Hi Chris,
I had some title problems (albeit not as drastic sounding - mine was
more a case of mistransposed digits between my vehicle's VIN and the
paperwork's VIN, as well as some missing documents) which caused me
grief, after I bought my car.
Although I live in British Columbia, Canada, and so the laws are of
course not the same, I was able to pursue an alternative, "last resort"
solution which was offered to me (after much persistence) by the Chief
Registrar of Motor Vehicles here, after I appealed for some sanity.
What they allowed me to do was to tell what I knew to have happened with
the title in Statutory Declaration (affidavit/deposition) form, after I
had performed every search possible to try to locate proper documents
and chain of title, and to determine if a vehicle with any of the VINs
in my documents had ever been reported stolen to the police (they
hadn't). As I understand it, this allowed the Registrar to go on to
register and insure the vehicle (we have state-run insurance here) based
upon:
a) what documents I had;
b) the Registrar's review and common sense ruling on the problems among
the documents; and
c) my solemn word telling what the searches revealed with respect to
missing documents and the vehicle not being reported stolen.
This approach overcame the problems without resorting to illegal
switching of VINs, which I would advise against doing, for obvious
reasons. I would pursue all of the searches you can, and be persistent
in asking the "higher ups" in your state motor vehicle registration
office what options you have for dealing with the problems with your
title. You may also be able to buy a "custom title" from the Registrar,
effectively a non-OEM VIN. Perhaps the American Automobile Association
or a lawyer could offer assistance to you as well.
Best of luck.
Susan
1970B
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