Need to sell a car, Title not available for 1-2 weeks (Oregon)

December 20, 2014 5:37 PM

I'm selling a vehicle and for reasons I'm unable to answer have somehow misplaced the title...

I'm the sole owner, have had it paid off for several years, etc. An interested party has come from a fairly good distance and is interested, and as much for their sake as mine I'd like to be able to sell them the car and then ship them the title as soon as I get a copy from DMV, which obviously will be awhile, assuming I can get there in the next several days.

Assuming I filled out the forms notifying the DMV that I had transferred ownership as soon as the transaction is complete, what is the risk to me? Can we do this safely if we trust each other or is this a bad idea? Thanks.

posted by docpops to Law & Government (2 answers total)

Best answer: Look in to a title affidavit. I know Washington does them, and i know people who have bought and sold cars between Washington and Oregon and as i remember it's a very similar system. Google is being unclear about what circumstances an affidavit counts in Oregon, however.

You could declare that you're selling it with a lost title that way giving them a real claim, then when you get the real title sign it and forward it on to them. That way if you don't follow through they have real recourse and a path to a title, but if you do they can skip that whole process and just transfer.

As i said though, not sure exactly how that works in Oregon vs Washington. That is the path i'd investigate though.
posted by emptythought at 5:51 PM on December 20, 2014

Response by poster: Thank-you.
posted by docpops at 6:46 AM on December 21, 2014