The guy you bought it from should have applied for a title when he bought it off of the other guy. If he had done that, he would have been sent a clean title in the mail with just his name on it saying he was the owner.

Think about it, since he never actually applied for the title, he doesn’t legally own it…therefore he cannot legally sell it. That is why the DMV won’t transfer the title to you.

If I was you, I would ask for my money back since he cannot sell a bike that is not legally his. Let him be the one to track down the original owner and straighten this out.

Looks like you could be in a sticky situation if people aren’t willing to play. Good luck.

 

You did ask to speak to a supervisor, right? You didn't walk out of the
"title office" without discussing the situation with the highest-ranking
supervisor or manager, did you? And if the manager failed to resolve
the situation to your satisfaction, surely you didn't walk out of there
without getting the phone number of the problem resolution center
for the Department of Motor Vehicles (probably located in Austin.)

That's what I did when I had a problem getting my bike registered
in California. I had to make a few long distance calls to Sacramento,
but I got the problem resolved and I got my bike registered.

You said the original owner signed over his ownership of the bike,
and the second owner didn't bother to transfer the registration to
his name, so he should be irrelevant. The fact that he signed his
name in the wrong place shouldn't prevent you from transferring
ownership into your name. Clearly both of these previous owners
have relinquished ownership, and you got a bill of sale, right?

There's no way you can be expected to track down the original
owner. That's ridiculous. You just need to get on the phone and
start making calls until you reach an intelligent DMV supervisor
who will resolve the issue and help you get your bike registered.

You shouldn't just take the word of the first clerk you talk to.
Go up the ladder until you get to somebody intelligent.

 

yeah what he said. you should still be able to get it transferred to you if it's been signed by both previous owners. just like dealing w/ a dealership and a pre-owned vehicle. they don't transfer the titles into their names.

 

You could ask about doing a bonded title, that may work for you. Other than that, you will have to track down the owners as the title office says.

Edit: Did you do a bill of sale for the bike when you bought it? Always do a bill of sale regardless of the circumstances.

 

This happenned to me and I had to cut a few corners but it worked...

I requested a duplicate title from the state as the original owner and included a note that said I had moved to (my) address. I got a new title from the state then signed it over to myself (from the original owner) and then registered it.

I know it is borderline illegal but it works, I hate doing stuff like that but I wasn't about to let some paperwork technicalities get in my way either.

 

Forge his name in the correct location if that's all its going to take.

 

yeah that works too as long as the bike hasn't been reported stolen or anything like that. i'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to contact the original person. hell you've got their full name and address on the title.

 

I did actually forge the signature in the first place. The guy i bought it from just handed the title over and the key and said have fun, pretty much. Transfering the title to my address could be a possibility, So yes.. border line illegal but i should legally own the bike in the first place. However, i would like to try and find another way first. But, good to always know i have options .

The thought of actually asking for the supervisor never crossed my mind. I don't really think that talking to just a higher power would really fix something probably layed down by the state, but, you never know. But i agree. Where the seller signed his name over should COMPLETELY be irrelevant, but i guess its not. And no i didn't get a bill of sale. Until i started reading a lot of these forums, i'd never even considered it. I didn't need one for my last bike so the thought never crossed my mind.

Whats a bonded title? Actually, nvm, i'll just google it.

And lastly, i actually texted "Cha Cha" and got the guys number, but there hasn't been any answer when i've tried.

I really hope i won't have to ask for my money back. It was a pretty awesome deal as is, and i love the bike, so i really don't want to consider that as an option unless i have to.

 

Nevermind. I got in touch with the owner. (White pages FTW). I faxed him the correct forms so i wouldn't have to deal with anything and just get it done.

Thank you for your help and ideas. It's muchly appreciated.