Title Troubles

After bringing the Rabbit home, we were very excited to actually own a car. Unfortunately, we soon discovered that we in fact did not actually own said car. And on top of it, it turns out that the guy who sold us the Rabbit didn’t even own it either…

A lesson on how things are supposed to work

When you buy a vehicle in Massachusetts, you need to title it within 30 days of buying it. The previous owner is supposed to take their title, sign it over to you, and then you bring that old title to the RMV. The RMV then issues you a new title with your name on it.

How is this possible?

It turns out that our Rabbit dealer bought the car from his boss 21 years earlier. He never got it registered, titled, or even took it on the road. While he gave us a title, it wasn’t actually his, but instead belonged to his boss.

We quickly realized that this might be a bit of an issue when going to the RMV to get the Rabbit titled in our name. Despite this, we didn’t really have any other ideas, so we gathered our documents and went to the RMV bright and early at 8 in the morning. After waiting in the Haymarket RMV for half an hour, Matty strolled up the counter and was quickly informed that our title was completely void, but not for the reason we expected. It turns out that our Rabbit dealer wrote his name down and then crossed it out. Unfortunately, as the margins of the certificate will have you know, “ALERATION OR ERASURE VOIDS THIS TITLE”. Matty then explained the issue with our Rabbit dealer never having titled the car in the first place to the RMV clerk. While the RMV isn’t quite famous for patient problem solvers, this clerk was actually incredibly helpful and explained the next steps. She even had Matty call the Rabbit dealer and explained the situation to him - it turns out he had no idea that he needed to title the car, his exact words were, “Are you kidding me?”

So, now what?

The plan

• Step 1: Since the previous is completely void, contact the guy who originally sold the Rabbit 21 years ago (henceforth referred to as the “OG”).
• Step 2: Get the OG to submit a form to the RMV to request a new title.
• Step 3: Have the OG directly reassign the title to us.
• Step 4: Wait.
• Step 5: Wait some more.
• Step 6: Go back to the RMV and apply for a new title.
• Step 7: Wait again.
• Step 8: Profit.

How do we do this?

Since the previous title might as well have never existed, we needed to get in contact with the guy who sold the Rabbit to the Rabbit dealer all those years ago. Typically, this is a pretty tall order. We’ve heard that it’s a little tricky to contact a seller two decades after a sale. Fortunately, our Rabbit dealer’s boss, who sold the car 21 years ago, is still our Rabbit dealer’s boss - how convenient! Our Rabbit dealer promised to reach out to his boss and have him request a new title. We were a bit worried about when/if this might actually happen. However, a week later, we got a text showing a receipt from the RMV for a new title! Another two weeks went by and we got another text informing us that title was ready for us to pickup! In the interest of not wasting time, we drove about an hour up to Marblehead that same afternoon to meet our Rabbit dealer to pick up the new title. Sure enough, it was freshly issued, with no stray marks or any ALTERATIONs or ERASUREs. So now, Matty gets to make another trip to his favorite place in the world and hope that the RMV doesn’t find any other ways to throw our title down the toilet.

So, did it work?

After spending a morning at the RMV, the new title was enough to satisfy the folks at the RMV. The whole process took less than 15 minutes at the counter. About two weeks later, this came in the mail:

So yeah, we’d say it worked.