anymore?
Jim

[Zeke]

Last I knew the folks at the CA DMV had a booklet with the procedures of every state in the union so they could tell if you were legitimate. to have one state want to usurp the former state in which the car was titled is pretty Planet Stupid to me.

But here's one for the discussion: I bought my truck in CA new. I moved to AL for one year and had the truck registered there. AL is funny about older cars, they give registration, but no title (as in a pink slip). I still owed money on the truck. I paid it off while in AL, so the CA pink was available to me from the lender, but useless as a state document. When I got back to CA, I had a truck and registration with plates, that's it. Fortunately, that little book I mentioned saved the day and a new title was created for the truck that was once titled in CA.

Now, to the satisfy the requirements for a NEW title, I had to have the truck state inspected and weighed. Guess what? I now pay an annual weight fee I never paid in the several years that the truck was titled here by the original selling dealer. AND, if it didn't have CA smog on it, I was going to have to pay a one time $300 entrance fee.

Then, it suffered $4000 worth of front end damage which is not much these days. If it were newer, this would not be a problem. But, as an older vehicle not being worth that much, it now has a third title as salvaged. Four years newer and that wouldn't have been the case. Almost new, it could have suffered nearly $20K worth of damage and been fixed w/o salvage. Which would you rather buy, a truck with 20K worth of damage and a clear title, or an older truck with minor damage and a salvage title? This hypothetical question assumes both in excellent, low mileage condition and priced accordingly.

This was all the DMVs doing. As Seahawk says, the irony is not lost on me. It's the inequities like this in life that keep me on the edge all the time. I've always been more than fair, be fair with me. Government, ...not!

[Seahawk]

Originally posted by on2wheels52
me (you) "I just left Matt and his wife at the cafe down the street, let me run down there and have her sign it"
Everyone should have a working knowlege of lockpicking and forgery. Don't they teach these things in school anymore?
Jim

You are wise. I have signed for, "my wife is in the car" a few times.

But I thought I had it suit cased .

Then the stubbornness reared

[serge944]

Originally posted by on2wheels52
me (you) "I just left Matt and his wife at the cafe down the street, let me run down there and have her sign it"
Everyone should have a working knowlege of lockpicking and forgery. Don't they teach these things in school anymore?
Jim

No kidding. Or, as my ethnic friends would say...

[sammyg2]

Best thing about the DMV is the smell.


Seriously, is using deodorant or taking a shower once in a while really that hard for those people?

[BGCarrera32]

I bought a truck once from a guy when I was off to college. He had signed on the wrong line of the title and I was too dense to catch it at the time. Went to the DMW, was told I must have the seller sign this yellow form indicating that he was the one that signed the title and did it on the wrong line, get it notarized, bring it back to the DMV and life will be good, we all move on.

Guy I bought the truck from goes with me to the local bank to see their notary public, and signs the yellow form as the notary and I witness. Notary asks for the guy's i.d., uh oh signatures don't match how he just signed his name. Great I'm thinking, now what. Guy pulls 5 or 6 credit cards out of his wallet, signs his name like 10 times, its different every single time. Turns out he has some odd form of Dyslexia, and can't remember how to repeat his signature from 1 second to the next.

Notary just shruggs his shoulders after the 11th time, looks at me and says "I guess its him!" and stamps the yellow form.

[legion]

Originally posted by Dantilla
Government workers are your best friend. They are looking out for your best interests. Nothing could please them more than pleasing you. Just ask Superman.

You beat me to it.

It took me a freakin' month to get my brand new truck titled in Illinois that I bought in Florida. Supe was there at every curve to tell me that I was the problem, not the bureaucrats. Too bad he's running around the forest in skirts this week.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I'm glad it worked out for you, reading between the lines, firm but gentle persistence is key to dealing with registry people. I've also found good natured conversation and charm works wonders.

My story is something on the flip side.

bought my E in CA from a shady "bank" with a mish-mash of names on the title. "bank" held the lien and I was only given the top half of the title, bottom half was gone. drove it back to MA on someone's CA plates that were on the car with no incidents.

MA could be in the top 10 of most bureaucratic states.

Went to the registry, asked the nice lady about her pretty dress, talked about the Pats, and walked out 5 minutes later with a crisp clean MA registration, title came two weeks later. One of the better days in my life.


*** bank = guy in a strip mall office with one desk.

[notfarnow]

A few years ago I bumped into a friend downtown. He was in a jam; he had bought a utility trailer and didn't realize he needed a signed bill of sale from the PO. He had the registration signed over but no letter. The PO had left the province for the summer. I told him I'd write up a bill of sale, no one would be the wiser. He was hesitant because it was a bit on the shady side, but I insisted it would be fine and wrote the letter.

Only thing is I thought he'd read it before he took it to the DMV, but he didn't. He waits in line for 20 minutes. The teller reads it, looks at him and the reads it again under her breath:

"Sold to that no good son of a whore, Hazen Kennedy: one homemade utility trailer, for the sum of $250."

[Jim Bremner]

any one still think that we should let the guberment take over our health care?

[Peterfrans]

It is getting worse and worse and not only government related. I work for a large bank and the internal bureaucracy is getting unbearable. One of the consultants I hired needed access to a system to enter his timesheets. For this obviously a form needs to filled with the proper signatures in the proper places. After doing this nothing happens, so we follow up with the department in question and sure enough they have lost the form. As this is typical we already had a copy of the document, but this was rejected as there is no original signature on the form. Madness. I offered to draft a new form and sign it myself as my boss is out of the office, but that is not good enough as I am not listed in their system. Filled out a new form anyway with my boss' name and my signature and all is fine now. It is just silly and a waste of everybodies time and energy.

[The Gaijin]

Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa


Went to the registry, asked the nice lady about her pretty dress, talked about the Pats, and walked out 5 minutes later with a crisp clean MA registration, title came two weeks later. One of the better days in my life.

They can and will do just about anything if they are in the right mood.

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
There's a special place in hell for bureaucrats.

So true. Thats the major reason I left Europe years ago. The entire continent is covered with faceless, nameless buffoons who make even the simplest item take days if not weeks. If we think its bad here, its 10X over there...