Does anyone here have experience with auto title fraud? I have a situation and wanted to talk to someone knowledgeable to see if it's even worth my while to fight over, likely not, but want to explore the option. It involves someone forging my signature to sell a vehicle.

Is that not a crime? Hopefully you called the police already.

Also, where are you located?

It's in another town and I can't call the police because I haven't confirmed that the vehicle has left the property. I can only confirm the title has been signed by half the parties required and that's by the person that did it. I'm still trying to get proof of it which may not be hard to do but all of this is likely just a waste of time and effort. I don't know the law and this it outside my wheelhouse.

Yeah, but I need more than just a phone call and saying "that's not cool dude". It will require someone with authority. Anyway, I haven't found anyone to ask about it so at this point I'm probably just going to chalk it up to a loss. I don't have the forged title and once it goes to the DMV and gets registered, it's a done deal, fraud or not.

The DMV already told me straight up that even if it looks forged they are not authorized to question it. If it's got a signature, it's good to go in their eyes. You have to get attorneys involved to force anything otherwise.

Location?

Schall 02 said:

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Location?

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Truck is registered in fort bend county. My old man told me he did it, but there is no way for me to prove it until title registers elsewhere and then it's too late.

Wait....

So you have a vehicle you own at your dad's/parent's place and your dad forged your signature on the title to sell it or to sign it over to himself?

No, forged my signature and signed it himself to give it to another person.


My truck stayed at my parents house because they needed it. The truck was in my name AND my mom's name. My mom died and the truck stayed there so my dad could use it. My mother and me were very close. My dad and I, not so much and theen he started running out of money and instead of working, he spent it on alcohol and weed. He would never give or sell the truck to me out of spite. Now, he gave the truck to another guy in exchange for services. To do that, he simply assumed the vehicle from my mom, since she died and had no will, and then signed his name and my name and gave the title over….

I just don't know what if anything can be done. I don't know the law and it's entirely possible it's fine and I'm hosed.

Yeah that's a stolen vehicle. The dmv won't transfer the title when that comes up with the vin

Where can I obtain 100% proof the title is still in my name? I can't file a police report until the vehicle leaves the registered property and I'm confirming that. I have little to no info to prove anything. I don't have the title in hand. I don't know who does. Either way, it's a lot of hearsay.

Full disclosure: I'm pissed off and my anger is fueling what is probably a poor decision but I don't even know where to start. I'm going on the fact that my dad said he gave someone else the title. That's it. I don't live in the same town. I don't know if the truck is on premise. I know nothing else. I don't know that I have any grounds for anything. As of two days ago, the title at the DMV Still shows me and my mom as owners according to the lady when I gave her the VIN. So, in the eyes of the law, everything is fine and no crime has been committed.

htxag09 said:

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Damn, that sucks. Sorry you're going through it.

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This is the least of it. He willed my 1970 442 to me since I went spent a lot of money on it and then when he ran short of cash, he traded that to his girlfriends son in law in exchange for a 4,000 dollar lawnmower. Hahahaa…..like he said "it wasn't mine anyway". Then he had that kid call me and offer to sell me the car for 30,000 in unrunning condition because he knew how much it meant to me. Dick move. Lol.

At this point I'm just trying to recover anything I can and cut bait.

If it's important to you, i don't understand why you don't just go there (wherever you last saw the truck) before the title gets transferred, and if the truck isn't there you call the local pd and say "My truck's been stolen. This is where i last saw it." Get them to file a police report and encumber the title. Otherwise, you got no vehicle and no title, you got no ownership.

I will when I'm there on business. I'm 4 hours away.

I'm sure there are some folks who live in Ft Bend county who could do a drive by and help you out. Sorry you're going through this.

You need to order a bonded title from your nearest DMV super center ASAP. Same process as if you lost your original title, this gives you a claim on your vehicle for a period of time and a reprinted title. Not all local dmvs can reprint a bonded title only, certain locations in big cities.

JSKolache said:

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You need to order a bonded title from your nearest DMV super center ASAP. Same process as if you lost your original title, this gives you a claim on your vehicle for a period of time and a reprinted title. Not all local dmvs can reprint a bonded title only, certain locations in big cities.

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DMV page says the vehicle has to be in my possession for me to get a bonded title.

There is no feasible avenue to chase this down. The DMV says its a tax office issue, and the tax office says its a police issue and the police say its a civil issue and then we go back to the DMV who says as long as there are two signatures, they don't care. The guy that has the title texted me and said I can buy the truck back from him. He knows the title is forged admitted it over text and then tried to sell me the truck I already legally own. Government bureaucracy wins again...I'm going to tap out. Ain't nobody got time fo' dat.

I'm not sure how much it is worth, but small claims court could be an avenue. Not a lawyer, just spitballing. We took someone to small claims once, wasn't a bad process, no lawyer required. Good luck.

The guy that has the title, so he says, is currently trying to sell the vehicle to me. Lol. Truck is t worth much, this is mostly about "I can afford court and you can't and I want to make A point" but it's really not worth it.

Once again, you are describing a stolen vehicle. Dude has your vehicle, you now have a text message from the guy in posession of it that says he knows your signature was forged, if you actually cared you would be filing a report in that county

Charismatic Megafauna said:

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Once again, you are describing a stolen vehicle. Dude has your vehicle, you now have a text message from the guy in posession of it that says he knows your signature was forged, if you actually cared you would be filing a report in that county

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Turns out, It's not that simple. I've been through the DMV, local police, county sheriff, JP office, and state police and none of them agree with you or me. I need the vehicle to leave the property or for this guy to follow up with a photo of the title which he has yet to produce. Until then, the vehicle is registered to me and it's at the location on file as far as I know.

Outside of that, you need an attorney and It won't be worth it. Probably best to cut that branch of the family tree off and keep on keepin' on.

At the very least, have someone go and slash the tires on it?

You might try cross posting with the autoboard.

You're right it is probably not worth fighting. Although, looking back I regret the ones I didn't fight, not the ones I did.