I am contemplatinng buying a car from an individual.

This person bought this car and never had the title under his name, he is no longer in possesion of the title(lost it) but still has the bill of sale.

The title was last titled in NY and I need to get a CA title

I personally dont know how to apply or obtain a title with just having a bill of sale and not having a title.

Is there a way around not having a title?

Is there a company that can do this type of title transfer?

You should be able to find the information you need here.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/dl/dl.htm
CCLINDMVCA

It's possible in many states, I know.

But, for me, there are too many cars out there with clean titles to screw around with something that's not right. Call me paranoid, but buying a car without a title just seems to beg for trouble down the road. Especially if it was never registered to the seller.

Have the seller make it right... then buy the car. If he can't or won't... screw 'im.

-Rusty

I bought a car about 4 or 5 years back with no title. In my case the car hadn't been registered for so long it was completely out of the DMV records. All it took in that case was signing a form which said the car was not stolen, was not operated on any streets when unregistered, and who/how much the car was purchased for. Then I filled out what year the car was, and the VIN, got a sheriff to come out and verify the VIN, and a couple weeks later I had a title in my name. Of course if the car is still in the DMV computer it might be a lot more of a hassle... so as always YMMV.

-Kevin

Oh, I just forgot, when I went to the DMV I didn't even tell them I had a bill of sale. I just told them I got a car and needed to get it a title and registration. I gave them the VIN, they said it wasn't on file and told me what hoops I had to jump through to get a new title. Before you actually buy the car you might want to write down the VIN and go see what the DMV has on it... If it’s not on record in CA it should be a snap.

-Kevin

Even if the car is on record, you can get DMV to give you a new title. My current driver was puchased without a title. CA DMV gave me name and address of last titled CA owner and told me to contact them...

All I did was call them on the phone and verbally verify that they had no interest in the car, it had been sold. I wrote the same down on a DMV form and they accepted it!

It was scary to me how easy it was to get a new title.... and for that matter to get address info out of the DMV...

Of course the fact that the car had no title was a good barginning tool to bring the price down.

I'd forward the info to the seller, and make him/her deal with it, if they dont want to take care of it, than subtract from the purchase price your time/agrivation, etc...

Some states, like Alabama, are no title states on older cars. All they have is registration. To register an old car in AL, you don't even need a car, much less have them see it. I would run the numbers by CA DMV first.

Also, some fellow was recently convicted in AL for submitting paperwork for 100's of custom built cars saying they were 1934 Fords, or whatever. Well, they were modeled after '34's (or whatever), but they were worth big bucks, and that's what sunk him. They called it fraud and CA DMV was the instigator on the charges.

If you want an easy title, at least be honest about the car. A $100,000 Boyd custom does not get to be registered as a $5000 hot rod. Not anymore.

There are more of those guys on the Internet, but the game is tighter now.

ok, i live in nj. i work in the automotive business in ny. what you need is the registration from the car, a vin etching, a notarized statement explaining the circumstances, a notarized bill of sale and about 3 weeks worth of patience. they do not have titles for cars older than 30 years. go to the ny dmv website, call them and ask how you get a title ...piece of cake. that ia how i am getting my 914-6 titled