Registration back fees.

[Kenbooty]

I bought a 1977 280z (you can see it here http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/108573-z-car-dfw/ ) and I tried to get it registered but the back fees were ridiculous. Back Story : The PO bought the car from the PPO (previous previous owner) and never transferred the titled to his name. The PO bought the car in August of 2010. Now to register the car the court is wanting 25$ per month for every month the title wasn't transfered. Some details : The title is signed with the date of sale from the PPO to the PO. The PO never signed the title. The PO never registered the car. The PPO is now unable to be found as he has moved away and no one seems to know where he is so I can't get him to sign an affidavit of fact to change the date. My question is there anyway I can get out of paying the 600+ dollars worth of back fees to register my car.

[BluDestiny]

So that's what was wrong with it lol.

 

In California if it was never registered and it was not put into "non op" then you get charged registration fees yearly. No way that I know of getting out of paying it. Then again that's why most people don't date the title when they sign.

 

A little side story, my friend was given a 240sx for some work and found out it had $400+ in back registration. So he went and bought a clean shell for $250 and transferred everything over to the new shell. I'm thinking of picking up the car with backfees to use as a track car.

[Kenbooty]

Yeah nothing really mechanically wrong but he must have known about the back fees. I'll probably just end up paying it. But that's money I could have used for paint supplies and other misc. stuff.

[johnc]

Investigate "Lien Sale" in your state's DMV regulation books and try to make friends with a sympathetic auto repair shop.

[josh817]

I wonder how that didn't happen to me. I had the same situation pretty much. Original owner in Fort Worth owned my truck in the 90's, then my dads friend bought it, then my dad bought it, then I bought it, but the title was still in the original owners name. Last time the truck was registered was '96. I never ran into registration backfees. I eventually got a hold of the first owner and got a signature.

 

Be careful though. You have 30 days from sale to turn in a transfer title form otherwise fees start on that too.

Edited August 29, 2012 by josh817

[galderdi]

Wow, I'd never heard that before.

 

Here (Queensland Australia) we have the oposite problem. Here there is no real motivation for the new owner to transfer the registration. For example I sold a GM Sedan, I did all the correct paperwork to transfer the remaining rego. I got a photocopy of his driver license etc. But he didn't bother to transfer the rego. He then proceeded to rack up a few speeding and parking fines and because the car was in my name I received the bills. They totalled over $900 for a car that I sold for $500. Lucky I had his details so I was able to complete statutory declarations to avoid having to pay. But it was still a pain in the neck.

[Kenbooty]

That' weird Josh. I asked the girl at the court and she told me i had to pay the fees. I will try again maybe with another clerk before trying anything too drastic.

[josh817]

There must be a way around it. A little bit of morally incorrect actions may have to take place but if you list the sell price truthfully, pay the taxes on it, and the car isn't stolen, I have a hard time feeling bad for Uncle Sam or anyone else. My problem was difficulty getting a hold of someone to sign the title over, yours is with registration. I'm not sure how slide around that other than maybe registering it in Oklahoma or surrounding states and transferring it over. Don't know if that's some sort of heinous crime. Otherwise, I don't see how people manage to restore cars that have been off the road for like 30 years.

 

I keep my Z registered as antique so I don't have to get inspected, same price as normal registration, and I only register every 5 years. She can sleep all she wants now. Actually, when I pulled insurance off that car (since it is in pieces) we got a letter from the state I believe saying hey your car isn't insured. That's when we said it was being restored/inoperable. Maybe you pull insurance from the car, wait for the letter, tell them whats up so this way when you go to get it registered the fees "miraculously" disappear. I'm just babbling now.

[GOTHALOSISM]

Thats california for you. Here in Nevada we have no such issues.

[neotech84]

Can you register in another state???

[Kenbooty]

I think I'm going to get a bonded title on it and register it that way.

[BLOZ UP]

Just "misplace" the title and file for a lost one. At another DMV preferably.

 

$200 bonded title fee + registration/taxes should be less than $600.

[Kenbooty]

Yeah i'm going to do that most likely this week when I get paid. I'll let you guys know how it pans out.

[Darrel]

Wow, I'd never heard that before.

 

Here (Queensland Australia) we have the oposite problem. Here there is no real motivation for the new owner to transfer the registration. For example I sold a GM Sedan, I did all the correct paperwork to transfer the remaining rego. I got a photocopy of his driver license etc. But he didn't bother to transfer the rego. He then proceeded to rack up a few speeding and parking fines and because the car was in my name I received the bills. They totalled over $900 for a car that I sold for $500. Lucky I had his details so I was able to complete statutory declarations to avoid having to pay. But it was still a pain in the neck.

 

 

Each state have their own requirements for title and registration.

 

For Colorado, the plate stays with you. You can either transfer the plate and what is left to your new car, or turn them in to the DMV. Either way, take the plates off when selling it. It's up to the new owner to get temp tags and register it. Someone will sell a car and not take the plates off even when they are expired. The new owner keeps them on and racks up tickets. Just make sure you keep records of when it was sold.

 

Before the new roads and bridges tax took effect, the counties were pretty lax about renewals. If going by the book, the renewal would be an extra $15/month the car wasn't registered, most waived that. Collector car plates used to have a rolling 25 yr exemption and no emissions test for as long as you own the car and keep the registration up to date. Now the cut off date for the exemption is '75 and older. You get the collector plates(5 year) and only have to pay the roads and bridges tax once during the 5 years. But if you keep regular plates on a car '75 or older then you have to get emissions every year and pay for the r&b tax every year. The newer cars that have the collector plates are grandfathered in as long as the plates are kept current.

 

Late registration fees-- With the new R&B tax, we will get charged $25 a month with a cap of $100 for late registration fees.

 

 

Safety inspections-- Colorado did away with those in the early 80's about the same time as the emissions testing.

 

 

With all that said above, we have 50 states, all with different requirements. This is just a few of them.

[Kenbooty]

Update :

I'm getting my Z registered next week (had a bunch of bills to pay this week). I talked to a local Z owner in DFW and he informed me that the DMV gave me the wrong information. I can get my car registered with the backfees waived because the car is over 25 years old. Sure enough, I called the DMV and they told me it was only going to be 130 something odd dollars to get it registered.