STT, Car registration, insurance mockery

Good grief Robert,

What a nightmare! I hope you get this mess straightened out. I am glad you posted. I learned something from this and will try to figure out a way to cover myself when (if) I sell a car.

Best of luck to you on your return home :)!

Did you go WITH the buyer to a notary public to have the registration officially signed over? That is absolutely crucial. And did you take a copy of that to your insurance company to cancel the insurance, along with a Bill of Sale (make, year. VIN #. etc.) duly signed and notarized by both parties?

Yes I went to the notary.

No - I did not get a copy.

My insurance company said I needed a "canceled" registration form from the DMV, not a signed and notarized registration form. Their best advice as well as the advice of a laywer friend here on the island was to go with them to the DMV. Not exactly a common practice back in the states... nor something I expected I should have done.

It does sound strange - your experience, that is. I've sold sold many cars here over the years and as long as I've had a copy of the notarized (transferred) registration and a Bill of Sale (and the latter has never been given much interest but I take it along ayway) I've never had such a problem wth cancelling my insurance. In fact all these insurance changes have been done via fax for the most part and only once in person when the person buyng the car wanted to use my insurance company and I took him there.

I've never gone with the buyer to the DMV, Hope it all works out well for you!

Whenever you sell a car you must see to it that the registration is transferred out of your name and into the new owners name. This will show you selling the car and no longer being responsible for any thing that may happen. If he kills someone with the car, you will be responsible no matter how many notaries have signed the back of it. Too many people are happy to sell their car and leave without it being transferred. I do not know why the notaries do not tell their customers to head straight to the DMV and get it done. I know I did when I was one!

RL

Here in CT when you sell your car you must take the plates off and return them to the DMV. Is it not this way in the VI? The new owner can get a temporary registration, if he wishes to make repairs before full registration.

No, on this island Plates follow the car... which is really the main problem here. Plates should follow the person or be turned in. Instead the VI has its head on backwards.

The laywer I spoke with about this said its actually a rather big problem on this island and should be addressed. Ho hum....

Did everyone else feel the earthquake?

Yes, the earthquake woke me up. It was a 4.2.

I had my car put in my name today, not without any trouble!
I want to share this with you so you are warned if you ever buy a car...
The previous owner apparently had an abounded car in her name and she never paid the ticket!
Now...to get my new registration for my car (which is a different car then the one that she has abandoned) I had to pay her ticket!! This is just ridiculous!
Yes, thats right, I have to pay $250 for an abandoned car that I have never seen or was never my car, just happened to be one of the cars of the previous owner of my car!
Anything I can do about this? I paid it to the DMV because I could not get my new registration if I didn't.
Suggestions anyone? First step is probably contacting the previous owner, but maybe there is a quicker (and probably more succesful) method.

Thanks!
Inge

I dont think you have many options Inge

I am having a hard time getting ahold of this new owner too... I am going to go to the police department tomorrow and hopefully explore another option. This is just a PLAIN ignorant way of doing things and remarkably backwards.

.................and i thot things like that didnt happen in "paradise"................you mean to tell me that there are PROBLEMS in life there TOO ???? but wasnt that what i was wanting to ESCAPE ??!! ha, laughs, i know better
🙂 Marc

Sorry but the onus is on you to see to it that the car is in your name, simple as that. You should have explored the issue beforehand and would have found out what you needed to do. No sense blaming the system. If you followed the system right or wrong, you would not have the problem!

RL

lmao....Marc you will have to let us know about your pmvs...I know you are checking out several islands. You have a good sense of humor, I'm sure they will go well for you.

Ronnie

FIRST

I am going to take a leap here and assume that you meant to say that the
Onus was on me to make sure the car was taken OUT of my name,

as oppose to your statement of saying that the

"onus is on you to see to it that the car is in your name"

Because, well obviously if you read my previous post the car IS in my name and has been for the last two and a half weeks since I've sold my car

SECONDLY
"you should have explored the issue beforehand and you would have found out what you needed to do"

Ha, you speak with nothing but hindsight enabled self righteousness!

I DID explore the issue of buying and selling a car here. I researched on this site/board, with friends who live on the island and I called the DMV before buying the car when I got here. Their ONLY instructions were to "make sure the registration was notarized and that I got a copy of the owners drivers license" they also were kind enough to tell me to make sure there were no tickets attached to the plate number. When I bought the car I called my insurance, got a policy issued and drove to the DMV to get it registered. WITHOUT the seller and without him telling me "please go register this asap cuss its in my name until you do"

There was never any indication that had I not gotten it put it my name that the former owner was "still on the hook" for the insurance and liability. When I called the DMV about selling the car I recieved the same information as when I was preparing to purchase it. Notarize the registration give him a copy of your license and pay any tickets I might have...

