Sold a trailer/camper – it got impounded.

Am I the only one here thinking that trailer/camper was sold to some kind of hillbilly Walter White to cook his recipe in? Then ditched it when his batch was done.

Not a trailer, but a car. I made the bonehead decision to sell a vehicle outside of DMV hours and the guy promised he would transfer the title. It was a $800 car, I didn’t have the time to take off work, and I just wanted the heaping pile of crap out of my driveway. So I said sure.

Next thing you know, the guy goes to court for attempted murder and gets sentenced to prison (He seemed like a real straight shooter when I met him!). Never transferred the title and left it parked in the street. Olmstead county was more than understanding and instructed me all the forms I needed to fill out to either take ownership back of the car or to prove a sale. Long story short, the car was seized by the county and crushed. By the amount of rust the car had, there probably wasn’t much left for scrap value anyways…

DaveB wrote:

This happened with a car I sold. I did not want it back and did a forced re-registration.

The MN DMV will no longer do that without both parties present. The vehicle will be forever stuck in limbo until both parties agree to a transfer.

I had something like this happen to me. I sold a car for $300 and sent in the paperwork. The other person never transferred the title. Something happen to it (think the tabs expired) and it was abundant. The cops called and said I need to come and get it or I will be charged for it to be moved. I told them I sold it and had a picture of the guy and his license with all his information for them if they would like it. The cop said that’s ok and that was the end of it. Hopefully your camper works out to be just as easy.

Looks like it might end easy.

I called the St. Paul police and got a prompt call back from officer Mike Smith. He said that if there were any tickets they would arrive in the mail (“if the tow company can find you, the police can”) and that I would just need to call and explain the situation to have them dropped. He was very, very polite.

I called the South East Towing and spoke to Tom. He said that a second certified letter would arrive that I need to sign and send back and that he would destroy the sticker and junk the trailer and that I am not liable for any charges. From his description it did not sound like the pickup trailer I owned and he thought someone might have stolen the sticker and put it on another homemade trailer. We got to talking and he also told me that it was being pulled behind a truck with TN plates that was stopped ending in a 5th degree controlled substance charge. He was also extremely polite (unlike the movies).

I then called the MN dept of public safety to see about getting my name off it for good (and to check on anther trailer I sold). This lady was monumentally unhelpful. I explained the situation and she just kept saying that she needed the name, address, and birth date of the buyer- which I don’t have. I asked what she could do if I destroyed it and she said that I didn’t own it so I couldn’t have it removed. It was like taking crazy pills. Finally I just said that if the sticker and trailer were destroyed I guess it can’t be a problem anymore and ended the call.

I think a saw that episode a while back

I’m glad your sanity survived the encounter.

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