A staple of movies is a scene where for whatever reason a character no longer wants a car so in a flashy move he chucks the keys to some homeless guy/ random stranger, generally before dropping off the radar. Assuming that the car giver doesn’t then fill out any kind of paperwork, which it is generally implied he doesn’t, would the car getter actually be able to translate that into ownership of the car, or would he be screwed? As it’s a pure hypothetical based on a movie trope answers from any and all jurisdictions would be fine.
Sorry, supposed to be in GQ
In real life to give away a car that you own entirely [no bank or other leins on it] you sign on the back of the title and that is it. he person you toss the keys to needs to take that to the DMV and get the title changed over.
Now realistically, all the cops would see is the license plates and date sticker, so yo could slack on registering it until the license plate expires as long as you don’t get caught by the cops for a moving violation. Please note that this is illegal and the Dope is not encouraging anybody to actually go out and do this, even if someone tosses you the keys to a ferrarri.
Moved from CoSR to GQ.
Man, if someone tosses me the keys to a Ferrari, I’m going to make especially sure that all the paperwork is in order. Much more so than if it’s some old clunker.
Well the natural question, then, is what if someone did come up to you in the park and toss you the keys to a car? I would assume it’s stolen, of course, so I suppose I would call the cops. But if they impound it and no one ever reports it stolen, what happens then? Would it eventually go to auction or would I be able to claim it after some period?
Assuming the police would be able to track down the legal owner of the car (the guy who tossed the keys away and still has his name on the title), the police would bill him for the towing and impound fees. He might be able to convince the police that he intended to give the car away but somehow the new owner (the person to whom he tossed the keys) would have to get a signed title to claim ownership. At that point, the new owner would have to pay the towing and impound fees if he still wanted to claim the car.
Eventually, if the previous owner can’t be contacted or if nobody pays the fees, the car would be considered abandoned and probably sold at auction.
If you get pulled over just say you are a friend of the owner, it doesnt matter if it is registered to you or not you can drive other peoples cares. Just wait for it to expire and take it in with the pink slip
There’s a little more paperwork than that in Ca, but yes, there’s some simple paperwork that needs to be done.
I was just thinking about this same thing the other day, based on the scene in Star Trek where Kirk tosses the guy his motorcycle keys as he boards the shuttle to Starfleet Academy, and to a lesser extent that one auto parts store commercial where a kid fixes up an old abandoned beater with a “you fix it you can have it” sign in the window.
leave it on your property for around 60-90 days. then file for an abandon title. takes FOREVER, but its doable in a few states.
And, in most states, you would have to pay sales & use tax on the fair market value of the car, even if it was given to you as a gift.
or, in California, you can say you got it as a gift from a family member and pay no sales tax.
I know a guy who gave a crappy car to a stranger. They called the cops to see if it was legit and he told them it was and he filled out the forms to make it a legal transfer.
If true, California is rather unusual in that.
Most states require that taxes be paid on the ‘fair market value’ of the car, specifically to catch this tax dodge – claiming to have given or sold the car at a much reduced price to a relative. Certainly the Department of Revenue here in Minnesota wouldn’t let you get away with that.
South Carolina is like that too. Transactions between immediate family members are sales tax-free. When I purchased a car from my mother-in-law I was told that if I had the title put in my name I would have to pay tax, but if my husband was added as a joint owner, the sales tax would be waived.