So I bought my car back in september but never got the title signed over nor did we make a bill of sale. he did give me the title. His plates are still on the car. I recently contacted him and apparently he is in texas in the army or something and wont be home. He told me to just forge it but I really dont want to go that route. I don't know what to do, any suggestions?

If you trust him you could always mail him the title so he could sign...

Sounds like a nice guy. I'd take his advice and keep his texts for proof that he gave you permission to sign his name. You're not going to run into any issues though, it's not like the DMV checks the signature for authenticity on every title that comes in.

gieri002 said:

Sounds like a nice guy. I'd take his advice and keep his texts for proof that he gave you permission to sign his name. You're not going to run into any issues though, it's not like the DMV checks the signature for authenticity on every title that comes in.

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^^^^ This save the texts since it gives consent to you signing for him on it.

Yes if he gave u permission to sign his name just do it. Ive done it before the dmv doesn't investigate signatures they just make sure its signed in the correct location.

Even if he gave you permission, it's still illegal. Keep that in mind.

Best LEGAL route:
Have him type up a bill of sale, sign it and fax it to you.

I won't give you advice on doing something illegal, as I'm sure its against forum policy...

but I will say the DMV isn't exactly the CIA.

a notorized bill of sale, with the title you already have, is as good as a signed title. he can do the bill of sale and mail or fax it to you, or directly to the DMV.

dont sign it as him, if the DMV happens to notice a difference you will be in for years of paperwork trying to get it so anyone can own that car.

also, there's tenants or mechanics lien. kind of a last ditch effort if the guy is uncooperative.

Text messages will rarely, if ever, act as legal proof that somebody did or said something. The reason is that anybody could have sent the text message in question, even a buddy while the guy was in the can.
There's nothing to directly link that message to the person, it's always only about the "suggestion" that the indvidiaul wrote it, which is based solely on the subject matter and the knowledge of the subject matter. With a "yeah, go sign my name" decree, unfortunately, there's not enough subject matter to tie the individual to the text. Do not go this route.

Get it the legal way, with a signed document and as much additional personal identification as possible. While a signature can be analysed for authenticity, a photo of his license would go further in your favour.

I had bought my car with a lost title, it was a clear title in his name confirmed with the dmv. He sent me off with the duplicate title paperwork and his signature on it, but they just wanted a signed bill of sale even without the title. Drove the hour and a half to the kids house and got it written up and signed. The lady didn't look at anything but the vin number on the paperwork and I just had to pay a $7 lost title fee. Which made me think of why I even wasted the time to drive my gas hog jeep on a 3 hour round trip, because I could have done it myself under the same circumstances.

Moral of my own personal story... they get paid $9 an hr to take shit all day at the dmv. I'm sure nobody will raise a brow. Take it or leave it.

My step dad actually bought a car for my brother with only a small paper from the "receipt" tear out books. He wrote the bill of sale himself after the fact and signed his own name in two different ways, and they took it.... , I just remembered that.

There is no way I can get anything from him, he never responds and if he does it takes weeks if anything.

Apply for bonded title if you're that worried about it. It's not that expensive and it's a free/clear title to be bought/sold/etc as you will. Otherwise, just sign it and get it transferred in your name. New York might be kind of picky about these things but I really have no idea(never lived in NY). If I was that worried about legal issues with the car, just get a bonded title.