I bought a car and have not received the title from the seller. What are my options?

Question by Car with No Title!: I bought a car and have not received the title from the seller. What are my options?
I bought a car three weeks ago. Gave the seller the cashier’s check in exchange for the car and the signed bill of sale. She said she needed to pay off her loan on the car, and that it would take about a week to get the title. Three weeks later, I still have not received title. In my state, I cannot register the car, or even get a temporary moving permit with only the bill of sale; I need the title. I have the car insured. She has been aloof and blaming the car dealership where she purchased the car. I called the dealer, and now he (and she) are telling me it could take up to six weeks to get title (I don’t understand why). By law, I am to register the car within 30 days of purchasing it. I told her I’d like to simply get a refund of my money and cancel the transaction. She says her “lawyer” will have to see about that! I don’t want to go spend the money to get a lawyer, but I will if I have to. Any suggestions?

Best answer:

Answer by fire4511
You never should pay for a car from a private seller without getting the title in hand. If money is owed on the car, then you should meet the seller at the bank and give the bank the certified funds, and get the title at that time.

In this case you may want to file suit against the woman, seeing as she did not provide you with a marketable title within a reasonable time frame. Depending on the price of the vehicle, and the state, you may be able to do this in small claims court, or you may have to have a lawyer involved.

You may also want to file a police report for fraud, seeing as she took the money and has not provided the title

EDIT to clarify a point another answer made. The question said that they bought the car from a private individual, and the dealer involved is where the seller had purchased the car. In many states, the DMV or equivalent will not issue a temporary tag to an individual unless the vehicle is titled in the buyers name, and they require the title from the seller to do that.

Dealers may be able to issue a temporary tag when the sell the vehicle, but the DMV.

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