DMV help!

What is the name of your state? CA

I recently bought a used car and am waiting for the loan company to release the title, at this time I am unable to register the car without it. The car currently has CA tags which expired in May '08, registered to the previous owner. The owner has turned over the car to me with a notarized bill of sale until the title arrives. In the meanwhile I have insured the car and have been driving it but I am starting to wonder what happens if I get pulled over- how illegal is this???

Timmyod12 said:

how illegal is this???

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Its illegal... With no degree of uncertainty...

You are actually in violation of DMV policy re: Transfer of Ownership & you are in violation of California Vehicle Code Section 4000.a.1 "Driving without a Valid Registration".

First, as a buyer, you are supposed to report the Transfer of ownership within 10 days & pay the Transfer Fees within 30 days even if you don't have all the required paperwork.

Failure to do so will result in your being charged additional penalties and fees to the DMV.

I think they can issue you a Temporary registration tag to place on your windshield/back window until you have all the required docs to complete the transfer.

That Temporary tag will ensure that you are not in violation of Vehicle Code Section 4000.a.1 which really you can get cited for at any moment if you're driving the vehicle.

Moreover, considering the fact that the registration fees on the vehicle were due back in May and since California has no grace period, you will have to pay the inflated registration fees to get your new tags. I would have suggested that you might wanna discuss that with the seller to see if you can work out a split of the late fees since it is his Lien Holder that has held up the transaction, but he might argue that you could have paid the fees on or before the expiration of the registration thereby avoiding any additional late fees.

You know the DMV does have a website. Pretty nice one too... Here, check it out http://www.dmv.ca.gov you might be surprized as to what you can find out on there...

Here's an example: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/vr_info.htm#BM2522

Good luck...

occharge said:

Moreover, considering the fact that the registration fees on the vehicle were due back in May and since California has no grace period, you will have to pay the inflated registration fees to get your new tags. I would have suggested that you might wanna discuss that with the seller to see if you can work out a split of the late fees since it is his Lien Holder that has held up the transaction, but he might argue that you could have paid the fees on or before the expiration of the registration thereby avoiding any additional late fees.

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The registration in question belongs to the seller not the buyer. Presumably the buyer would get new tags of his own.

davew128 said:

The registration in question belongs to the seller not the buyer. Presumably the buyer would get new tags of his own.

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Not really sure what you mean by that... Are you saying that the buyer will get a new set of plates and the seller will have to turn in his old plates to the DMV?

OK....


That's not an excuse that the buyer can use to justify driving the vehicle with an expired registration. He still needs to pay the fees to the DMV and either contact the lien holder to find out why he hasn't received the title or worse come to worse, apply for a duplicate title...