$1.8 million worth of luxury RVs stolen

CavemanCharlie wrote:

bob_nestor wrote:

wnjj wrote:
Farm and construction equipment aren't titled and registered like coaches are. I don't see these things staying in the States.

A couple of years ago a co-worker bought a used luxury car here in Texas. It had a clean title. A few months later the Feds showed up at his front door and informed him the vehicle was stolen in New Jersey and they were impounding it, but they knew he hadn't done anything wrong. He was left with a car loan and no car. The credit union advised him to report the car as stolen (from him by the Feds) so that his insurance could pay off the loan.
.

Something sounds fishy here. Not on your friends part. But, how did he get a car with a clean title unless the owner signed the title?

We will never know but, it might be part of a divorce or angry couple type thing. That happens a lot. I've had friends that got stuck paying for stuff because there EX charged stuff to them after they split. They had to run a advertisement in the paper saying "I am only responsible for my own debts" or something like that.

Actually getting a "clean" title on a stolen vehicle is so simple a caveman could do it thanks to computers, modern technology and the Feds. A simple internet search for vehicles similar to the one you want to retitle will pull up VIN numbers that are in the Fed database used by all States. Preferably you want a VIN number for a vehicle not currently titled in the State you want to retitle in. Then you print up what looks like a valid title for the State the legal vehicle is titled in and forge the signature for surrender. Take that to a new State and tell the underpaid/overworked clerk you just bought a vehicle from out of State and you need a new title. Most of the time they won't know what the proper format is for an out of State title and they won't even check the vehicle to make sure the VIN number matches, they'll just issue you a new title after checking the Fed database to make sure it's valid. Then you're all set to sell it on Ebay or Craigslist. The problem comes in for the original VIN owner when they go down to get new license plates for their vehicle because that's when they'll discover their VIN was transferred and according to the Fed database they no longer own the vehicle in question.