Title/registration in Iowa
 

Hey guys...got the truck back from California...need some info...here is the deal:

The truck has not been licensed since 2003, when it was sold by owner #1 to owner #2, owner #2 tried to license the truck but it didn't pass the smog test...so this person didn't ever get it titled in his name. Owner #2 sold it to Owner #3. Owner #3 also attempted to have it smog tested and it failed. He didn't bother to replace the carb and correct the vac lines so it would pass...so he sold the truck to me. So here I sit with a truck from CA, still titled in owners #1 name...I do have a signed bill of sale from owners #2 to #3 and from #3 to myself and the fees have been paid up to date in CA......what kind of crap am I going to get into trying to license this?

I had a situation like that in the past, the title was signed and dated, and had been passed on to each owner from there, but never re registered. The clerk at the DMV actually told me I had to have each owner title it... yeah right! I bypassed the bs, tracked down the last registered owner, and asked for a duplicate title, to get it cleaned up. Well, it turned out that the son of the little old lady was a car salesman, so he took care of getting me a fresh title, they seemed to be afraid I was trying to scam her or something, all I wanted was a clean title! BUt anyway, if you know someone with a dealer license, they can transfer it without the bs, otherwise, if the title is signed, but not dated, take it in and get it registered, last I knew, you didn't have to have a bill of sale, but it could be different now, or with out of state plates.Nothing else(not exactly legal, but the transaction was...) make your own bill of sale... they won't be checking it out unless there is a reason, like the VIN came back stolen... (I DIDN'T TELLYOU...) Otherwise, you may have to enlist the help of the individual that sold it to contact the last registered owner for a clean title... they are still liable as long as it is in their name, so that is motivation to work with you. There is a method also called bond title, but I would only use that as a last resort.

The back of the title was filled out by Owner #2...he filled it out and then found out that it didn't pass smog.... Christ..looks like I might have some fun with this.

Been there... best thing to do is try to look up the last registered owner... It's gonna take some time.

been there too. Right - hope to find the last registered owner.

a dealer friend can pass it along, though, so if you are that lucky... they can get it cleared up.

I do have a friend who is a salesperson for a dodge dealership in Fort Dodge..maybe he can help. I will go bother the county treasurer first..just to be a pain, since she is such a friendly person....you can smell the sarcasm, can't you? But considering the previous owners COULD NOT title the truck because it wouldn't pass the smog tests, what is a guy to do?

since we don't have to do smog tests, the problem is clearing the title... sounds like you have the same kind of person I used to deal with in Iowa county...

Some times, you can go to the courthouse and are greeted with a smile...some days PMS takes over.

Well, the person I had to deal with was ALWAYS pms'ing... I think she pulled some of her responses out of her nasty brain, rather than the actual policy books... everyone was relieved when she FINALLY retired...

When we bought our first boat, we went to license the trailer...what a wench! I wanted to strangle the woman! Then we went next door to the DNR office to license the boat. What a sweet woman....and I told her that we had a very unplesant experience next door and thanked her for being so nice.

well i know that when i checked the other day about getting my 88 plated and titled, that they said that the only way for us to title and plate it was to pay for the time that it never was plated. luckily it has only been a year so ill just have to pay for 2 years of plates wich isnt that bad. its gonna be about 80$ to tilte and plate it, 10 for a title, 35 for a year and 35 for another year. hope this helps

You might not have to pay back license since it was bought out of state, I bought a car from nebraska that hadn't been licensed for like 14 years. The dot lady said that I didn't have to pay back-license because Iowa wouldn't recieve that money anyway, and Iowa could care less if Nebraska got their back-license.

Yes...you are correct. The only problem I have is the title....