I'm Having a Problem Stealing a Car?
I had to evict a tenant 2 months ago but his damn derelict car is still here. It's been sitting in the same spot for 1.75 years. I want it, it has a nice 383 in it. It doesn't move unless you push it. I live in Missouri. I've already tried the DMV to get registration information on it and they won't tell me squat because of something called "DPPA" (Driver's Privacy Protection Act). Well, I circumnavigated that with a filing of a DOR-4678 form. I got my "Security Access Code" yesterday and now I'm filing out a form DOR-5017 to get online access to DMV records.
I'm about to become a very powerful force. Full access to driver's records, vehicle records, SSN numbers, etc. All for 3.8 cents per record check. Anyway, back to the story.
The car is, in all likelihood, not titled to the guy I evicted. I almost guarantee (99.999% positive) that it is still registered to the guy he bought it from (BTW, I've heard nothing from this evicted kid and he owes me about 4,000 bucks). There are about 5 ways I could handle this and I'm wondering which is best:
1). I could file and certified mail a DOR-5227 form after I find out who the titular owner is (abandoned vehicle, 30 days to respond). If the titular owner wants to come get it or takes an interest, I have no recourse, I can't stop him but to call the cops and charge criminal trespass (I don't even know who this guy is or if the certified mail will even be received, but a no delivery ticket is good enough in Missouri).
2). I could go for a lien sale (form DOR-4577 and DOR-108), notifying the titular owner and all lien holders that the vehicle is in storage and racking up charges by the hour, day, and week. There are problems with this one, the sale is actually conducted on the courthouse steps and while I'd get the money back, I want the car. I'd have to bid on the damn thing myself. The good thing is, if there were no bidders, it's mine for free. I'd be both the seller and the buyer.
3. A combination of both DOR-5227 and DOR-4577 (the one that says the titular owner owes me 1.75 years worth of storage costs).
4. Adverse possession. I could wait 5 more years and file a case in circuit court in 60 months for adverse possession (I don't like this one, but it's an option).
5. Strip it down and say hooligans did it. All I really want is the 383.
Is there anything I'm leaving out? The titular owner will probably not care about certified mail concerning an abandoned car he sold years ago and the punk kid that really does own it is too stupid to get it titled correctly. I have 0 legal responsibility to try to notify him. As they say at the Chinese laundry, "No tickey, no washey." I've been told that getting a car declared abandoned is a bad idea compared to conducting a (hopefully) uncontested lien sale.
What do you guys think?
Good try, Jane, but that's one of the first things that comes up on Google when searching for this subject. I've already seen it. What I really want to know is why an abandoned vehicle title capture is so bad as opposed to a lien sale title? Some sites are even saying that salvage and scrap titles are superior to abandoned. I guess I don't understand the differences. I don't steal cars very often.
I also thought of a sixth option. I could rummage the car, find the original title, go to the guy's house, and have him sign it over. That would solve bunches, but I'd have to find the original title. If it's not there, I still have to do a VIN search and have an original title printed at DMV for this option to work.
__________________
Why in the hell would I want to report this to the cops? I think I've been fairly comprehensive in my statements of what can happen. Why should I simply give my prize up to the damn government? I will eventually have to call the cops for an on site "inspection" but I'll be damned if I do that before I get proper title. They'd just tow it and I'd never see it again. You have no idea how to steal a car. You are a moron. Stop speaking.