I bought a complete 1966 C10 here in SC. Not saying that things work here in SC the same way as TX, but here's my story.
1966 C10 without a Title. No paperwork at all.
SC DMV will not allow a private individual to apply for ownership of an abandoned vehicle (although they used to allow this).
So I took the C10 to a repair shop near me. As a business, the repair shop could claim it was an abandoned vehicle and apply for ownership.
I hired a lady to do all the paperwork since I didn't want to burden the shop owner with paperwork. He was doing me a favor.
Took about 3 months to clear all the paperwork and have the Magistrate assign ownership to the shop owner. Police had to come see the truck and record the VIN and then search every state for possible "stolen vehicle". I knew it wasn't stolen because I bought it from the son of the original owner (who had passed long ago).
Shop owner took proof of ownership to DMV and a new title was assigned to the truck in his name.
He sold the truck to me for $1. Meanwhile, I helped scratch his back by selling off a lot of unused NOS inventory he had laying around the shop.
Took better part of 6 months and cost me about $200 of pocket money. Shop owner didn't have to lift a finger except for the trip to the DMV to get the title in his name.
In my opinion:
The favor they did you is called circumventing the law and can be total illegal. You bought the truck, you were the owner who is not allowed to apply, as you said. So you did a "Strawman transaction". Going "around the law" is circumventing the law. We understand that the towing shop did a legal application, But they did not do it on a vehicle that was towed or obtained by them. They did it for you, as you said. They, and you, colluded to get the truck to you with a title. You can't frost this onion. You are an honest guy who is blinded by the fact that it went thru the DMV.
Do you think the DMV had this in mind when they disallowed private owners to apply for abandon vehicles? I hope they don't read this because a whole lot of people could be in trouble. They don't want private parties to do it for whatever reason. They don't want them to do it anyway by your method either. You can bet on that.
I politely PM'ed you in private about this and you rejected my opinion and posted a double-down. So I am posting my opinion in public. You did do something outside what I believe Stovebolt would recommend. It is not a good suggestion to others. We can all think of ways to trick the DMV in our state.
