One tiny mistake.....

[Dave1982]

Im at the insurance agency I mentioned a few weeks back, covering the phone again, but this one relates to a walk in client.

This guy's father can no longer drive due to age and failing health, and is transferring ownership of his car to his son (the client who walked in). He was here to add the car to insurance policy, but made a small yet critical error on the car's title. After writing in the mileage at the time of the transfer, he checked off a box indicating that it was "beyond its mechanical limits." in other words, that the odometer had rolled over to zero and no longer indicated the true mileage.....except it hadn't.

Now that mistake can not be undone because the title is an official document that cant be altered. Now he's got to have an affidavit signed by his father AND NOTARIZED to certify the proper mileage on the vehicle before anything can be done with the registry (and no registration means no insurance either).

The guy is super pissed about it but managed to restrain himself from turning into a massive SC on the poor agent who was talking with him.

I can sympathize with the massive amount of extra work this seemingly small mistake is going to cause for him, but that's what you get for not reading the damn instructions.

[Andara Bledin]

That's kind of funny. I just filled out that very document for my now-former car just yesterday.

However, in my case, the odometer actually has rolled over, because the car is nearly 20 years old with an odometer that should have another digit available.

^-.-^

[Imprl59]

Why not just go get a duplicate title and have dad sign it again? Heck of a lot easier!

[Dave1982]

Because - according to the agent - it'd take 4-6 weeks for the new title to arrive and cost $25 (though I just looked it up and it says if you request a new title online it'll be processed and mailed in 2 business days..... )

[powerboy]

but that's what you get for not reading the damn instructions.

But even if he read it, it could have been a mistake. I had done something like that before. It was not on a car title or anything like that. But I checked off something by accident

[Sapphire Silk]

I found the title instructions in Maryland to be rather confusing. My dad had passed away a year earlier, but Mom had been reluctant to sell the car (even though she does not and never has been a driver). I finally convinced her to sell, and a friend of mine offered to buy it on the spot for the price Mom wanted (fair price but less than retail).

I went through all kinds of hoops trying to get the title transferred, and a lot of conflicting info from the DMV. One clerk accepted Dad's death certificate, to allow Mom to transfer the title. Another refused it and tried to insist on a signature or a court order from the probate court.

The good thing about car titles, it is does make it harder for crooks to steal your car out from under you. But it does make selling a car a hassle.