Getting a truck title

I am trying to purchase an IH R150 truck, 1950 year model. The seller does not know where the title is. It has belonged to the family for a very long time so they have had it registered to them in NC. At that age, it never had a VIN but I have the chassis serial number. Anyone been in a similar situation, I am looking for suggestions.
 
Didn't "titles" start around 1973? Do they have an old registration? Or can/will a DMV come up with one? Here it depends on the DMV office, and the person you get. A neighbor has registered a 50's Brockway with just the serial number.
 
If the truck was last registered in NC and you have a number (vin or otherwise) dmv could tell you the last registered owner was. from there that person could apply for a lost title. We did this search in NC (where we live) for my fathers 56 GMC and found the last registered owner but the truck and been resold and not put on the road. Good Luck...
 
Some states will require you to post a surety bond that guarantees if another party shows up and can rightfully claim they owned the truck, they will be compensated for the loss. Not too hard to get these bonds and should not be too expensive, ask about this at the DMV then go see your insurance agent.
 
I have some experience with this and live between Statesville and Winston-Salem. Will try to help. Are there any old registration cards available? How long has this family owned it? Since new? When was it last licensed? The DMV in Raleigh may have to manually search their files to verify the paper work for a MVR-4 lost title form.

email me gfoster at yadtel dot net. Will help in any way. Should not be much of a problem.

Garry
 
You have the past owners name, you just need the family to apply for a lost title. Here it is 50.00 I think, the last one I needed was three years ago.
 
That chassis serial number will be the key. It may be stamped on the firewall also. Is there a tag anywhere on firewall or door jamb? Have never messed with an IH that old. Is the inspection form still in the truck anywhere?

The lost title form will have to have some documentation from the DMV verifying the current ownership. A phone call to the Raleigh DMV HQ will probably be necessary. I have found them to be helpful.

Garry
 
The chassis serial is probably the vehicle ID. Don't know NC, but in Calif. after 10 or so years it drops out of the system. This makes it so much easier when no paper work is available. The last vehicle I registered. I used a company that will do all the paper work. You might try to find one in your state Look under registeration services. Take what they charge and deduct from the price. Stan
 
My first car was a 1951 Chevy 2 door. It had been setting without wheels in a pasture for years. They did not have the title. In South Dakota, the seller was able to get a duplicate from the DMV, so I had a clear title for $2!
 
Don't know about NC, but here in Nebraska you can go to wherever the vehicle was registered last and get a duplicate title for $14.

When I was in high school, I had a pickup. It was actually titled to my father. When I joined the Marine Corps, it was parked on the farm and pretty much abandoned. A neighbor did some custom work for my father, and instead of cash payment, he asked if he could have the pickup. So my father gave it to him. The title was never transferred. The neighbor just parked the pickup and never got around to doing anything with it.

Fast forward some 30 years. A fellow wanted to buy the pickup from the neighbor. By then, my father had passed away, and who knows where the title was. At that point, there were still channels to go through to get the title on the vehicle. I remember my mother needed to sign an affidavit that my father had owned the pickup, etc. Can't remember the rest.

Best thing you can do is start with your local DMV and work upward.
 
The only answer that matters is the one you get from your state's motor vehicle department. It would be best to give them a call
 
Well, at least you mentioned the state. Everybody's speculations about how to do it makes good reading, but of course, mean nothing.

Talk to the NC Dept. of Motor Vehicles. Title issues are a matter of state law, and nobody else's ideas are of any value at all.
 
Depends on the state, Bob. North
Carolina has had titles, (registered certificate of ownership) for over sixty years.
 
GarryinNC pretty well has it nailed down. If you can't find an old registration card, is there by any chance an old license plate still on the truck? They may be able to trace that. Or can they tell you the name of the person that it was registered to? Once sufficient information is found, it is no problem to apply for a lost title replacement.
 
you might get lucky if the owner still has a plate on the truck, when i drug the 1957 chevy ton and a half out of a barn that im fixing up the original owner decided to get it re redigesterd and licenced again , he took the last redigestration hew had and its licence plate number to the dmv and they found it in their computer, this last licence plate and redigestration was from 1976!
 
Go to the county courthouse dmv where it was last registered. Ask for an application for duplicate title. Have the previous owner or if they are deceased the executor of their estate , fill it out. That should get you a title. That's how it works in my state Iowa.
 
In Minnesota a "Statement of Facts" is required from the seller to register an out-of-state vehicle with no title. It took several weeks to get everything straightened out.

The procedure is likely to be different in every state, so do your homework and talk to your states DMV to find out what they require before you buy it. Don't rely on the seller to do all the research and paperwork or you could wind up buying a vehicle that you cannot register in your state.
 
Might as well go see your local DMV officer. (Same one that does salvage titles for dealers). NC changed it's laws several years ago on the old stuff to curtail stolen vehicles. You'll have to apply for it and then the DMV man has to certify it as roadworthy before you can get a new title. If I'm not mistaken he'll have to go along with any changes you make. Last I heard it was several hundred bucks for the process.
 
If I remember correctly, pre-1957 vehicles had the motor number on the title also. I had a 1952 Ford that the title stated, "motor changed". If you changed the motor, the title had to be changed to note it. Just a thought while you are looking for numbers, check the engine for a serial number.
 
