California Title question
 

Looking for some answers regarding the registering of this 1969 corvette.
I know every state has their own rules and laws, so this is specific to California.
This car was registered in New Hampshire back in 2004 where the PO ordered personalized plates.

No current NH title, but somehow the PO was able to register the car.
But I do have the original title from back when Big Mike Taylor paid off the car in 1972.
The original title is open, meaning Big Mike signed the back relinquishing ownership, but no one else has signed the back of the title to assume ownership.

The guy I’ve used over the years to register my cars is allowed by CA to do VIN verifications on out of state cars. He says he can’t register the car without a title.
I told him I want to keep the original title as part of the documentation.
He says just make high resolution copies and use the old, original title to register the car and it will be an easy process.

Surely folks on here have encountered this problem before with lost titles, etc.

any suggestions on how to handle this? Am I making too much of a big deal about the old original title?

I can’t figure out how multiple people had this car and apparently never registered it.

.(obviously this is a colored copy of the original)
And I do have a bill of sale

Do you have a bill of sale from the last owner? That should do the trick. I personally would want to keep that title.

Jason

Is this Jeff Lamys Corvette? You can do a NH VIN verification TDMV 19 and then apply for a title TDMV 18. Not that hard in NH if you have a bill of sale. I've done a bunch of VIN verifications for cars that I've bought and sold over the years.

I see from your other thread this car did belong to Jeff and by your pictures I can see that you bought the car from Rolland. Not sure why Roland never applied for a NH title as it would have been super easy for him to have provided one. I remember seeing car years ago when Jeff owned it. Very cool car!!

It is Jeff’s car!
Can I do what you are saying to do even if I’m in California?

Jay, I’d love to be able to speak to you at some time about the car.
Thank you for the help!
Roland had the car for about 12 years with the intent of restoring it. But I think life got in the way.

Have a "previous owner" that resides in California fill out a 262 form and a bill of sale. Have them fill out a statement of facts stating all paperwork has been lost and the vehicle has been stored in a garage and not driven on public roadways in the past 22 years.

You might have to take vehicle to California DMV for vin verification... I would recommend removing the out of state plates if it has any. Take the vehicle back home.

A week later go to the California DMV with the above paperwork and the vin verification. Tell them that you want to put this in your name. The less you say the better.. You do not want to complicate the situation.

This worked as of 4 years ago. They may want you to get a bonded title now. . Getting a bonded title is not a big deal.

That car was built Oct 30 1969 ( according to the VIN) and titled 12/3/69 where was it for a month?

What is confusing to me is that why didn't Roland apply for a title? It would have been very easy for him to do as he own the the car for some time after Jeff's passing. In NH you do not need a title to apply for a title, all you need is a bill of sale and a V.I.N. verification or a current registration. Any NH licensed dealer can do a TDMV19 and you don't have to give up that original title.

I have a customer in CT and he's an exporter of classic cars to Sweden. A lot of these cars are missing their titles. You don't need a title to export to Sweden but you do need a current registration so you can export it. So what we do is, I buy car from him, I would do the V.I.N. verification and then register the car. At that point I sell the car to his customer in Sweden. The only difference is I don't apply for the title but I can if we chose to do so after registering it because I now have a current registration and TDMV19 which is what you need to apply for a title in NH.

The Chevy II that I have posted here recently only has a CA title from 1988. The previous owner never registered or title the car in his 34 plus years of ownership. I don't want to give that original owner CA Title up and a copy as we know is not the same. I did V.I.N verification TDMV19, registered the car and summited that to the NH DMV with the TDMV 18 and we're just waiting for a title now. Its that easy, takes 4 to 6 weeks to get a title.