Used Cars: Title re-assigment, buying and selling cars, dmv office

Question
Hi Shane,

I am about to purchase a car from a private owner.  The tile has been re-assigned by the registered owner to a friend from whom I am purchasing the car (The owner has left the country).  Does the car need to have a new title with the person to whom the car's title has been reassigned?

I am living in North Carolina and want to know how to go about purchasing the car and not have any future title problems?

Answer
Hello, thanks for your question. Some state have what is called a "Correction of Title" form that can be filled out to state any errors that a title may contain. In your case you could fill out this form and claim that the person the title is re-assigned to now did not buy the car and you are the purchaser. If it has been a considerable amount of time since the title was re-assigned you should be ok, but if it is fairly recent you could get questioned by the DMV on the validity of the Correction form. The DMV may require you to provide a Bill of Sale from the registered owner. If you do not have one you will run into trouble at the DMV office. States do this to keep private individuals from buying and selling cars without paying sales tax. If the person you are buying the car from is not the registered owner, then they are owning and selling a car without paying sales tax and that is illegal. Only a licensed auto dealer can do that. Hope this helps, Shane