Titling issues in your state?

[luvmy40]

Another thread brought this up briefly(OK, I brought it up in another thread briefly) and it made me curious as to whether Ohio is the worst or merely one of the worst states as far as titling MCs brought in from out of state and getting untitled MCs a new title.

 

It's possible that it may a local thing as far as Ohio goes, but it is handled by the State Troopers rather the Sheriff's dept. so I doubt that.

 

Here's what I've run into in Portage and Mahoning counties, OH.

 

A bike with a clean title from another state must have a VIN inspection by the title bureau to be re-titled in OH. The frame VIN must match the engine serial # or the bike has to be inspected by the State Trooper's office for a full search of stolen vehicle registries. They go so far as to ascertain if there any after market parts, which must be individually documented.

 

The same full search of stolen vehicle registries and documentation must be done to re-title an OH bike that does not have the paper title for what ever reason.

 

I have had Ohio State Troopers tell me that it is a waste of time to even try to get the missing title scenario accomplished. It can be done theoretically, but they said they've never seen a title issued in such cases. There is always something that pops and stops the process and in those cases, the bike is confiscated.

 

Now, I would imagine that having a titled frame and an engine with a title matching would make the process easier. I wouldn't hold my breath though.

 

So what is the story in your state? I know there are states that will issue registrations on older bikes without titles and that there are even states that will just issue a title on a bill of sale. What about where you live?

[BratmanXj]

I'm just over the Indiana boarder from Chicago and my mother still lives on the Illinois side. The Pontoon boat and Jet Skis are titled in Illinois since we had clear titles and the registration & renewal fees are MUCH less. Years back I was about to purchase a jet-ski that was part of a boat setup, but didn't have a title for the boat "shell" that had an Hull Identification Number. Put a deposit down with the owner while I worked through the title issues with the state of IL. I would have to bond the original purchase value of the boat and jetski, that were 10yrs old, as they considered it "one boat" in that respect but 2 boats when applying for title. The bond had to be for 3 years and I would have to post legal advertisements to "possibly" clear the missing title, but even that wasn't guaranteed to work with the state. Went back to the seller and said it wouldn't be worth the hassle.

 

 

 

My mother purchased a Honda scooter for her cottage that hadn't been on the road for 10+ years and the title was in a different family members name. State of Indiana deemed the title wasn't valid since it was different name on owner vs signer and I would have to apply with a "lost title". The local police did a VIN check and affidavit for $5 and I was back at the BMV that afternoon registering the scooter in my name and was issued a title no problem.

[RDawson]

KY is pretty easy with only an ID-OD inspection needed. You take it to Sheriff's dept where they compare the VIN to the title and record the odometer reading. Vehicle vin only. It costs $5 to do it at the office or a little more if a deputy comes to you. The biggest headaches I've seen are if you don't have the seller sign the proper transfer paperwork which have to be notarized or the sellers name has changed. I ran into that on my RSV when the seller had remarried and signed her new name on the title. It was instate but 75 miles and a couple counties away. It took me two days to get in touch with her (that scared me) but she just faxed a copy of the marriage license to our courthouse and all was good.

Another weird one was an older Mustang I bought for my oldest, transfer went fine but the new title came in showing less mileage than the car. 10,000 less if I remember right. I called the courthouse and since the car was 15 years old they didn't worry about it. I sold it to a friend for his daughter later and disclosed that, she crashed it so no big problems.

[cowpuc]

Back when I was running a Dealership I did a TON of business with a huge Auction House (in the new, out with the old) near the Ohio line so we got a lot of cross state business and I can tell you, Michigan is/was a breeze for title work compared to Ohio. Matter of fact, the Auction House would not/could allow sales of even old dirt bikes into Ohio without titles. This created a lot of hassle for folks from Ohio wanting to buy the older stuff as, back in the day, many Quads/Dirt Bikes and MX bikes of Vintage status never came with Titles in Michigan.

Here in Mi, the process for transfering ownership is also a TON easier. Our SOS (Sec of State) used to require things like Notorization on the title, EXACT signature's as printed on title when signing off (may not sound like much BUT I guarentee ya, if your selling a car and you forget to dot an I or cross a T and end up having to apply for a new title and make the buyer wait 3 months for the State to reissue = you and your buyer will NOT be happy campers) and all kinds of crazy stuff = back in the 70's. That all changed and now, even the hassle of Notorization is a thing of the past, matter of fact, a Michigan title doesnt even have a place on it for Notorization and they dont care much about even exact sigs either.

I also did several deliveries into your State of Customs I had built and can tell you first hand = WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!

