Been trying to register my car since I bought it.

[QuietRonin]

What is the name of your state? Sacramento, California

I bought my '90 Toyota Camry in November '05 from my mothers' hairdressers' mother, got it smogged, and mailed the title and the smog check to the DMV in January '06. In March that year, I got an envelope from the DMV and I found the smog check I sent them, one half of the title, and...no tags.

So I went in and talked to someone at the DMV, and he said "I have no idea why they did that. This makes no sense." Cool, he's on my side, but then he said "Well, i'd give you your registration right now, except that this car had a lien on it by the previous owner. What I need you to do is take these papers to St. Josephs Healthcare so they can sign here here and here, and then we'll be all set."

So after sitting on it for a while, I called the hospital.

"Hi, I need to talk to someone about a lien on a car."
"...Um. This is St. Joseph's Hospital."
I proceeded to tell her my story.
"I see...maybe you should talk to the financial building. They're number is...."
So I called them, and I get basically the same response.

"Hi, I need to talk to someone about a lien on a car."
"Uhm?this is St. Joseph's Hospital."

I explained it again.

"I see...well, we don't have anything to do with liens, so you probably want to call CB Merchant Services. Their number is?"

So, I called them.

"Hi, I need to talk to someone about a lien on a car."
"Um...do we have a lien on your car?"

Apparently, this is a good line to confuse people with. However I proceeded to explain, once more, and give her my name when she asked for it. She said she can't find info on my account, and I said "That's because I don't have one." But I gave her the name of the woman I bought the car from, which the lien would probably be under.

"I'm sorry, there are hundreds of those. I need more information, like a social security number..."
"Uh...I don't think I have anything other than her name now, let me check." I looked through the 30 papers the DMV gave me, and as I'm looking, she lets me know something that would have been helpful in the beginning of the conversation.

"I have to let you know, I can't release any information because the car isn't in your name."
"Ah...well, i'm not looking for information, specifically, I just need a signature on some papers to show that the lien is satisfied. That's what all this is for, to get the car in my name. Ah, here...I have an address, does that help?"
"Uhm...no. Sorry. We can't do anything unless you have more information on the woman, like a social security number or if the car is in your name. Sorry."

Afterwards, I called the previous owner, and she told me that there never was a lien on the car. Ever. I went to the DMV to try and tell them that, but all they said was that the lien MUST be satisfied, and nothing can be done until then, period, end of conversation.

I have a fix-it-ticket because of all of this, and my court appearance is next Wednesday (3/7/07). Should I wait until the court appearance and tell them that I've been trying to get this dealt with, or is there something else I can do? The court appearance is the only thing I can think of that would be productive, since it seems that no one wants to, or can, help me. I'm a 20 year old college student with a clean record other than one at-fault accident 2 years ago.

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone could offer.

 

[Some Random Guy]

You don't own the car. Get your money back from the woman or sue her for it.

P.S. Pay the fine on your ticket. You have been driving without plates for a year and a half and should have figured out by now that this is not legal. If you really want to get out of the ticket, have her register the car and get plates - since its still her car.

 

[QuietRonin]

The problem is, the DMV says it's St. Joseph's car. What they have on record says the lien was never satisfied. On the other hand, the previous/first owner says there never was a lien on the car.

I'm not trying to get out of the ticket so much as hoping that going to my court appearance for the ticket and explaining all of this will help get things going in the direction I want them to, i.e. registering my car.

I plan to call St. Joseph's again to see if I can talk to someone more productive, and see if they can give me the signature I need to say the lien (if there was one) was satisfied. If not, i'll call the previous owner and tell her she's got to do it or we're going to court.

I knew the tags were expired, and I procrastinated on it. I don't know what to say about that except that I'm not procrastinating anymore.

 

[CdwJava]

Try this link for some information:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr18.htm

Additionally, see if you can get St. Joseph's to write a letter accompanied by the REG 166 form indicating that they no longer hold a financial interest in the car and that the lien has been satisfied. This may be all that is necessary. I had to do the same thing at one time when I received my deceased father's car and we found that there was still a lienholder listed ... and the lienholder had gone out of business (been bought up) years earlier. We found the institution that bought the institution that bought the institution that had the original ownership.

- Carl