Yeah and more and more I’m hearing my dad’s voice coming out of my mouth …
“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”, “Just because you can do it doesn’t mean that you should do it” and my favorite, “Talking to this kid (me) is like talking to a stone wall” but I guess the dreams of finding lost treasure dies hard.
No town is interested in spending money they do not have to spend. But you are instructed to contact your local municipality first. They may decline to exercise their authority. Then you move to the next step. The process is clearly spelled out in official NY DMV literature, I posted it above, here it is yet again- https://dmv.ny.gov/registration/abandoned-vehicles
Of course you will note nowhere does it say you can abscond with the abandoned property directly. As Nevada pointed out way up top, it has to go through a legal process as defined in that document.
The DMV info is for disposing of an abandoned car and it only applies to cars abandoned on your property without your permission, What the OP wants to know is how to obtain clear title to an abandoned car.
I wonder is a person could apply for a duplicate title that would have the owner’s name and last known address on it? I have gotten revised titles which is easy and all you have to do is pay the $15 and turn in the old title, but once I had misplaced a title and had to get a new one. I just don’t remember but I don’t think it was a big deal at all. I don’t remember what I needed but I suppose it would just be mailed to the address on record unless you could do an address change at the same time. I dunno, probably a dumb idea. If you had a friend in one of the DMV offices, all they would have to do is plug the VIN in the computer. Maybe it’s not allowed.
Then wait at that persons mailbox for the title?
35 years ago my room mate applied for a duplicate title using the information on the registration slip but updated the address to ours. They didn’t check identification back then. After the replacement title arrived he signed it and transferred ownership to his name.
He has been in jail a few times but not for this, the vehicle was of little value and the owner on record had was not interested in finding the vehicle.
Im posting legal process defined by the state. You said no police would do towing in your area so I posted the legal process to follow if that turns out to be the case.