ok so a couple months ago i traded my clean title 1996 es300 for a 1997 civic ek sedan that i found on craigslist the owner had the pink slip in hand and the registration (the car had expired tags) saying he needed an automatic for his wife, me always wanting a honda since high school seen it as a one time opportunity (naive yes i know )....how ever his name is not on the title the title has the original owner release signature and everything but this guy that i got the car from started filling out the pink slip but never finished it so now i have a pink slip with scribbles everywhere i checked and the car is not reported stolen nor is it a total loss or anything like that my quetion here is how hard would it be for me to sign it over to my name? i had looked past this since i have my license suspended and the car had just been sitting there but im 3 weeks away from getting it back and i want to have my car in working order by that time help would be much appreciated guys ( i live in cali btw)

 

What do you mean he never finished filling it out? What do you mean sign it over to your name? You said plainly that the PO has his signature on it.

Man. Call someone at the DMV and ask THEM these shady questions.

 

anyone? come on guys this has me stressing =/

 

the back of the pink slip for the new registered owner the previos owner started to enter his personal info but never finished it, so now im left hopeless to fill in my info and i tried calling the dmv here in cali trying to speak to a dmv operator is like calling a number that never existed

 

If he signed it then take it to the DMV.

 

im gonna do that then thanks for your time and help much appreciated

 

here in cali, you need the billof sale from the original owner to him , then the bill of sale from him to you. if that helps?

 

YUUUP, this is right for my state too...

 

If the title is not in the seller's name, the seller legally does not own the car and cannot legally sell the car.

Go and ask for your money back. If not then you can get a lawyer.

You have to contact the original owner whose name is still on the title with the state. That person must get a new title and sign the new title over to you.

If the original owner wants his car back and calls the cops, there is absolutely nothing you can do because the cop recognises whoever's name is in he computer, which is still under the original owner.

This is why you should never buy a car from someone other than the person whose name is listed on the title.

This is an illegal sale because the second owner never paid proper taxes and transfer fee. The state may decide just to impound the car for your trouble, and only the original owner can get it out of impound.

If it gets impounded for a particular number of days (when impound charges exceeds a % of the car, like a few grand), then the state will seize the car and the car will go to auction or get crushed. Basically whatever the state wants to do.

I don't want to pick on you but this was a really stupid thing to do. Please never do this again.

Good luck with whatever you do. Next time please be smarter about how you buy a car.

 

When I bought my Civic from Chicago the guy I bought it from never got the title transferred to his name, it was still in the name of the person before him, but he never signed it. So I took it to the DMV and they allowed me to sign it as if I had bought the car from the guy before the guy I bought it from. I would take it to your local DMV and ask them.

 

Just Get a bill of sale from the guy you got it from to you. The pink works as a bill of sale from the original owner to the guy you bought it from.