I'll never donate another car!

[presley]

In October last year, we donated a car to Father Joe's Villages in San Diego. I wasn't home when they picked up the car, but my husband said they told him that he didn't need to contact the DMV because they will take care of everything. The title was signed over to them and a few weeks later, they sent us a donation receipt for $500. saying that the car was sold at auction. We thought that was the end of that story.

The car was involved in a hit and run last month. We were contacted by 2 different police departments via mail. One was the regular police and it said that if we no longer owned the car, we could throw out the letter, which is what we did. A week later, we got a letter from the traffic division addresses to my husband's middle name as a first name and it said our registered car was involved in a hit and run and we are responsible for all damages. I sent an email to the officer with the receipt from Father Joe's attached and said I would legally go after Father Joes or anyone else trying to hold us responsible. I got an apology email back from the officer and thought that was the end.

I see in my email showing my incoming USPS letters today, a letter from Automobile Club of San Diego addressed to my husband's middle name as a first name and through the window, I can see the name of their insured person that was apparently involved in the accident. I'll wait for the letter this afternoon to be able to know who to contact specifically at AutoClub before I tell them where they can shove it.

I looked up a lot of stuff on the internet last month, wondering if we could be held responsible and while we legally are not responsible, this isn't a rare thing. Lots of people have donated cars and the titles were never properly transferred and that has come back to haunt them. I'll pay to junk any car in the future before I'll donate one.

 

[DaveNV]

I'll pay to junk any car in the future before I'll donate one.

What a hassle. In the future, couldn't you just make sure to send the DMV the notice that shows the car is no longer yours, as of the date it was donated? Isn't that on the back of the registration?

Dave

 

[easyrider]

When you sell a vehicle you are required to report that sale to the state. In Washington anyway. You can do this online. If you don't report the sale the buyer could use the vehicle while it is still registered to the seller and the registered owner is responsible for all liability. With some people it is a good idea to get an indemnity form signed before they test drive.

Bill

 

[davidvel]

When you sell a vehicle you are required to report that sale to the state. In Washington anyway. You can do this online. If you don't report the sale the buyer could use the vehicle while it is still registered to the seller and the registered owner is responsible for all liability. With some people it is a good idea to get an indemnity form signed before they test drive.

Bill

This is close to CA law, but legal owner is only liable up to 15k. It will likely be hard to prove Father Joe's told OP not to submit release of liability to CA DMV, unless there is something in writing to that effect.

 

[Talent312]

In Florida, typically, you sign the title over and it's up to the buyer to change it and pay the tax.
You can submit a Notice of Sale," but they won't change ownership until the buyer applies for it.
So, in a private sale, I offer to go with them to the Tag agency to make sure it "gets done right."
But with a dealer, you gotta trust them to do it.
.

 

[plpgma]

I've donated several cars to a local area agency which uses the resulting funds to finance their mission to mentally challenged adults. While I haven't been the victim of any such activity as described herein, I know that the risk exists -- however, I believe that such a risk is low relative to the much needed benefit to the target organization. If I become a victim, I know that I'll have the law on my side and will proceed accordingly as needed.

 

[Brett]

When you sell a vehicle you are required to report that sale to the state. In Washington anyway. You can do this online. If you don't report the sale the buyer could use the vehicle while it is still registered to the seller and the registered owner is responsible for all liability. With some people it is a good idea to get an indemnity form signed before they test drive.

Bill

same in Virginia and you have to return the license plates to the DMV

 

[Luanne]

Years ago I sold a car to my mother's mechanic. This was in California. My dad made sure to notify the DMV, it may have been by just filling out the info on the back of the registration. Some time later I got a notice that the car had been abandoned on the side of the freeway. Since we had filed the paperwork I had no responsibility. It was a sad end however for that car.

 

[klpca]

We sold a car to an acquaintance about 15 years ago. My husband notified the CA DMV. About 18 months later three cops rang our doorbell at 11pm looking for my husband, the last registered owner of the car. It had been involved in a hit & run. Luckily my husband had some DMV paperwork that satisfied the police (although one did lecture my husband about not having the bill of sale handy - we just couldn't locate it at that very moment ). That was fun.

I'd call Father Joe's and have them look into this. Maybe they can help.

 

[Sandy VDH]

My insurance wrote off my car after an accident. Apparently they resold it and the insurance company (who you would think had vested interest) did not do any paper work.

That car then got into a hit and run where someone was injured. I got served / subpoenaed. Only I told them to go take it up with insurance since they wrote off and disposed of the vehicle not me. That got rid of it for me at least.

 

[dioxide45]

In Florida, typically, you sign the title over and it's up to the buyer to change it and pay the tax.
You can submit a Notice of Sale," but they won't change ownership until the buyer applies for it.
So, in a private sale, I offer to go with them to the Tag agency to make sure it "gets done right."
But with a dealer, you gotta trust them to do it.
.