I followed due course and put myself in a position to find this information, unfortunately it was not in a position that normal exploration allowed me to find.

The way this system is set up is illogical and not properly disclosed. Believe me, I am an independent adult that can follow directions and play the game by the rules. But I have to know what those rules are or at least were to find them.

Anyway, the bottom line is I can not physically force this man to go put the car in his name and he seems to be in no hurry to play by the rules so I will be heading to the police department tomorrow to try and sort this out.

Oh and Marc, of course I realized there are "problems" here and everywhere else. I am leaving not because of the issues with this island but because the reason I came down here no longer exists and its time to move on. This little problem is just a pain that I wanted to share with future residents considering that at no point during my exploration did this tip bit rear its head for my benefit.

Cheers

Ingetje,

Is there more to your story? I find it incredulous, even with our messed up system. Did you take the issue "up the ladder" to people of higher authority?

Is it possible she switched the plates and gave you the wrong registration? Have you asked a lawyer or sought advice from anyone who would actually know if they can get away with this?

By the way, there are people on island who do registrations for you. They are not expensive and well, well worth the money. I don't know if they can help you out when selling a car, but for registering a car, it's the only way to go. You can ask your neighbors, co-workers, etc. if they use a service, and you will get a couple of recommendations.

Robert,

You didn't do anything wrong. Everyone has a "selling a car" story, and they are all different. Everyone was told something different by their notary, their insurance co., the DMV, you name it. It's a pain in the ---, but just do the grunt work, get it straightened out (eventually you will). Write it in your journal of Caribbean experiences. You will chuckle over it later. Good luck, and after you leave, remember all the good times!

Sorry Robert. I did not remember thoroughly the series of events.Sorry to have to put you through the wringer.
I agree that somewhere, that it should be told, that transfer must be done the same day of the sale for you to make sure that it is out of your name and into theirs. That is the part of the system that needs to be disclosed, whether in a printed instruction form, verbally by someone in the DMV, or even by the notary who is doing the notarization, as I did when I was one. So many people drive around with a notarized transfer thinking it will be okay to do it when the car has to be registered. I guess that now the insurance companies are helping to encourage the transfer by making you show the completed transfer to get your money back. Last year the DMV threw a new cog in the wheel by requiring a copy of both the sellers and buyers drivers license. I doubt that is written anywhere in the law. So the people who have chosen to wait to transfer get stuck as the previous owner has left the island! Another item that should be disclosed aforehand.

Once these things are disclosed, I guess the 'system' would get better! The business of tickets on the car instead of the owner is utter nonsense as well. And now, to make someone like Inge pay for an abandonment fee for the car she owned that was not the one abandoned is ludicrous and definitely worth a court battle. That one should be told to the newspapers or a letter to the new commissioner so maybe it may be looked into by him as well as the transfer process. And guess what? Each island has it's own sub policies, so it seems like they are made up as they go!!

And Robert you can find the owner quickly, just report the car stolen. Why not? it's still in your name! That would get his attention and get you off the hook!

RL

Ugg this thing is just a mess

Thge guy said on the phone today he was "trying to get it done". But I dont ahve the luxury of time. If he doesn't get it done today I will probably have to follow some form of that final advice ronnie.. I'll have to stop by the police department before I leave tomorrow... UGGGGGGG

the problem is I am STILL paying for the insurance and I dont like to think what would happen if this guy hits someone in that car before things get changed.

Hello,

I asked a buddy that just sold a used car not too long ago for a run down and their feedback is below. Hope it helps others possibly avoid the frustration that Robert & Inge are going through/went through regarding their selling/buying a used car experience.

First he said it wasn't a quick process, took basically most of the day. He said its a must that the seller go down with the buyer to the DMV just to make sure the buyer gets things transfered. He said some buyers say they will do it, and then stall, don't go and so forth; so to get it done right and get your name off you need to go make sure it gets taken care. He added that he had problems before where a buyer never got the registration changed over so he said now he will not turn over the keys to the buyer until the registration transfer is completed. Likewise he said as a buyer you should have the seller go with you so that if there are tickets the seller can pay them. The process includes, checking to make sure there are no liens, getting paid & getting the registration signed by both parties and notarized, have a bill of sale written up (he said it wasn't necessary but thought it was a good idea), buyer needs to get their own insurance on the car which they need a copy of the signed, notarized registration to do, DMV to check for tickets, get paperwork to change registration, the buyer needs to show their proof of insurance and then switch over the registration. The seller then needs a copy of the new registration to prove to their insurance company that the car is no longer in their name so that they can get reimbursed for the difference on the insurance policy they had on the car. He mentioned the copy of both licenses as mentioned above too but I don't remember what exactly he said about them.

--Islander