Does this sound legit?
 

A little over a year ago, I sold a motorcycle to very nice older gentleman. He made several installments and finally paid me in full about 14 months ago. I provided a bill of sale and signed the clear title over to him, and off he went.

Fast forward to yesterday.

He calls me out of the blue and says that he loves the bike, yada, yada, yada. But it seems he lost the title and the bill of sale and as such, has not, and cannot transfer the title over to himself.

He has asked me to apply for a lost title, then when the title arrives in my name, sign it over to him and send it to him with a new bill of sale.

My concern is that could be "proof" that I've been the owner of the bike all along. Let's say there was an accident or other foul-play involving the bike. Would this somehow make me liable? Wouldn't it be better for me to simply provide him with a new bill of sale referencing the complete and legal transfer of ownership to him in December of 2013? With that, perhaps he could apply for his own title replacement. Note, that he's also in a different state. I'm in GA, he's in NC.

Perhaps I'm concerned for nothing. He was a pleasure to deal with, communicated great and came through with the purchase as we agreed. Seems to be a stand-up guy. Thoughts?

So in 14 months he has not done what is legally required, transfer ownership to himself?

What plates, registration and inspection has he been using?

You did not let him leave with your plates did you?

I'd be a bit leery considering in over a year he has not shown motivation to do things "the right way"

You are not obligated to help him with his problem.

Lots of people do not get things done...( i hate paper work and drag my feet )
Paranoia runs deep here.
Do you have the contract ?
If not make one . That should prove who owns it when.

I don't think there is any problem with applying for a new title and signing it over to him for ownership, but you should get a notorized letter stating the original sale date and price and the details of the sale that both of you sign and have notorized to protect yourself.

^^^this.

As long as he'll sign a notarized letter stating the exact sell date and price (no monkey business with either of those hard numbers), then I'd be inclined to help out.

But without that much leg work on his part, no thanks.

You let him take possession of a motorcycle without being paid in full?

Do you have any other bikes for sale?
Jim

Paranoia?

Sold a 65 GTX to a guy once.

Forgot to pull the regi sticker from the window.

A year later, after he had not registered it and let it collect parking tickets like fleas on a dog, I had the pleasure of spending about a weeks time running to various courts and sorting things out so I could get the suspension on my other cars registrations lifted and once again drive legally.

YMMV.

Go watch the other post where a classic car owner is arrested because the police can't search a tag properly. ANYTHING you can do to avoid being mixed up in problems is prudent.
It sounds like he's been illegally riding it and you don't know if he has been in an accident and ran, wants to back out of the deal after blowing the motor, etc. I say you give him a signed letter saying he bought it on x date 14 months ago and let him go chase after the lost title. Why should you have to do the dirty work? He may be subject to fines for not changing it sooner but that is his mess not yours.
Unless he is a relative or personal friend and you know his character I say Run Forrest.

probably trying to get out of the $15 fine and failure to pay personal property taxes.

I have to agree with fint on this one. I can understand the title I suppose, but the new B.O.S. doesn't make much sense.

We tracked down the owner of a 77 bronco that had been abandoned since the 80's he got the title and mailed to us. We had a 914 that the title had been signed so many times it was full. The guy on the front if the title didn't want to help.

No, he did not take possession until the bike was paid in full in Dec of 2013. I will go talk with the DMV tomorrow and see what they suggest (I need to go for another reason anyway). He's a good guy, has dealt with some surgery (hip) that may have played a part in things sitting for a time after picking up the bike. BTW...I did remove my license plate before turning the bike over to him.

I like Washington State titles- We have a tear-off section that the seller mails to the state with the buyer's and seller's information when a vehicle is sold.

Sending this in is proof of the sale, and protects the seller from shenanigans like this.

It may be legit but this is one of the reasons I really hate selling cars.
People in general are stupid and this proves it. Or why buy a bike and then not get it registered in your name? Truly dumb...

I wouldn't trust him because you don't know him however if you can help him out without exposing yourself then do it.

You mean GTO, right? No GTX in `65.

You can also do a report of sale online in WA state. It's nice and easy.

I sold a truck once to an old guy, and had him come back a few days later to tell me that he thought he should have gotten a better deal. I told him that he bought the truck, end of story. He made a hassle with the DOL, claimed I sold him a truck with a bunch of things wrong with it. I did the report of sale online as soon as he walked away and they didn't give him the time of day. Did I mention I never put a For-Sale sign on a vehicle in front of my home again... He showed up for about six months wanting me to take care of every little thing...

In CA there's an "Application for Duplicate Title and Transfer" form. If there's something like that in GA, I don't see a problem if you put the right dates in there. My suggestion would be to call your DMV and ask them how to handle it.

'67.

Agreed. That should cover you. If he refuses to sign it, that means something is up.

Yup, probably driving on an open title because he's too cheap to register it. If he requests that you just sign the seller section and leave the buyer's section for him to complete, he probably wants to sell it and is going to totally skip registering it.

Sounds ok but a trip to the DOL is in order. I sold my High School car, 67 Mustang, when I left for college. I didn't realize I should have done a seller report of sale to the DOL. About a year into college, get a call from the State Patrol. The car had been abandoned and was still in my name. I was on the other side of the state. It had been stripped of many parts. I ended up having it towed to a scrap yard and made a few hundred more on the whole deal.