Just a quick note… if you purchase a vehicle which requires it to be titled (and tagged if for use on the roads) in Missouri the party you are purchasing the vehicle from MUST be the title owner on the title that they are endorsing to you as the new purchaser with a bill of sale to go along with it. This includes motorcycles, cars, trucks, trailers, as well as boats and outboard motors. Off-Road vehicles must also have transferable title as described hereinabove. Although they don’t have to be tagged they must be have proper title. This is because Missouri is a pure title state… that means if your name isn’t on the title YOU DO NOT LEGALLY OWN THE VEHICLE… you may be in possession of the vehicle but YOU DON’T OWN IT.
There are ways to clear up this problem if you bought a vehicle… I see it A LOT with vehicles purchased via EBay… there are some easy ways through the Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR) with the cooperation of the seller / previous owner and then there is a petition for declaratory judgment of ownership to obtain a court order against DOR to issue a title.
If you or a client of yours has an issue like this please get in touch.
Matt
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