Registration Question - California

[dan101]

I bought a car that I found out I will not need. I haven't carried the title into my name yet. I have the title from the owner I bought it from and smog information etc. I am planning on selling it again. Do I have to carry the title into my name or can I just endorse it over on the pink slip as the previous owner did to me (there are two lines for this). Do I have to get it smogged again? I live in California. I'm pretty sure I read on the DMV website that I am able to do this, but I have to fill out some different paper work. But I can't find that now.


Thanks to anyone who can help.

[graphicassult]

Best thing (and smartest) to do would be go down to the DMV and ask them, because if someone on here ends up being wrong and you do it wrong then you can be prosecuted for it.

[curtis73]

i agree with taking it to the DMV, but sometimes they don't know as much as you do. They deal with the same exact thing 500 times a day. If you take them something different, chances are they've never had that experience and never had to know the correct answer.

Legally, you are supposed to put it in your name within 10 days, If you don't you face potential fees and penalties. If the previous owner did not sign and send his/her NRL (notice of release of liability), then the DVM has no clue that it was sold and you can go ahead and sell it just delivering the signed title and registration to the new owner. This is technically legal since California doesn't require the seller to be present at the sale. You are a third party deliverer so to speak. This exact thing happened to me when I bought a car in NM. The guy I bought from was the second owner. He had the signed title from the original owner but never got to the DMV. So technically I'm the second owner. I received a signed title and that's all that CA DMV cared about. It was a little different since NM didn't report to CA that it was sold, but for you that depends on whether or not your seller did his/her NRL.

If they didn't, you're free to sell within 90 days of the smog certificate... or you have to get a new smog cert.

The huge legal and ethical issue here is the liability. You are financially responsible for the car, but the previous owner is legally responsible. If you're driving it and a kid runs out in front of you or you run a red light, it could go right back to the owner. I would only consider doing this if you have an ironclad buyer already and can unload it in a few days max.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/topbuysell.htm

Section 5900 of the vehicle code has some of the info you seek. It boils down to this. The seller is required to submit the NRL within 5 calendar days of the sale. The buyer is required to register it within 10 days of the sale. If they didn't do the NRL, you are walking through a big loophole. If they did do the NRL, you only have a few days left before penalties If you decide to walk through the loophole and re-sell, keep in mind that if anything goes wrong (and it can) you and the previous owner are in deep doo-doo. I personally think that the registration fees are a small price to pay for a good night's sleep, but that's me.

Whatcha sellin'?