Registering ATV Without Title in California

Buying your first ATV is always a very exciting process. Testing the ATV makes you think about the future trail expeditions that you will pursue. Among all the thrilling prospects many times riders end up buying an ATV without a Title. Sometimes the non-title ATVs are sold with a really low price tag and often ATV enthusiasts end up buying the ATVs after checking their condition. The title of an ATV is essential documentation which you would need for many purposes. So when you find out that your ATV doesn’t have any title then it needs to be treated with urgency.

Buying an ATV which has no title is a risky affair. Many times these non-title atvs turn out to be stolen vehicles. These stolen vehicles are sold on a third party website that has attractive advertisements to catch your attention. If you show interest they will try to sell you the atv without actually handing the title papers making strange excuses of being lost or misplaced.

They will also try to convince you that getting title papers is an easy process and you would be able to get the title papers after you make the purchase. But this is a false statement as getting title papers is a long process and requires verification of ownership from state authorities.

Stolen ATV Reselling Advertisements

The advertisement they provide on the third-party websites is quite shady which can be identified. If you check that the seller is using demo or model pictures from the manufacturer instead of using actual pictures of the atv with license number then it is good to stay away from this advertisement. The fake owners would most of the time request you to meet in some other place than a homely environment.

The legal owners would most of the time prefer you to come to their place as the ATV would be parked in their garage. So this is one other stolen atv reselling feature that you should watch out for. The advertisement would often come along with a selling urgency. The excuses would be that they need to sell it within two days because they would be leaving the city immediately after that. They would also keep the price lower than it should be which makes the deal more complicated and fishy.

Finding and verifying the ATV owner

The details of any ATV owner can be found by using the VIN. This number needs to be entered among any of the different VIN research websites from where the actual owner name and other details can be obtained. You will have the registration information regarding the last owner of the vehicle and also provide details of the owners before the last person.

The original purchase location can also be found just with the VIN. Along with the help of a local dealer in your region contact the actual owner can also be possible. The websites which you can use to find the details about the ATV are:

• VinAudit
• VinCario
• CarFax
• DecodeThis
• KBB

The Documents Required For Registering An ATV in California

The All Terrain-Vehicles in the US come under the category of Off-Highway Vehicle registration category. The other members of the OHV category are dirt bikes, dune buggies, snowmobiles and racing motorcycles.

These OHV categories do not need the same format vehicle registration as a car but they minimum need a placard or Identification plate present with the ATV. The prime documents which are needed as proof of ownership are:

• A certified or original copy of the factory invoice to the dealer who is non-California licensed.
• Title documents of outside state.
• The statement of origination or the certificate of the manufacturer.
• Selling bills that can be used to link the ownership to the new owner.

The other important documents include a filled up REG 343 form as the application of registration or title. A REG31 or verification of vehicle form by an authorized DMV employee. The other less important documents which you still might need are a certificate of non-operation, an application for transfer of title and an application for replacement plates or stickers.

After checking the VIN and verifying the owner you should always visit the local DMV office in California to understand the process and documentation more clearly.  Experts suggest that both the buyer and seller go to the registration office together as this would make things simpler. The signature of the seller will be required to release the ownership or handover before the new title issuing process can be started.

The Loan Issues and Other Document Details

In many cases, a bank’s name is present in the title. Then the seller will be required to get in touch with the bank and know the details about how the sale can be handled. The loan if remaining for the ATV will then get transferred to the new buyer. If there is more than one person’s name in the title then it will be in ‘either or’ format or ‘and’ format.

This means if ‘and’ is present between two names then both the legal owners need to sign on the release papers. If ‘either or’ is there in the title then any one person will be legal to release the vehicles and both the owner’s signatures won’t be needed. The complete selling bill should have the following details:

• Date and location of sale.
• VIN of vehicle.
• Full name and address of both seller and buyer.
• Valid signature of both buyer and seller.
• The purchasing price.
• Description of the vehicle with manufacturing year and model number.

The consumer taxation branch gift of vehicle form is also required. The tax form details are also vital for the registration of non-title ATVs. So make use of the information about non-title vehicles and don’t get caught up in a scam of stolen atv selling.

Conclusion

In California the registration of non-title All Terrain Vehicles is a bit of a complicated  process. A lot of documentation and forms are needed to be present and legal owners presence might even be required sometimes.

The non-title atvs are many times stolen ones that are sold to innocent buyers with false information and a lot of convincing. The super-low price also attracts many people to these thieves who try to sell the atvs through third party websites. But if can verify the owner and be assured that the atv is not stolen then you can approach a non-title atv.