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So, MY truck got impounded last Friday. -resolved-

mountainexplorer

mountainexplorer

1/2 ton status
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Spokane, Wa./Ione, Wa
I just got a letter showing that I owe $155 for towing and $31 a day for 3 days for a '77 Chevy truck that I don't even own anymore. Well, I traded it off last June. Appearently, the (assuming about 5 owners) since I traded it off never transferred the title, so it's still legally mine.

Legally, I can go in tomorrow morning, pay the tow/storage bill and take it home. Morally, I can't, cause it's not mine anymore. But state law says I (the registered owner) am responsible for fees incurred on the truck.

So I guess I have to bail it out in the morning, and give my contact info, and hope the guy will reimburse me for his bill. Or I can just keep the truck.
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

If you dont want it Ill take it off ur hands /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

I had a 71 chevelle pro street car which I sold a few years ago.Turns out when I sold it I just signed the title and the guy never transfered the title. He planed on just racing it on the strip.Well one day at work two drug agents came to my work asking all kinds of questions about me. /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gifThe guy that I sold the car to turned around and sold this car to a major drug dealer and he got busted.When they checked this car was still in my name /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gifI though well really it is still my car since it is still in my name but then I though the hell with that whole situation........
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

Bail it out, inform owner, get money up front, he no pay, you keep truck.

Pretty simple /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

John
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

I had sold a Ford I had a simuliar situation...
and I had a copy of my registration..

But I was happy to see that GEM go...
and wanted NO part of it... /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif

But a Chevy truck would be tempting... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

I always have a bill of sale for both me and the buyer. I would not pay the impound fees unless you plan to keep the truck. It sounds like it would be legal for you to do so. It's also probably not possible for the previous owner to get it out of impound because they are not on any documents showing ownership. I also keep the tags and I don't care if they can be transfered. My name is on them and I intend to protect myself.

If you don't want it then I would recomend talking to the PD and explain you sold the truck on X date. Should be able to do something.
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

Heh, had a friend with the same situation. (car was dumped, last registered owner had a bill of sale, State Patrol shows up at his house "come get your car")

If you have a handwritten bill of sale showing you sold the vehicle to someone else, that person is responsible in this state. Thats why you are *required* to send in the stub from your title to the state when you transfer the vehicle. Then again, it's a "requirement" that I've never seen anyone penalized for not complying with.
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

I'd buy it from the impound lot and get a duplicate title without even thinking about it. Obviously the new owner had no respect for it, so he got it impounded. If I ever sold one of my rigs and someone trashed it, I'd want to kill them. I'd beg for a chance to score like this to get back at them.
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

Yeah to what Tim said. Get the truck and go to the DMV and do a lost title thing. Leagally its still your truck. You are still responsible for it. It is possible that you can be sued if that truck is involved in an accident.
Morally? Hey if whoever owned it doesn't even want to try and get it from the towing company they must not want it. Gee why didn't they register it any how? Hmm.... No insurance?... No license?..Wanted by the law.... Maby some other illeagal thing.
Do local motorists a favor and get your truck back.
Either that or go to the DMV and do the paperwork needed to get your name off that title.
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

It's not still his truck if there is a bill of sale floating around. If one of the past owners comes to the State Patrol with a bill of sale showing they purchased the vehicle, he WILL lose the truck, and all money he has put "back" into getting it. (of course, they would probably have to go back through all previous owners to make sure each transaction actually happened, but it can and does happen)

Chances are probably unlikely, but is that a chance you want to take?
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

Go pay the bill and pick it up. Then hold it for storage fees and give the guy who never transfered the title 30 days to pick it up.

Lets see:

$155 towing
$31 x 3 for storage
$155 towing to your house
$31 x (?) for storage at your house

If not claimed in 30 days, file a lost title. The truck was abandonned. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif Why let that jerk ruin your credit. If the truck sits in impound then gets auctioned off, you are the one they will go after for any money not covered in the auction. I had some jerk do that to me and I have a $1500 towing/impound bill on my credit (towing company didnt send a letter until after 20+ days of storage). Car got auctioned but probably only sold for $50 so the balance was sent to collections.

