Is “Jumping” A Car Title A Crime?

Very often the subject comes up about an open title or a jumping title. What that means is if you have a title certificate like this one, it’ll have all the information on the front about the vehicle, and on the back it has a place where the owner can sign their name as the seller to the new buyer. If the owner just signs their name and leaves the buyer blank, that’s called title jumping or title skipping.

Scenario of Title Jumping
What happens is many times a buyer will want the title to be open so they can flip the vehicle. So let’s say somebody’s selling a car on Craigslist or Facebook and the buyer comes to you and says, “Hey, I want to buy your car. Just sign the back of the title. I don’t know what name I’m going to put it in yet, so just leave it blank. I’ll fill it in later.” Well, if you do that, you may be guilty of title jumping.

Consequences for Sellers
Title jumping: right on the back of the title, it says do not sign a blank title. There are many reasons why this can create problems. You might not think as a seller it’s any problem for you because you don’t care who buys the car, right, as long as you get your money. But what happens is if you sign an open title, you have no idea who you sold it to. You have no idea if they’re actually going to put it into their name right away, which means you’re liable for things that could happen with the vehicle.

Legal Implications for Sellers
You also don’t know if they’re avoiding taxes and evading taxes, and if you help them do that, you could be liable as well. In most states, there’s fines, penalties, and imprisonment if you are caught jumping titles, and as the seller, you could be just as liable. On the back of that title, it has language that says violation could be a criminal offense.

Specific Risks and Penalties
And what it spells out is if someone sells a car to another person, they only sign their name but not fill out any additional information about the sale, such as the price or mileage. That’s another problem that can come up. If you don’t fill in the back of the title, you don’t put in the mileage, somebody could roll back the odometer and have a vehicle with an illegal odometer reading. You could also change the price where if somebody gives you 3,000 for it and they say I only gave you a thousand, they pay less tax, right, and that could be title or tax fraud, tax evasion.

Legal Standing of Title Jumping
And according to this article, and this is a little bit of exaggeration, title jumping is considered a felony and highly illegal in 50 states. It’s not a felony in all 50 states. It’s a crime in almost every state, but if you’re caught doing it intentionally, the penalties can be pretty severe.

Buyer Precautions and Solutions
As a buyer, if you have purchased a vehicle with an open title, sometimes you walk into the DMV with that title not filled in, they’ll seize it from you. They will impound the title and sometimes the vehicle. If you have that happen to you, you may be able to do a bonded title, you may be able to do a court order title, and you may be able to do some type of magistrate title.

Title Bond Costs and State Variations
One of the things to keep in mind is if you get a title bond, remember it only is going to cost you about a hundred dollars for the title bond. Many people think it’s going to cost you thousands of dollars for a title bond, but there are some states where you can’t get a bonded title. Here’s a list of those states. There’s about 10 states that you can’t, but you can do a court order title.

Conclusion and Resources
And all the information on bonded titles, court order titles, jump titles are all available on our website at cartitles.com. Just make sure that you know when you’re buying a vehicle, get a good certified title transfer to your name. If for some reason the seller doesn’t have it, think twice about giving them your hard-earned money unless they’re going to give you a valid legal title.

Visit Our YouTube Channel for more insights and discussions on various topics. Consider subscribing to our YouTube channel. Click here!

Why Do I Need A VIN Verification For My Title?

Why VIN Verification is Required by DMV
Many times a client asks us why does the Department of Motor Vehicles or the titling Authority require a VIN verification or VIN inspection on a vehicle when they’re transferring a title. Well, here’s a good reason why.

Fraud Investigation by FDLE
This is a case that was investigated for many months and there was fraud happening on titles in the State of Florida. The FDLE, which is the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, cracked down and arrested more than 20 people that were fraudulently titling cars. What were they doing? What they were doing is they were buying vehicles from dealerships on credit or with a bad check, and before the loan defaulted or before the check bounced, what they would do is they would change the VIN number on the vehicle and they would get a fraudulent VIN number (vehicle identification number). They used that to apply for a title and transfer it to somebody else so that unsuspecting buyer was actually buying a stolen car. This operation, Gone in 60 Days, netted all these people arrested.

Expansion of the Scam
What happened was it was so popular as a scam that then they started renting vehicles from airports and other high-end areas and doing the same thing. They were changing the VIN numbers, putting a fake VIN number on, and then reselling the vehicle. Sometimes they would even sell it to an insurance company.

Purpose of VIN Inspection
So the reason for having a VIN inspection or VIN verification is to make sure that the VIN number that’s on your vehicle is actually the correct VIN number for the car. Now, you know it is—you know, are aware that it’s legitimate—but the Department of Motor Vehicles wants to make sure and protect you that you’re not actually titling an illegal vehicle or a stolen vehicle.

Protecting Innocent Buyers
If the VIN number has been tampered with, removed, altered, changed, sometimes people will buy these vehicles from Copart or IAA with junk titles or parts-only titles and slap another VIN number on from a salvage vehicle, and that’s a way to sell a car or truck to an unsuspecting innocent buyer. So they’re trying to protect the owner, meaning you, or even the next buyer from having a vehicle that’s ineligible.

Simple Process of VIN Verification
Now, it’s real simple. Usually, a notary or any local agent can inspect the VIN number. Really, all they have to do is look at the VIN number, make sure it’s the same as what’s on your title paperwork, and then also verify that that’s the actual identifier for that vehicle, that it hasn’t been tampered with, it hasn’t been altered in any kind of way.

Importance Despite Inconvenience
A VIN inspection, VIN verification is inconvenient, it’s annoying, but there’s a reason that they do it. They’re not just trying to make your life miserable and make you jump through hoops or be inconvenient. They want to make sure that that vehicle is eligible, legitimate, because once they issue that title, that’s a legal government document. They’re putting their trust and faith behind it that you are now the owner, that’s a legitimate vehicle.

One-Time Requirement
So now when you go to sell it, you can represent to your buyer everything’s legit. So it is a one-time thing. You don’t have to do it every year; you don’t have to do it every month. It’s a one-time event that you have to get a VIN verification performed to make sure that that vehicle is legitimate.

Visit Our YouTube Channel for more insights and discussions on various topics. Consider subscribing to our YouTube channel. Click here!