Post by edog1973 on Nov 17, 2014 14:52:46 GMT -8
So I purchased a trailer with only a bill of sale. I know, I know, bad idea. But, I really liked the trailer and it was only a couple hundred dollars. I was willing to walk away from it if the title became an issue. I just received my new plates in the mail today and the new title should arrive in a couple of weeks. I thought I would document the process for anyone else who runs into the same situation.
According to the previous owner the trailer had sat in a field in Reading, CA for quite a few years before she purchased it and moved it to Eugene. She did not receive a title either and thus could only provide a bill of sale. The story seemed likely since the trailer was still sporting black California plates. California stopped issuing black plates in 1968 so they are probably original. However someone had scratched off the registration tags so we don't know when it was last registered.
After dragging it home to Portland my first task was to find the VIN number under 4 layers of paint. Armed with the VIN I called Oregon DMV, they had no record of it in their systems (as expected) but explained the process to me. I needed to contact the DMV in California, Washington, and Idaho to confirm that it was not titled in those states. If any of the states had a record on file I would have to get a replacement title from them first and then transfer the title to Oregon. If none of the other states had any title on file I needed get a "Letter of No Record" from each and could apply to Oregon for a replacement title. I proceeded to call the DMV for all three states and none of them had any information. I had expected to find information in California, but I was told that they purge old records from their systems after 10 years of inactivity.
With no information found in any of the other states I begun the process of getting the Letters of No Record. California ended up being the most difficult (go figure). I had to fill out a specific form and mail it in to them with a check for $5. It ended up taking over 6 weeks to receive their letter back. The DMV in Idaho was very easy to work with, they took down my information over the phone and mailed me a letter right away. With Washington I simply filled out an online form and had their response emailed to me in less than an hour.
To complete the process I drug the trailer down the the local DMV to have them inspect and confirm the VIN number. I filled out a simple form explaining the situation and submitted the letters I received from the other states. A couple weeks later my new plates arrive in the mail.
One big caveat, I have no idea where this process would have gone had the VIN been found in another state. The first Oregon DMV person I talked to half joked that I'd be best off not finding it anywhere else. Luckily for me California purges their records. To be honest, it took a while to complete, but it was a rather easy process in Oregon.
According to the previous owner the trailer had sat in a field in Reading, CA for quite a few years before she purchased it and moved it to Eugene. She did not receive a title either and thus could only provide a bill of sale. The story seemed likely since the trailer was still sporting black California plates. California stopped issuing black plates in 1968 so they are probably original. However someone had scratched off the registration tags so we don't know when it was last registered.
After dragging it home to Portland my first task was to find the VIN number under 4 layers of paint. Armed with the VIN I called Oregon DMV, they had no record of it in their systems (as expected) but explained the process to me. I needed to contact the DMV in California, Washington, and Idaho to confirm that it was not titled in those states. If any of the states had a record on file I would have to get a replacement title from them first and then transfer the title to Oregon. If none of the other states had any title on file I needed get a "Letter of No Record" from each and could apply to Oregon for a replacement title. I proceeded to call the DMV for all three states and none of them had any information. I had expected to find information in California, but I was told that they purge old records from their systems after 10 years of inactivity.
With no information found in any of the other states I begun the process of getting the Letters of No Record. California ended up being the most difficult (go figure). I had to fill out a specific form and mail it in to them with a check for $5. It ended up taking over 6 weeks to receive their letter back. The DMV in Idaho was very easy to work with, they took down my information over the phone and mailed me a letter right away. With Washington I simply filled out an online form and had their response emailed to me in less than an hour.
To complete the process I drug the trailer down the the local DMV to have them inspect and confirm the VIN number. I filled out a simple form explaining the situation and submitted the letters I received from the other states. A couple weeks later my new plates arrive in the mail.
One big caveat, I have no idea where this process would have gone had the VIN been found in another state. The first Oregon DMV person I talked to half joked that I'd be best off not finding it anywhere else. Luckily for me California purges their records. To be honest, it took a while to complete, but it was a rather easy process in Oregon.
