I apologize in advance if this post is not in the right category, hopefully a moderator will place it properly.

Ok so here goes... My grandfather was the proud owner of a 1964 Corvette since the early 1970's. The Vette was originally registered in Florida, The vehicle paperwork was lost in a house fire sometime in the 70's, after he relocated to Ohio. After a few years of re-tagging the vehicle in Florida, never in Ohio, he eventually stopped driving the vehicle and just put the car up in storage. So after 40 years of sitting in a barn aging, never being driven, we still do not have a title to it. My grandfather passed away in January. I have contacted the state of Florida, given them the VIN number, trying to retrieve the title for my grandmother. Does anyone know how to go about getting a title for this? Upon giving the State of FL the numbers they say they can't find anything on it???? Any and all help on this matter would be greatly appreciated? Perhaps an alternate way to retrieve a title?

Thanks so much...

Rebecca

 

do you have the old registration papers for the car?

 

Long shot...

Do you have any old Insurance Policy papers proving it was insured in FLA.
This might help you get it back on the road.

 

did you check with ohio dmv, and confirm it was never registered there? i believe some states drop records, if they are not renewed after a number of years.... especially cars registered before computers were in every office,,,

 

Unfortunately the car is empty. No papers what so ever in it.

 

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I have confirmed this with my grandma. She is certain that the car was never registered in Ohio.

As far as records being dropped, I wonder if that's what happened? Perhaps it wasn't registered for so long that they can't locate anything on it?

 

i'd call ohio, myself,,,,

 

No insurance papers, nothing in the car at all. I have absolutely no leads.

 

Double long shot. Check original ins co for records of coverage / ownership. Possibly old checkbooks for records of payments of tax/ insurance. Receipts for any inspections and or repairs with Grandpa name on them. Once you establish a chain of ownership legal paperwork will flow much more easily. Bob

 

Have you looked into getting a DUPLICATE title? It is something my mother-in-law had to do in the state of IL. It does devalue the car somewhat, since the miles can't be substantiated, but not as much as having no title at all!

Also, did your grandfather have a desk? That is where all important stuff is kept, right?

 

Since you are positive the car was never registered in Ohio, Florida is the place you have to focus. Do you have any old photos which would give the Florida license plate number? Or maybe the Florida tags are still on the car? Any stickers on the window for registration or inspection in Florida?

 

I am not in Fl so I am not sure of their procedure, but I am sure they have one.

In NC, The executor of the estate would apply for a new, title (lost title) in the name of the person. And, can assign it to whoever it goes according to the probate procedure.

 

Go to this site at the Florida DMV. Plug in the vin number just to be sure the DMV office didn't get something wrong. You may also want to try changing a few digits or the old "S" vs "5" typo that typically happens there.

https://services.flhsmv.gov/MVCheckWeb/

It may not show up now if it wasn't active when they setup the computer system. Although a '62 I bought a few years ago still showed it's 1972 FL title as active.

 

Is it needed for transfer? some states don't require titles on old cars for transfer. here in Georgia you can register with a bill of sale only for an antique car, then they'll issue you a ga title.

 

You're probably right, it's been many years since I went through this living in GA with my '70 Challenger (which was from CO), but it seems like they don't issue a title on vehicles this old, but rather with the bill of sale they'll let you register it and you can go to another state with that registration?

 

I have gotten titles in the state of Michigan several times. They have forms that need to be filled out. Because Florida does not have record of the title, you should only need to contact the Ohio DMV. I could walk you through the Michigan way, if you need it. It is not that difficult. Contact the Ohio DMV and ask them what you need. If the clerk does not know, ask for a supervisor, as many clerks have never done this and might not know.

 

Here in Wa. State we do a lost title application on all vehicles where title is missing. Not sure if they have that where you are, but may be worth making a call to local DMV office, or local auditiors office. Good luck!

 

If you think it was last registered and titled in Florida, then apply for a lost title in Florida. If it comes back as nothing, try doing a title history search.

http://www.flhsmv.gov/forms/duptitle.html

Then go to Ohio and do the same thing in case it was done there. Is there a license tag on the car? Usually, just because one was put in storage for 20 or 30 years doesn't mean the license was removed. Back then, only a few states required you turn in the tag if it went off the road.

You really need some old documents. I'm not surprised you didn't find anything in the car, as things in cars disappear. You need to search the bedroom, the "family office" and so on. Bills tucked into shoe boxes on closet shelves, in the basement, in the attic, in old trunks, wherever. It really is a treasure hunt to find things like this. Remember that 30 years ago, no one had computers and so few had a dedicated family office in their house. Most didn't worry about audits and such so things got tucked wherever and whenever.

Florida will NOT issue a title without an old title, so if you can't get a replacement title from them from their records, they will not simply issue one such as on a surety bond.

Some states will issue a title when none if available if you have the car inspected and appraised and get a surety bond for 1-1/2 times the value of the appraisal. Illinois is such a state.

Some places used to allow title services to operate that issued titles from bill of sales, like Broadway Title in Alabama. However, some states refuse to recognize these now as this has been very abused over the years.

States that have no title requirement for cars registered prior to some year like 1974 or such will issue a certificate that other states will accept as it carries more weight than you writing out a Bill of Sale. I had a car in Connecticut and had no title with it. It hadn't been run in years and so there was no state registration papers (the usual accepted documents for states without titles) but I was able to get a Connecticut State Bill of Sale Certificate and the buyer had no problems using that for his title in his state.

None of these are means to get around the law for stolen or otherwise questionable vehicles. If you end up with one, and the title was obtained this way, you still lose out.




Titles don't substantiate miles if they are old. My titles from the '70s have no miles listed, or even a place to list miles, so this is only a newer title category. Also, in many states, they automatically put in EXEMPT for vehicles over 10 years old even if the mileage is known to be true.

 

Florida only kept records for 10 years in the old days checking the vin in their data base may work if not Fl is one of the worst states to work with on title problems they really dont want to help. Took me 1.5 years to straighten out a title with a bad reassignment very minor problem had similar situation in Va. fixed in 1 week.
Mark

 

I agree, Florida is terrible with helping anyone with title issues. Some I understand, as Florida was the dumping ground for ever scam that ever existed years ago. Hot cars came to Florida in huge numbers and all of the strict VIN checks, title checks, and rigid title requirements came about because of those issues.

It was bad enough that a car I bought in Florida long ago that had had a Florida title I ended up bypassing the process after 6 months of trying by going to another state with a surety bond and getting a title.

I understand making it hard for the thieves and such, but they should be able to tell the difference on one person trying to get one car straightened out that most with common sense can see is due to someone foolishly losing or not transferring a title years ago.

Heck, you can't even scrap the car at that point, as Florida requires turning in the title for s Certificate of Destruction.