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[Wyomiles]

I am not sure if this is just a Colorado thing or nation wide but I have spent my last week learning something that I never knew existed. I thought I would pass this story along so others would be aware and maybe, just maybe, there is someone out there who knows how to fix this hole in the system.

 So In August of 2016 I traded in a 93 pickup and got a 2013 pickup. Signed over the title, put the old plates on the new truck, after I registered it ,and went about my life.
 Last week I got a letter in the mail from the city of Lakewood, saying that I had to appear in court because I had not paid my parking ticket for expired plates. I had no idea what they were talking about. I had not gotten a ticket, all of my vehicles were up to date on plates, and we don't ever go to Lakewood.
 I spent all day Tuesday calling the city, the county, the state, DMV people , police and the Lakewood city attorneys. Some people I talked to were extremely rude, I was guilty, they couldn't tell me anything. But out of the dozens of folks I talked to there were a few who helped me figure out what was going on.

 Apparently the dealer had sold the truck to an auction house who then sold the truck to someone, that person had gotten a temporary tag, (this tag was the tag that was written on "my" ticket.) and then let it expire. A motorcycle officer saw the truck and issued the ticket . His handheld machine showed the new owners name attached to the plates but my name attached to the VIN. He used my name and put the ticket on the truck. I never got that ticket, I assume the new owner threw it away? So the ticket was not paid, I get the summons to appear.

 Yesterday I drive a half an hour to the court house, ran the paramilitary gauntlet , talk to a city attorney who must interact with all sorts of scum, and assumed I was too. I convinced him that someone else should be in court and he dismissed my court date. On the way out, I talked with one last , very kind and professional officer, from behind a bullet prove glass, to see if the other person would be summoned to court. He said his computer showed that that person had gotten another temp plate and that my name was still on the VIN !! I asked him how I was supposed to get my name off of a truck that I had not owned in over 6 months and had no title for. He said that that would only happen when the new owner paid the taxes and got it registered in their name! This is common, in fact one attorney said that she dealt with this every day.

 So here is the deal, pay attention because this could happen to you ! A person could literally "buy" your old vehicle, commit murder, rob a bank, ditch the car and disappear and the swat team would raid your house in the middle of the night , drag you out, (if they didn't shoot you first, because after all you are guilty until proven innocent,) all because your name is still attached to that cars VIN.

 The law needs to change such that when you trade in or sell a car, your name is taken off of the VIN. The dealer should take your title and "ownership" by putting their name on the VIN.

[FDD]

Sorry for your troubles Wyomiles

but it is not just the VIN, in ILL I had a car junked, keep the plates, and had them hanging in my garage.
The city of Chicago sent me a notice about 6 years later saying I had many parking tickets in the City.

after some digging, I found that my old plate had been reissued, and were now on some green Pontiac, I never had owned a Pontiac, in fact when I had those plates, they were on a Red Cadillac.

but no one where do anything about the tickets, just told me to pay them.

long story, short, I did not pay, and just stayed out of Chicago.

If you never go to Lakewood, then just tell them to pound sand, and prove it was you.
most times they will not go after you, because it is not a moving violation.

but you are correct, find out what is going to happen with your old cars when you sell them.   

[MamaLiberty]

The last time I sold a car to a private party, I got a form from the DMV that specifically notifies them of a sale, VIN number and both the seller and buyer contact information on it. I can't remember, but it may have required both signatures. In Calif, the plates are left on the car. Never had any problems with this.

[heyoka]

This usually happens when the buyer doesn't transfer the title, because they don't want to pay the tax(s).
You can get a signed bill of sale. It's a PIA to feel like you have to carry it around with you.
A towing company probably knows how to make the care theirs, if the title hasn't been transferred and the car hasn't been registered.
See if Custom Towing is still around in Arvada and Lakewood.

[MamaLiberty]

I just remembered a funny story about this topic. When my husband died, I had to sell the 3/4 ton truck and the camper. Sold them to different people. Didn't know about the DMV paper then, and sold it for cash. Just signed the pink slip (which luckily had both of our names on it). Anyway, never thought of it again for a few years, then got a notice from a wrecking yard wanting me to pay storage on "my" truck. I went down to see them and told them I'd sold the truck years before, had zero interest in it and certainly was not going to pay them  anything for storage - that they could do whatever they wanted with it. It had been rolled and was not salvageable. They sent me ever larger "storage" bills for months afterwards, but I ignored them.

[Wyomiles]

Thanks for the responses all!

[knobster]

sigh...  guilty until proven innocent.  Heck, sometimes they still think you're guilty even when you provide mountains of data showing otherwise.

[MamaLiberty]

sigh...  guilty until proven innocent.  Heck, sometimes they still think you're guilty even when you provide mountains of data showing otherwise.

That's because there is no rational definition of either guilt or innocence in so many cases... and those you are trying to convince control all of the definitions and have the power to ignore even those. The goal is CONTROL, and nothing else.

Heads they win, tails you lose.