That should have been recorded with the DMV and the Department of Revenue 2 years ago. How can the car be appraised today?
It is going to be impossible to sell the car to a salvage yard now with no car and no title.
Surely there is some form or procedure to rid oneself of the legal ownership of a car which was sold, repossessed, junked, or impounded, and thus is out of the registered owner’s possession. Such procedure would necessarily not involve asking the registered owner to prove a negative, i.e. to produce the car which no longer exists, or to prove that the car is gone.
A person could no more easily prove that they don’t have a particular car anymore than they could prove that ghosts do not exist or that UFO’s aren’t real. That is why (for the most part) our legal system is designed to avoid the impossibility of making someone prove a negative.
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So far this vehicle is not known to have been sold, repossessed, junked or impounded. It could be reported that it fell into the ocean but what if the carcass turns up next week in a chop shop?
If the vehicle is reported missing or stolen the back taxes are still due and the loan will be due upon notice. There is no easy way out.
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Let’s see; you have made a whole series of poor decisions, from the purchase, to the lapsed insurance, to the failure to document the scrapping of the car. Now you may be making another poor decision based on information from the internet. If you have a tax problem, consult the taxing authority and determine exactly haw much you owe. Compare that to the cost of real advise, not a free consultation, from an attorney. This drama has been going on since 2015, take responsibilty and do the right thing.
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Advice to someone who has repeatedly, over years, acted irresponsibly. OP suffers from no misfortune, only his judgment. The only advice I can imagine him taking is creating a new identity and moving to another state.
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As I said… “I take full responsibility and fault for this entire situation - I didn’t think my actions through from the beginning when I obtained the Elantra. But I’m trying to make things right and do everything I can to square away this situation as best as I can. If anyone could point me in the right direction of how to handle this, I would be so grateful.”
I checked with the tax office - they’re back taxes. The plates and registration were cancelled a few months after the accident in 2017. The issuing bank for the loan has been aware of the accident since it occurred and also about it being destroyed. I’m responsible for the balance.
I’ll leave the discussion board up for the remainder of the week just in case someone else out there is dealing with something similar.
Thank you for your information and concern, Ben.
That information changes everything. Since everything was canceled, I assume you have proof, would the tax office only ask for back taxes and not levy any future taxes?
If that is the case, pay the back taxes and move on.
Unless you have a legal reason for the back taxes not being owed, you should pay them. If you cannot, the tax office may be able to set up a payment plan with you.
This might not require an attorney.
Yeah, I agree. The situation has become clearer. I’d still check with the bank to see if they have a master policy that would cover the loss though.
No one has mentioned a police report yet. You need a copy of this first.
Then check with the bank. When you have a loan and you fail to renew the insurance, the insurance company will notify the bank. The bank usually takes measures to protect themselves by getting an insurance policy that protects their interests. Sometimes these policies will pay off the loan in case of an accident, others only pay the bank in the event you stop payments after the accident, but in those cases, the insurance company will go after you for recovery doing much damage to your credit in the process.
But talk to the bank anyway and see what your options are.
Also talk to the agency sending you the tax bill and show them the police report. They may be able to give you relief.
If you don’t talk to the people involved here, they have no way to help you here. You are just digging yourself into a deeper hole.
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They have already done that, The plates and registration have also been dealt with.
The only issue the poster has is owing back taxes.
Let me start off by saying that I am probably the worst person to give advice on this particular situation. So I will basically just present my thinking and some questions rather than give outright advice out of my normal waters.
That being said…since the bank just wants the balance, and you agree to pay it…isn’t that the end of it? Just pay the taxes also… Make the problem go away. So long as there have been no injury claims etc… What else is there to do? You clearly own up to owing the balance of a vehicle and yet worry about some taxes along the way? The taxes are just another page in this horror story of sorts, no?
My friends on this forum will undoubtedly show me the error of my thinking above, of this I am quite certain. Their critiques I actually look forward to, in the endeavor to bring forth fruit in my formerly fruitless tree of knowledge.
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You should change thread title to “car gone-loan remains”. Would be less depressing
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I was concerned the town would keep taxing a “ghost” car. Since I’m under the knowledge the tow shop junked or sold it, the tax assessor asked for a receipt to “close out” the entity. But the tow shop never produced one to me. I spoke to said shop yesterday and the girl claims they have no paperwork of the Elantra ever having been there. The owner was supposed to call me back to discuss further but no call back. So I guess I have to take up the issue with them.
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Don’t expect a confession from that shop, they had no legal right to sell that car so from their prospective it never happened. Because you didn’t have plans to pick up the car they probably had someone haul it away so they could have the parking space back.
Back to the police report again. Check to see if the responding towing company is listed on the police report. If it is, then the tow company cannot duck their responsibility. If the tow company was called by the police and not you, then they could lose their status as one of the companies that the police can call. That is often the bulk of their business so you will have leverage there.
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I can’t answer for CT, but here in CO they do not appear to have any mechanism for dealing with a vehicle you are not or cannot drive or emissions test. I speak from personal experience trying to do so. Well, either that or the DMV was just clueless.
I can’t speak for your state but here in OK if someone (dealer, individual, shop, etc) sells a car (used, junk, or otherwise) without a title they can end up in a bunch of legal trouble.
Just to continue on, if you check Connecticut’s vehicle property taxing, it appears to be a city tax not a state tax. So it’s up to the local taxing authority how they deal with it. In the one city I looked at they did have a provision for scrapped vehicles but required some forms etc. to be filled out. Of course, employees write the rules and the forms needed and there is always someone that has the authority to over-ride the information-not the clerk at the counter.
In Minnesota there is a DMV provision for forcing a title change. On at least two occasions I’ve had to go to DMV and do it. Once you show info the car was sold, a few clicks on the computer seemed to take care of the transfer. I know they were looking at real information because the clerk said “he should have known better” and clicked away making the transfer. Didn’t matter who actually held the paper title anymore. So just sayin’ this is not the first time things like this have happened and they have ways of dealing with it so it doesn’t turn into a catch 22 and burn the computers up. In one additional instance a car I junked had not been cleared through the DMV and still showed in my name. So stuff happens. The affidavit to the court got me out of the traffic fines and the DMV took care of the rest.