Selling a semi without being titled to the person selling it.

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I dealt with your exact situation about 5 years ago.
I called a towing company, advised them the truck was abandoned on my property, and it needed to go away.
They came, hooked it and left me a document indicating the date it was towed at my request.
It had been sitting for a year, and i was tired of looking at it.
I tried contacting the owner, but he wouldn’t respond at all.
I left s voicemail advising i would be having it removed at his expense on a date a month from that day.
It got towed, and the tow company dealt with it from there.
Not my monkeys, not my circus.

 

I know nothing about Texas, I live in a rural county in Washington state. If I show up with a funky out of date title and a good bill of sale I can register a truck, and apply for title.

 

That's a good one, thank you for the laugh.

 

Yes in Tejas titles can be transferred all day without insurance and a need for plates. The seller does not need insurance to sell. If the buyer wants to register for road use at time of title transfer then the buyer needs the insurance not seller. And as @snowwy has said always remove the plates and stickers off windshield of the vehicles in Tejas do not let the buyer keep them. They are in the sellers name.

 

Does’t matter. We do this all the time. We buy stuff and it sits till we resell it. There are a couple different spots on back of a Texas title for signatures. The original seller should have signed for your brother. Your brother can now sign it as seller #2 to release the title to the new buyer. For example I recently sold a Frieghtliner cabover that I bought for parts in 2010 and never titled. I bought it from a friend who never titled it in his name when he bought it for parts from a friend of ours who ones a turf hauling company back in 2002 who’s name The title was still in 20 years later. We also have bought many cars and trucks from junk yards and never needed insurance buy or to title them nor did the junkyards have ins on them to sell. Only needed insurance to plate them after the restoration builds were done to put them on the road. And again strip it of all plates and stickers before you sell.

 

I'm wondering why one couldn't apply for abandoned title?

Either someone pops up to take it or they get a free vehicle with title in their name to sell as they please.

 

To apply for missing/lost title in Texas is easy if your are the current registered owner. Just show id and any other proof of ownership, fill out the form, pay the fee, and wait for new one in mail. But if you are the buyer or “claimer”and there is no title you have to get the Texas Rangers vehicle theft division involved to do a thorough inspection and back ground check on vehicle for still on stolen hot sheet or open bank liens still on it. before you can get title issued to you. It can take months for this process. Been there a few times.

 

Certified letter to last registered owner. If no response in 30 days. Letter comes back. You take to dmv and they issue you a title.

If there's a problem with Vin.
Dmv will have that information.

 

Scrap it, problem solved, and Mom gets money for storage.