Getting A Title In Pa

[tniss]

A friend of mine recently purchased a type 25 fire truck. It was stored in a barn for almost 20 years and the wife of the now deceased owner sold it to my friend. Well the widow cannot find the title and now we are runnning into a dead end with Penn Dot. Any ideas on how to get a Title transferred without the Title in PA?

[Firemack]

TNISS

The owners wife needs to first request a duplicate PA title, you need to take the vin number into a tag service and they can run that for you, or you can go the PA DMV website and request duplicate title, once you have the title then if she has power of attorney for thr husband may be able to sign it and then transfer it to your friend. If she does not have power of attorney then will most likely have the re-issue the title in her name then can sell it/transfer it to your friend. You may need to ask your state rep what the rule is or a lawyer to clarify how she can sign the title for the deceased husband.

Firemack

[steve s.]

TNISS, Firemack has a good plan. If you can come up with an old owners card it might speed up the process. You may have difficulty without something like an owners card or a title number, if the vehicle was titled long enough ago that it doesn't show up in the PennDOT computer system. If that turns out to be the case, your best bet might be to go through the court to get a title. I have done this successfully several times, and while it is a pain in the neck, it does work. Good luck, Steve

[tniss]

Steve S. what would something like that cost?

[hicrop10]

You will also have to have a orignal death cert.,if the the truck was in the husband name.I am having a problem with Penndot also.I brought a 1956 ford f600 out in Montana and the wife sign the title but not the husband(he died),Penndot want a death cert.I would advise you if the husband has passed then just have the wife sign his name and no one will be the wiser.

[steve s.]

tniss, Going through the court in PA is not terribly expensive, but it is slow and there are many steps involved. To file the petition in your county court can vary among counties, but for me the cost was $ 72.00 a couple years ago. Then you need to get certified copies of vehicle records from PennDot, $10.00 +, A couple of notarized signatures $ 10.00+, certified mail you need to send $ 10.00+ There may be some other items, but you get the idea. And this is all before you get to court and the judge says you own it, and then you can apply to Penn DOT for a title $ 22.50 and next you"ll have the pleasure of paying your sales tax 6%.

Another route to getting a title is to go through a title service. There are many of these to be found on the internet, and some of them will deal with trucks, though not too many. Basically you sell them your truck ( on paper ) and they title it in their state, and then sell it back to you with paperwork that will go right through Penn DOT. This is easier, but more expensive....if you find a good co. to work with. Best of luck to you, Steve