If the seller cannot provide a title, RUN (do not walk) away from this deal. It is NOT your job to find the title, it is the SELLER"S job.

More than likely, they made more than one of those trucks, and there's another seller out there, somewhere, who has their ducks in a row!
 
You need to go to your place where you get titles and plates as you need to follow local laws and not advice here as all states are different some are much easier than others.
 
(quoted from post at 20:28:22 10/07/13) Well, at least you mentioned the state. Everybody's speculations about how to do it makes good reading, but of course, mean nothing.

Talk to the NC Dept. of Motor Vehicles. Title issues are a matter of state law, and nobody else's ideas are of any value at all.

Agree 100%. What goes in NY or Az or ND means nothing in NC. Go talk to the DMV friend.
 
Many states only require a chassis # and a written bill of sale to register a vehicle that old (e.g. Maine and Vermont). If your state does not allow it - get someone from another state to buy it (in theory) and then transfer it to you. I've done that many times with paper-less trucks I bought in New York and New Jersey.
 
(quoted from post at 02:45:30 10/08/13) If the seller cannot provide a title, RUN (do not walk) away from this deal. It is NOT your job to find the title, it is the SELLER"S job.

More than likely, they made more than one of those trucks, and there's another seller out there, somewhere, who has their ducks in a row!

to add to Bob's excellent advice, when you SELL an old vehicle,
copy everything you have before you hand it to the buyer.
after telling a buyer repeatedly that the ancient 'transferable'
registration I was giving him was about the
only proof the car even existed..........yep, he lost it on the way home.
major pain....
 
The easiest way to handle it would be for the seller to apply for a lost title. If they can't or won't you'll likely have to go the bonded title route.

People at your local DMV Secretary of State or whatever NC calls it might not be of much help if you have to get a bonded title. If something is out of their comfort zone they may just tell you it can't be done. You'll probably have to talk to someone at the head office. Check their website. They may have the info you need on their website.

Some states are taking a hard look at old cars and trucks. One reason is they want to make sure the vehicle that is registered is actually the same vehicle. You can thank those that buy and use old titles or other less than honest means to title and register vehicles. The other reason some states are taking an interest in old vehicles is they've found them a good source of income. IL and MA are a couple of states that are using vintage vehicles for a money grab.
 
I missed if you are transfering the vehicle in-state or to another state. It should be much easier if it is an in-state transfer, only one DMV to deal with.
 
Title forever? define 'forever' and 'most' states. 1980s might be start of titles in some states- that was when federals started 'suggesting' it. You note New York didn't, I had to get a title for a 1981 Georgia little scooter and Alabama had a registration form that had a bill of sale/inspection line- no title, useful for some car and motorcycle thieves to get a 'application' from Alabama, fill it out, pay the 'application fee' with its payment date noted and then use that as a 'title apllication' in Illinois and some other states. a year later when the stolen vehicle MIGHT be found out stolen the Alabama clerks were blamed- they pointed to the state law and the application form that said not complete until inspector signs off and ask for the inspectors name and badge number recorded on the submitted form- 'it doesn't have one'- clerk then asked how a idiot in the other state got a job when he was a illiterate, couldn't or wouldn't read simple form- and in Illinois case said the clerk and his boss probably took the bribe. FBI investigating usually gave up at that point- hard to argue against that line of defense when the Illinois Secratary of state dies and leaves 47 shoeboxs with title and registration forms with 'check enclosed' made out to Paul Powell and cashed into his personel accounts. VIN numbers until late 1950s were the engine numbers on a plate on the engine for many vehicles- Harley motorcycles used engine numbers only until late 1960s, no seperate frame numbers. Lots of states have a section for old vehicles transfer- if you can dig up a old registratio or a insurance form with identifiable number and owners name, you can after paying for title search, inspection usually get a new title. Might get 2 titles- one 'new' dated as of the title application/inspection date say 1970s and one from the later found registration say 1931 VL Harley vehicle so you can get the antique plate and go to the vintage shows. The 1970s SOS -Secratary of State-title and tags may end up on a newer Harley that disappeared from the police garage, not saying it happened exactly, but when Chicago police officer caught at auto show with a stolen Eagle cycle and it goes to evidence and 'disappears' the police officer can't be charged with felony theft-- and police dept pays for lost evidence with a non admittance of crime check and a take it or leave it attitude invites a bit of bad Karma(and a skilled repo man into their garage). RN.
 
Go on the title service sites and see if your state allows title service titles. Mine does not but the site says to recheck as the law is constanly changing. If your state does not then you have to use a family member in another state which does.The service buys your vehicle for one dollar then titles it in {Nevada is one] their state then sells it back to you. Cost is about 100 dollars. Im pretty sure VINs started way before the 1950s.
 
I did not read the whole thing first. Best thing is to do what Pops wrote . Have the seller apply for a lost title. I have done that and even paid the fees just to get the vehicle. Cost about the same as a title service but much easier.
 
Did it ever have a title? Some states just registered the vehicle and the back of the registration was used to transfer title.

Not sure how NC works
 
property taxes on a retired truck? what kind of setup do you have there? here as long as ownership can be documented and the vehicle has the requires lites turn signals ect theyll issue a plate, the only problems ive heard of is old trucks bought for ranches some of which are the size of some eastern states, these trucks were never plated since they were used as feed trucks, water trucks ect and never left private property during their working life
 

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