Sold a trailer/camper – it got impounded.

Looking for advice. Years ago I bought an old pickup camper from a friend for cash. I later bought a homemade trailer made from a pickup truck and mounted the camper in it. The trailer had a lifetime registration and a small white card (registration?) which was the only documentation I had, the camper had nothing because it was considered a load.

I sold the camper on craigslist summer of 2014 for a couple hundred cash, and gave the guy the trailer card and camper manual.

I just got a letter from a towing company in St. Paul saying a trailer was impounded and i can claim it with proof of ownership or leave it and pay a fine.

I have no paperwork for anything.

go to the courthouse and get a duplicate if it hasnt been transferred.

I should probably clarify that I dont want it back.

tindall wrote:

I should probably clarify that I dont want it back.

How can they make you pay a fine if you leave it? Them reselling the trailer would cover the fine.

This is probably a good reminder that lifetime licenses must be transferred to the new owner.

“I should probably clarify, I don’t want it back”….

Why not? This thing sounds AWSOME! I bet my neighbors would have a S-fit.

I’ve had similar situations where buyers didn’t transfer the ownership after buying a vehicle. I simply sent back a letter stating that it was sold on such and such date and I no longer owned the vehicle. Once it was a car that got stolen and abandoned and once a car that was involved in a hit and run. DMV sends these letters to anyone that has ever owned the trailer. Contact them or send a letter response as I suggest.

The letter came from South East Towing in inver grove heights, not the dmv.

And yes it was pretty awesome. And to clarify the clarification, my wife wont let me take it back.

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thats not a camper clark,that there is an RV

If you’d you had the buyer sign a bill of sale, you’d be able to use that as proof you’re no longer responsible for the property.

I’m not trying to be a smart ass, I probably wouldn’t have asked them to sign one for a few hundred buck either. Without a record of the sale, you still own it.

If it were me, I’d call the towing company and tell them you sold it and are making no claim to the trailer. No more/ no less. Hopefully they’ll tell you they’ Going to auction it off to cover their costs.

Salvage yards know how to deal with vehicles they don’t hold title to.

“Sh**er was Full!”

Iowaboy1 wrote:

thats not a camper clark,that there is an RV

Chitters Full!

Good luck

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’tis the season…

https://media.giphy.com/media/ahqch5fZMA1Py/giphy.gif

Call the towing company and find out where they towed it from. Then tell them to keep it to cover the towing costs, you don’t own it or want it. Then call the city where it was towed from and tell them the same story. My guess is there was a ticket for illegal parking written and then it was towed. You will be required to pay that unless you can prove you sold it or they decide you are a nice guy and let you off the hook.

I agree with Dutch on this. Most likely, it may have been towed as a result of some form of a violation – which could become one of those pesky tickets you were aware of….then it bites you in the rear end. I would be explicitly clear, you sold it, you don’t own it.. contact the owner

another option is to take it back, and resell it, There seams to be enough interest here already….

mnfishhunt wrote:

another option is to take it back, and resell it, There seams to be enough interest here already….

Whats the value?
You will have a minimum of $200 tow charge. Impound / storage charge plus the ticket.

Pay the ticket and give the camper away to the towing company.

Maybe “the gas gave out in Gurnee and it coasted in(to) the towing company on fumes”–great flick!

1) Attempt to contact your initial buyer
2) Call towing company and communicate situation
3) Gathering more information (or lackthereof) should provide further clarity on a course of action. They are the other parties directly involved in your “situation”. That information will be more valuable than the advice we can all give I would imagine.
Good luck!

Registered trailers have pink slips. Simply filling out the transfer slip when selling it solves all these problems. Note for everyone, fill out the darn transfer and send it in. This is the sellers responsibility.

Yea, I’m feeling like this might be a costly lesson in the end.

I have no idea who the buyer is. I looked through my old emails and have multiple contacts with potential buyers, and I don’t have their real emails because it filters through the craigslist system.

There was no title for the homemade trailer, just a 4x6ish white card – which was literally the only paperwork I had. I think this had a place for me to sign when I sold it iirc.

I left the lifetime sticker on because when I bought it I transferred the sticker from the previous owner. This was cheaper (much cheaper I think) than re-registering it so it was a nice favor from him.

I did not create a bill of sale. I can place the exact date of sale as May 21, 2014 because I took a picture of the dead spot in my lawn and posted it on facebook – not sure how well that would hold up in court

As my old man said, “You don’t learn much from doing something right.” I’ll let you know how it pans out.

I think you can ignore the tow company… their recourse is to sell and recoup their costs. They have to make you aware of it being towed and any storage charges, there are rules as to how long they can wait to contact you and how soon they can start charging any “storage fees”. Ticket ? Was it ticketed by a city ? State ? That you would be on the hook for, if you did not report the thing sold.

I would not ignore this. I’d call the towing company AND go to the DMV to get this sorted out for the reasons mentioned above. There could be other violations attached to this thing and this could come back later to bite you in the buttski and it will take a lot longer to clear up then. A guy I worked for in college had the same issue with a company van he sold. Guy bought it and didn’t transfer the license/title. Suddenly my boss starts getting nasty mail from the city and county that warrants for his arrest will be issued due to 15 unpaid parking tickets…

I believe there is a way to declare a motor vehicle as sold or abandoned and therefore to get your name detached from ownership. I would definitely visit a DMV and find out what the options are.

Grouse

15 tickets is totally different than what I have read in his scenario… either way, the tow company only has the camper/trailer as collateral… period. When they towed it, they entered into that deal. As I said, if there is a ticket (or 15) you are on the hook for them… put it to you this way. When you do not claim the camper trailer from the tow company, their only recourse is to acquire ownership through the proper channels or total/scrap it and then you are definitely off the hook going forward. As I said, I would ignore the tow company and pay the tickets and move on.

Can’t check until monday – what would stop the tow company from sending a bill to collections and hurting my credit?

tindall wrote:

Can’t check until monday – what would stop the tow company from sending a bill to collections and hurting my credit?

As far as I know, that would be a viable option for them.

I would be concerned about possibly having parking tickets out there. If you do and they are not taken care of you could lose your license. If that were to happen they would mail a certified letter to the address of your driver’s license.
DT

tindall wrote:

Can’t check until monday – what would stop the tow company from sending a bill to collections and hurting my credit?

I don’t think it is legal for them to “bill you” for a tow you did not order, hence, you are not liable for said charges. Unless they have your signature or credit card… it’s their baby if you don’t want it. Like DT said, I would check for any “tickets” in the city it was towed from and the DMV and move on.

This happened with a car I sold. I did not want it back and did a forced re-registration. IDK if there is a similar process with a camper, but worth a try. We couldn’t read the person’s writing so the DMV guy and I just guessed and I paid a small fee and was on my way.