Do I qualify for "non ownership" of this vehicle that I traded in to an auto dealership?

Question

I signed my name to trade it into them and they applied the credit towards the balance on my new car, then, about a year later I got a notice in the mail saying that the car I believed I had traded in was found abandoned somewhere, in the mail I saw some towing fees etc....The DMV or some organization sold the car in auction and it had a bill on it, there is also a section on the notice to fill out about non ownership, I'd like to fill it out, but I don't know if I qualify, I did sign to give the car to the the dealership when I traded it in, but I don't know if they filed the paper work with the DMV to have it taken out of my name?

Answer 1

All you need to do is show them a copy of the buyers order with the date you purchased your new vehicle. We have similar problems with people trading in cars and someone running the toll ways without paying. Who ever the cars showed to be last registered to gets the ticket.

Answer 2

This happened to my husband about 10 years ago.  Find the paperwork where you traded the car in and make copies.  Fill out the non-ownership form explaining what happened.  That is all we had to do and we never heard anything from them again.  We later found out his old car had been sold at auction and no one ever filed for a transfer of title.  So when it was left abandoned on the interstate it was traced back to my husband.  The dealership usually will not transfer the title unless they sell it off their lot.  If sold at auction it is up to the buyer to transfer title.  Usually they do, but sometimes if you are buying a cheap car at auction you can not necessarily afford to transfer title.  I also reccomend contacting the dealership that you traded it to, just to let them know you have had this problem.   If you lost your paperwork you will need to get copies from them anyway.

Answer 3

You are no longer the owner of that car.

All you need to do is provide them a copy of your buyers order to show that you traded the car in last year.

You certainly qualify for on owner status.