Yup, that is our experience with a recent trade in. This thread has be a little nervous. We traded in our old 2009 car and had paper title (much is now electronic). We signed a limited POA but never signed the actual title over ourselves since they would do that with the limited POA. I do have paperwork showing the transfer of plates from one vehicle to the other and this was at a major dealership.

 

[IngridN]

When we donated a car years ago it was sold at auction and later abandoned on the side of the road. The tow company came after us as we were showing as the registered owner. We sent them a copy of the release of liability showing we were not responsible and that was the end of it.

When we sold a car to Carmax a couple of years ago, they completed all the paperwork including having us sign the release of liability. I insisted they provide us with a copy. Where we are dependent on another party to complete the paperwork, I would insist on a copy of same or simply send in my own release form.

Ingrid

 

[DaveNV]

On a slightly different note: I sold a legally-registered handgun to a local gun dealer a few years ago. About two months later I got a call from the police department. Seems the gun was involved in a robbery attempt, and the perp was arrested. They traced the gun back to me. Police officer asked me where "my" gun was. I explained I had no idea, because I had legally sold it, and when. He asked if I could prove that. "Why, yes," I replied. "Let me find the receipt." I ended up taking the receipt to the police department, where the officer took a copy of it, thanked me for my trouble, and said I wouldn't hear anything more of it. I haven't.

The story unfolded that the gun dealership had resold the gun to the person who committed the robbery. But the gun registry in Washington state was running more than a YEAR behind on changing records of gun ownerships. My sale hadn't yet made it through their system, and the name of the new owner hadn't been listed yet as well, before he committed the crime with it. So on the books I still owned the gun. Even though I did things by the rules, the bureaucracy of changing names on such things was way behind. I haven't heard anything further, but you can bet any future sales like that will the closely documented.

Dave

 

[Brett]

On a slightly different note: I sold a legally-registered handgun to a local gun dealer a few years ago. About two months later I got a call from the police department. Seems the gun was involved in a robbery attempt, and the perp was arrested. They traced the gun back to me. Police officer asked me where "my" gun was. I explained I had no idea, because I had legally sold it, and when. He asked if I could prove that. "Why, yes," I replied. "Let me find the receipt." I ended up taking the receipt to the police department, where the officer took a copy of it, thanked me for my trouble, and said I wouldn't hear anything more of it. I haven't.

The story unfolded that the gun dealership had resold the gun to the person who committed the robbery. But the gun registry in Washington state was running more than a YEAR behind on changing records of gun ownerships. My sale hadn't yet made it through their system, and the name of the new owner hadn't been listed yet as well, before he committed the crime with it. So on the books I still owned the gun. Even though I did things by the rules, the bureaucracy of changing names on such things was way behind. I haven't heard anything further, but you can bet any future sales like that will the closely documented.

Dave

makes one wonder about person-to-person private sales of guns

 

[AnnaS]

I have donated a pick up truck and an SUV. We have to return our plates and give the receipt to the insurance to take it off our plan. We never had any problems. I did video the pick up of the SUV & Truck "just in case" - not sure what that alone would prove.

Many years ago I received a letter/form from my insurance telling me to fill out an "accident report". I called my broker and was told that my car was involved (a little way back from when I received this notice) in a car accident. I said to myself, no way. I did not even have the car in my possession. The broker said there must have been a witness and took down my license plate and saw it wrong - that was how they tracked me. I told him I had gotten rid of the car way prior to this so called accident. I had to show my return plate receipt but it was still a hassle.


Another incident - I received a summons with all these extra surcharges since the ticket had not been paid in years. I went to the DMV hearing to fight it. I had no clue what ticket I was issued and nothing matched my car/make/year/registration. It turned out and we figured out, it was a balance on a ticket I had received for an expired registration on a car rental many years prior. When my brand new car was stolen in front of my house, I had a rental. Of course the rental company (Enterprise) at the time said they would take care of it. I think they did but not the full amount. This balance turned out to be quiet a bit by the time I got it years later. It was of course dismissed. I had kept the rental papers. Still a hassle. But so much easier to prove when one has the documentation.

This is why I hate to throw away any papers and I do not like to go paperless with any of my accounts, etc. I find so many mistakes here and there. It is so much easier to go into my file and just get the paper/document.

For months I have been trying to resolve a doctor bill. I also sent them the copy of my cancelled check. Months later and still getting a bill. Finally, after a ton of calls, emails, sending copy of cancelled check again, asking for a supervisor, they say it's corrected and posted to my account. I will believe it months from now. But there is also another office visit, same doctor, same amount, different date. I have the papers from the primary and secondary insurance on what was paid, "what I owe/may be billed". Yet the office bills us for the full amount. Let's see how long this one will take to correct.

