Legal Advice, DMV

kd7vdb · Dec 4, 2012

A few years Back I was going to school in California and my pickup was stolen. My folks brought me their extra vehicle and I drove it for 4 or 5 months. The clutch went out and I parked it in front of a friends place. A week later it was towed (illegally) and then disappeared never reported as towed. I ran a car fax today and someone has managed to get a salvage title for it back in Oregon, even with it being reported stolen in this state.

What legal recourse do I have?

deadeye · Dec 4, 2012

The original title superceeds all future titles along with the stolen report it should be yours.

kd7vdb · Dec 4, 2012

What Happens if I manage to go get it? Am I committing vehicle theft?

Grunwald · Dec 4, 2012

Let the police handle the recovery.
..and congradulations on getting a free clutch repair.

kd7vdb · Dec 4, 2012

I still have the damn clutch! How would I go about getting this taken care of? OSP?

beavertonbuck · Dec 4, 2012

Contact OSP and advise them of the stolen car report and they should be able to find the location of vehicle to talk to the current owner. One issue is that you said that the car was towed. While you say it was illegal their procedure once towing a vehicle is to send a letter to the owner advising where the vehicle has been towed to and how much storage you owe. If you don't respond then they will file a lien on the vehicle and under the law will eventually become the legal owner of the vehicle and will retain the title. OSP should be able to help you with all this.

DieselScout · Dec 4, 2012

OSP is going to tell you to contact the agency that has it listed as a stolen vehicle, or the agency who's jurisdiction it registered in. State Police patrol state highways and state property, if it's in a city or county that agency needs to be who goes to locate the vehicle. This is all assuming it was reported as a stolen vehicle when it disappeared initially. If it wasn't then you maybe able to do it now, bit again it needs to be listed with the agency from where it was stolen. If it wasn't listed as stolen and can't be now you've got a civil matter on your hands.

A few questions remain, when it was parked was it on private property or a public street? Was your friend the owner of the property? If someone abandons a vehicle on my property, I simply have to post on it that it will be towed in three days and then I can have it towed. After that I believe any legal notification would need to be made by the tow company. Also, if it was listed as stolen how was it able to be registered? How were you able to locate it, did you Carfax it on a whim?

kd7vdb · Dec 4, 2012

It was parked on a public street, I wasn't able to report it stolen in California because I was not the legal owner. My folks registered it with the DMV as stolen here. The Carfax? Well I work at a Car Dealership (for S's and G's)

I talked to my folks about it and they don't want to waste the time to pursue it

DieselScout · Dec 4, 2012

kd7vdb said:
It was parked on a public street, I wasn't able to report it stolen in California because I was not the legal owner. My folks registered it with the DMV as stolen here. The Carfax? Well I work at a Car Dealership (for S's and G's)

I talked to my folks about it and they don't want to waste the time to pursue it

Chances are it was towed as an abandoned vehicle, the tow company put a lien on it for the tow fees and when no one came forward to pay they took ownership, then legally sold it to recoup their fees. Who knows why you weren't able to find it, could be that since you weren't the registered owner of it.

deen_ad · Dec 4, 2012

DieselScout said:
Chances are it was towed as an abandoned vehicle, the tow company put a lien on it for the tow fees and when no one came forward to pay they took ownership, then legally sold it to recoup their fees. Who knows why you weren't able to find it, could be that since you weren't the registered owner of it.

Yep, that would be my thought too. If that's what happened it means you no longer have any claim to it too.

My son had a V-10 dually PU. The engine blew a plug so he left it on his ex-bosses property with his permission. The ex-boss got tired of it and pushed it onto city property. City had it towed and the notices never got to him due to moving. They sold the truck, then the lien holder came after my son for the deficit. All of which is legal.

kd7vdb · Dec 5, 2012

deen_ad said:
Yep, that would be my thought too. If that's what happened it means you no longer have any claim to it too.

My son had a V-10 dually PU. The engine blew a plug so he left it on his ex-bosses property with his permission. The ex-boss got tired of it and pushed it onto city property. City had it towed and the notices never got to him due to moving. They sold the truck, then the lien holder came after my son for the deficit. All of which is legal.

That sucks, I assume some random old neighbor called and said "this car is out there and its been there for a few days" car got towed. Tow company never tried to get a hold of the legal owners. Car gets sold to some poor schmuck that lives in oregon.

Life's a bubblegum I'll tell ya