Of course that is if there are no bill of sales floating around... If you have the bill of sale probably best to use that to show you are no longer responisble for the truck and stay clear of it.
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

I think I'd be a nice guy and go get it out. Keep a copy of the bill, contact the current owner and see if they want to buy it back from you. You can put a lien on said title so if they don't pay, then the truck is leagly and morally yours again. Hell, the current owner may not get it out, then it'd just go up for aution anyways. (I say be a nice guy because $31 a day can add up quickly. So act fast.) I'd also make sure the current owner transfers the title into his/her name so you're not held liable if they do get into a accident with it if they want it back. /forums/images/graemlins/deal.gif
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

do you know the person who is supposed to own it now? if not then id either stay clear of it and notify the dmv that it was sold on such and such date. or you could do what kenny said go get it charge for it to be stored and storage fee for 30 days and then file a lean on the title for money owed and they will give you the title /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

I had this same thing happen to me but with a car dealership.
I traded in a suburban for a new vehicle and about a year later I got a letter in the mail from a towing company saying that I owed them $1600.00 for impound fees and towing. I explained to them the deal but they didnt care so they were going to take me to collections for the money I contacted the dealership and found out they sold the vehicle then the person didnt get financed so they requested the rig back and he just abandoned it somewhere
so with no new registration I was the legal owner the dealership said they would take care of it .
a couple months later again another letter from the towing company saying I owe even more.
needles to say the dealership got theyre ass chewed from me and it got handled but if the bill wouldnt have been so high I would have had my rig back for cheap legaly.

protect yourself and go pick it up and hold it for a couple of months then get a lost title and make your money again /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

I dont see how someone with a hand written bill of sale with no signed title can just come up and claim a vehicle from a titled owner.
If that were true I could just write a title for any car I wanted and claim it from the owner.
A hand written bill of sale or any other bill of sale is not legal unless it is Notarized. Then it becomes a legal document. The seller and buyer have to appear in front of the Notary and show ID and sign the document.
The only legal way some one could claim that truck is to show up with the signed Title and/or a Notarized Bill of sale showing transfer of vehicle to them.
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

Well they open in 15 minutes. I'm going to go in and see what I can do. I'm thinking what several have said, bail it out to keep the bill from skyrocketing. From talking with their office last night just before they closed, the driver of the truck who got pulled over in it (and assuming the last guy who bought the truck w/out transferring) came in yesterday to get it, but they couldn't release it to him because it wasn't in his name. I'm "assuming" that he would have the title for it which has it signed off by me, so he's probably going to transfer it asap.

If he went in to get it, I'm sure he wants it back. And if he was driving it, then I know its in better shape than when my friend last got rid of it in August (with a blown motor).

So, luckily the towing place is nextdoor to a friend's shop, so I might go in and park over there, and drive the '77 home, then go back and get my other truck later; and wait the 30 days for the guy to contact me and re-pay me. All I'd want back is the $$ I pay for the bill.
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

[ QUOTE ]
Well they open in 15 minutes. I'm going to go in and see what I can do. I'm thinking what several have said, bail it out to keep the bill from skyrocketing. From talking with their office last night just before they closed, the driver of the truck who got pulled over in it (and assuming the last guy who bought the truck w/out transferring) came in yesterday to get it, but they couldn't release it to him because it wasn't in his name. I'm "assuming" that he would have the title for it which has it signed off by me, so he's probably going to transfer it asap.

If he went in to get it, I'm sure he wants it back. And if he was driving it, then I know its in better shape than when my friend last got rid of it in August (with a blown motor).

So, luckily the towing place is nextdoor to a friend's shop, so I might go in and park over there, and drive the '77 home, then go back and get my other truck later; and wait the 30 days for the guy to contact me and re-pay me. All I'd want back is the $$ I pay for the bill.

[/ QUOTE ]

now that sounds like a fair deal and a smart one to protect your credit. dont let the guy see where you live you never know what type of person this might be if he wants to pay you in full to get the rig back I would meet him somewhere with the truck.
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

Have you seen where mountain explorer lives? Even if they knew where he lived, they'd never find their truck out there!
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

I would go get the truck. You are still liable for it as its in your name. Current situation is a good example. I would leave your contact info with the towing agency so this guy can settle up with you and get the truck back. I would be kinda pissed though. This happended to me once too but the vehicle was involved in a crime and I was damn near arrested for it.

In the State of Idaho we have a release of Liability form that comes with the title that you can file for $2. Gets you off the hook no matter what happens next. After my little experience, I always do this.
 
Re: So, MY truck got impounded last Friday.

To make things more complicated;

I found out from going in the current balance is $355 to get the truck out. I have $306 right now. So, I'm going to be going around trying to scrape up $51.

The guy who supposedly own is right now, doesnt have any paperwork on it, because he is making payments on it to the guy he got it from.

At least I got the driver's address so I might stop by and try to talk to him. I live, for the most part, here in Spokane too. I "could" store it up north instead of here and it would never be found again, but it just wouldn't be right.

From looking at it, it has a newer motor with some decent valve covers and an Edelbrock carb, and it has 3/4 ton axles again (when I had it, I robbed the 3/4 ton stuff out and put 1/2 ton under it).

I apid $400 for this thing when I bought it last May, now I'm paying nearly that again just to get it out of impound so it doesnt go to auction and become a bad spot on my record. Wish I could keep it.
 
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