BentValve
Diamond Member
I sold a car 11/4/02 and in my state-,WA I sign the title and turn in the vehicle sellers report located on the bottom portion of the title . this releases my responsibility for the car in case the new owner does not transfer the title in the 15day period allowed and get in trouble with the vehicle or whatever.
A few weeks ago I got a letter in the mail stating that my car (the one I sold) had been seized by the sheriffs dept and impounded at a tow yard..the tow yard wanted $168 towing fees and $39 a day storage totaling close to $1200 by now. The tow company told me they got an AVR (abandoned vehicle report) from the Dept. of Licencing and they told them I owned the vehicle.
I was shocked as I had sold it. I called the DOL and sure enough I was still listed as the registered owner , they also told me that I had went to a third party DOL office a few cities away and told them that 'the deal had falled thru' and 'I bought new tabs for it'.....I was really shocked now because I never go to that city and THIS DID NOT HAPPEN.
Finally the state told me that there was nothing they could do for me and to contact that cities DOL office.
I contacted that cities main DOL office and the manager did some research. She called me back a few hours later and told me that I had written a note for someone allowing them to purchase tabs for my vehicle..she then directed me to the 3rd party office that had issued the tabs.
As it turns out it is perfectly legal for someone else to recieve automobile tabs as long as they have a signed note from the owner. At this point there is virtually nothing I can do except hire a writing expert to verify that this note was indeed forged....but then I found some evidence that cleared my name.
At the same time the new tabs were issued so was the sale cancelled.....for this a drivers licence is needed and as it turns out for some reason the office cannot locate these papers nor does the state DOL office have these.
I was given the owner of the DOL office outlet's phone number and I gave her a call.
She kept on about how it was perfectly legal for someone else to bring in a note signed by me to get tabs...and she also said how it was so strange that the cancel of sale papers could not be found.
I told her that perhaps this guy knew someone in the office and she/he bent a few rules or something...because how else was the sale canceled without me there? I told her that we would have to go to court to settle this matter and at that point she admitted that she was the one that gave out the tabs
and that court was not needed...my name would be cleared and she would personally go down to the tow yard and take care of the problem. My guess is that she is going to pay the costs out of her pocket.
She also had told me that she has owned this business for 20years and she did not want to lose it.
What is the right thing to do here?..
Should I pursue this in court or go ahead and let her take care of the problem.
I have begun to wonder what other sort of things might have gone on in that office for the last 20 years...perhaps it is my duty as an American to pursue this case?
A few weeks ago I got a letter in the mail stating that my car (the one I sold) had been seized by the sheriffs dept and impounded at a tow yard..the tow yard wanted $168 towing fees and $39 a day storage totaling close to $1200 by now. The tow company told me they got an AVR (abandoned vehicle report) from the Dept. of Licencing and they told them I owned the vehicle.
I was shocked as I had sold it. I called the DOL and sure enough I was still listed as the registered owner , they also told me that I had went to a third party DOL office a few cities away and told them that 'the deal had falled thru' and 'I bought new tabs for it'.....I was really shocked now because I never go to that city and THIS DID NOT HAPPEN.
Finally the state told me that there was nothing they could do for me and to contact that cities DOL office.
I contacted that cities main DOL office and the manager did some research. She called me back a few hours later and told me that I had written a note for someone allowing them to purchase tabs for my vehicle..she then directed me to the 3rd party office that had issued the tabs.
As it turns out it is perfectly legal for someone else to recieve automobile tabs as long as they have a signed note from the owner. At this point there is virtually nothing I can do except hire a writing expert to verify that this note was indeed forged....but then I found some evidence that cleared my name.
At the same time the new tabs were issued so was the sale cancelled.....for this a drivers licence is needed and as it turns out for some reason the office cannot locate these papers nor does the state DOL office have these.
I was given the owner of the DOL office outlet's phone number and I gave her a call.
She kept on about how it was perfectly legal for someone else to bring in a note signed by me to get tabs...and she also said how it was so strange that the cancel of sale papers could not be found.
I told her that perhaps this guy knew someone in the office and she/he bent a few rules or something...because how else was the sale canceled without me there? I told her that we would have to go to court to settle this matter and at that point she admitted that she was the one that gave out the tabs
and that court was not needed...my name would be cleared and she would personally go down to the tow yard and take care of the problem. My guess is that she is going to pay the costs out of her pocket.
She also had told me that she has owned this business for 20years and she did not want to lose it.
What is the right thing to do here?..
Should I pursue this in court or go ahead and let her take care of the problem.
I have begun to wonder what other sort of things might have gone on in that office for the last 20 years...perhaps it is my duty as an American to pursue this case?