The problem is there are many out there who do not pick up on it. The elderly have their kids take care of things. Some, (like my parents and in-laws) don't speak English, etc. etc. The best is they give you the run around & who answers the phone anymore?

I can go on and on. These experiences makes us learn a lesson and we try not to repeat the same scenario - when we can help it.

 

[DaveNV]

makes one wonder about person-to-person private sales of guns

In Washington state, legal gun sales have to be processed through a licensed dealer. Even sales between private parties have to be processed by the middle man, so serial numbers can be documented and reported. There are fees paid by the buyer of the firearm to process the transfer.

 

[geist1223]

In Oregon private gun sales do not have to go through a licensed Gun Dealer - But. In every sale (private, gun show, licensed Gun dealer) there is suppose to be a background check completed on the Buyer. This is not a problem for licensed dealers or gun shows. But for private sales the parties are suppose to go the local police/sheriff's office for the background check. I doubt that many do. Most enforcement agencies to not actively investigate this issue and it only comes up as an ancillary matter to another investigation involving firearms.

 

[Firepath]

In October last year, we donated a car to Father Joe's Villages in San Diego. I wasn't home when they picked up the car, but my husband said they told him that he didn't need to contact the DMV because they will take care of everything. The title was signed over to them and a few weeks later, they sent us a donation receipt for $500. saying that the car was sold at auction. We thought that was the end of that story.

The car was involved in a hit and run last month. We were contacted by 2 different police departments via mail. One was the regular police and it said that if we no longer owned the car, we could throw out the letter, which is what we did. A week later, we got a letter from the traffic division addresses to my husband's middle name as a first name and it said our registered car was involved in a hit and run and we are responsible for all damages. I sent an email to the officer with the receipt from Father Joe's attached and said I would legally go after Father Joes or anyone else trying to hold us responsible. I got an apology email back from the officer and thought that was the end.

I see in my email showing my incoming USPS letters today, a letter from Automobile Club of San Diego addressed to my husband's middle name as a first name and through the window, I can see the name of their insured person that was apparently involved in the accident. I'll wait for the letter this afternoon to be able to know who to contact specifically at AutoClub before I tell them where they can shove it.

I looked up a lot of stuff on the internet last month, wondering if we could be held responsible and while we legally are not responsible, this isn't a rare thing. Lots of people have donated cars and the titles were never properly transferred and that has come back to haunt them. I'll pay to junk any car in the future before I'll donate one.

We donated a car to Father Joe’s and didn’t have any problem. We sold a car shortly thereafter and had a similar problem similar to yours. A DUI driver totaled the car. The impound yard wanted us to pay the charges! We had submitted a release of liability but DMV told us they didn’t process them in any order (this was over 30 yrs ago). It turned out the car was still in our name because the buyer had no drivers license (probably because he drives under the influence) and one was required to put the car in his name. I think you’re going to have to give proof to all parties that you transferred ownership before this will be over for you. The insurance company is probably just trying to gather information. Once they have the proof that the car isn’t yours, they’ll leave you alone. I know it’s a headache.

 

[presley]

What a hassle. In the future, couldn't you just make sure to send the DMV the notice that shows the car is no longer yours, as of the date it was donated? Isn't that on the back of the registration?

Dave

Yes. That is what I would have done when it was donated, but I wasn't home. My husband said the guy showed him the paperwork that was going to be filed. I had just renewed the registration 2 months prior. I think that is the issue as the letters from the police both said that we were the last registered owner. Oddly, the car was never in my name, but the first letter that came was addressed to my husband and myself. The subsequent letters were addressed to my husband's middle name and didn't have his first name attached at all. I look at it as really shabby police work that I don't want to pay taxes for, but the police department is in a different city than I am. So, I'm probably not paying taxes to them anyway.

The insurance company is probably just trying to gather information. Once they have the proof that the car isn’t yours, they’ll leave you alone. I know it’s a headache.

Yeah, the letter said they wanted our insurance information so they could contact them regarding the collision. I just wrote on there that the car isn't ours and it was transferred to Father Joes in October and they need to take it up with them. I'll let them pay for more man hours to ask me for a copy of the receipt.

From what I've gathered via the internet, it's not an unusual situation. It's called title jumping. Whoever buys the car plans to resell it right away and they figure the next buyer will title the car in their name, so they never file the title while it is in their possession. It sounds like the car was title jumped more than once, but the apology that I got from the cop from the traffic division said that he didn't notice the transfer of ownership, alluding to there was a transfer of ownership. If there was, maybe they never registered the car.

 

[Janann]

Wow, lots of interesting stories. A few years ago I was being billed for trips on a nearby toll road. It took some effort to figure out that the license plate that was being photographed for the toll belonged to an SUV we had sold to a major Ford dealership almost 10 years ago. Apparently somewhere in the sales process the license plates had been stolen. (The car was sold under the Cash for Clunkers program, so the car was supposed to be destroyed shortly after we sold it.)