NO,, the States are not the same, not at all!

I will also tell ya this,, there are numerous states that are also wayyyy easier than Michigan too.. South Dakota comes to mind.. You can take a vehicle like a Razor that is absolutely NOT "streetable" here in Michigan and hit up SD for an easy title. Quads/Three wheelers (talkin dirt stuff here) are not streetable here because of their undifferentialed rear ax but in places like Utah (if memory serves correctly) = totally doable.

Years ago I did a TON of business with a Yamaha Shop in Canada taking advantage of the $$ strength and bought lots of left over inventory from them. I found out that California dirt bikes had to have a certain letter in their VIN that qualified them to be streetable for year around use. I also found out that all Canadians bikes (at least the Yamaha YZF enduro line did) had that matching letter. I did a TON of fairly lucrative business as a middle man in buying brand new crated "Enduro's" putting em together here out crate and then retailing them into California.

Another one that you may find interesting here 40,, Michigan was (no idea if this still applies) for easy on converting actual full blown factory MX bikes for street usage. Toss on a aftermarket headlight assembly, a squeeze ball for horn, a bicycle mirror, an inline hydraulic brake light switch, a small battery (I also did numerous stator updates to give actual umph for those wanting a usable headlight or hand warmers added) and a low decible silencer and bingo,, you were riding 5 gear wheelies on your KX or CR500 with a genuine Michigan bike plate AND, the bikes title was totally tranferable and even looked like an actual, for real, no different than any other Michigan Title..

There is no comparison between States legal titling stuff IMHO 40..

It will be interesting now to hear of other varmints input here.. LOVE this thread!! Thanks for askin!

Puc

[slowrollwv]

Here in WV. I am not sure about non titled autos or bikes. If you buy out of stare and can show a signed title with a bill of sale you are good to go.

[Sylvester]

North Carolina is much the same as Ohio. I bought my 1980 XS1100 Special from a person in Michigan I believe. Trailered it back home and applied for title change. Had to allow DMV to check it out with VIN and equipment. DMV is part of the State Troopers so everything looks about the same.

 

[uncledj]

I'm going back 25 years here, but I had a KZ1000 with a missing title, (not stolen) and there was a service out of Delaware that would make it pretty easy to get a new title.

As long as the bike had never been reported as stolen:.......

For a fee ? $275 or somewhere thereabouts, you would sell the bike to them and they'd turn around and sell it back, providing a bill of sale.

You would then take the bill of sale to the Ohio BMV and, since Delaware did not require titles on motorcycles 10 years or older, Ohio would then issue a new title. It was actually pretty easy, and perfectly legal.

[grubsie]

Here in New Hampshire it's a piece of cake.

 

Any motor vehicle that is older than 2000 does not require a title.

 

For any vehicle 2000 or newer and ss long as you have a title, all you have to do is take it to your town hall along with the bill of sale and register it. No questions asked. In my small town, it tales all of 10 minutes.

 

If you do not have a title for a vehicle 2000 or newer you simply have the police come by (free of charge) and they check the vehicle ID information and type of vehicle it is and they issue you a copy of the report. You take this report along with the bill of sale and the recent registration if you have it, go to the town hall, pay a small fee and they submit for a title to the state offices. It takes anywhere from 30 to 60 days to get the new title if the vehicle is legit. Takes closer to 30 days if you have the most recent registration from the PO.

 

If you have a vehicle that is older than 2000, all you need is the title or the PO's recent registration along with the bill of sale and you are registered in 10 minutes.

 

If you have a vehicle older than 2000 with no reg or title and as long as you have a bill of sale, you have the police stop by (free of charge) and check the vehicle ID and what it is and they issue you a copy of the report. Take the report and your bill of sale to the town hall and your registered again, in 10 minutes. I do this constantly with early 50's and 60's motorcycles that I restore. I do it before I restore them just in case they come back after the police report goes to the state offices and there's a discrepancy. It's kind of funny with the police checking these old bikes. They have no idea what and where they are looking. I have to point it all out to them. They used to by now though as they have been doing this with for years.

 

The only thing that sucks though is you forfeit any money you spent on registering the vehicle if they find out it's stolen if you register as soon as you get the police report instead of waiting 30 days after the report. Of course, you could lose the money you paid to the person you bought it from also I guess. Thankfully, it's never happened to me.

[Du-Rron]

So what is the story in your state? I know there are states that will issue registrations on older bikes without titles and that there are even states that will just issue a title on a bill of sale. What about where you live?

 

https://www.txdmv.gov/motorists/buying-or-selling-a-vehicle/out-of-state-and-foreign-vehicles