Getting a car title after the auction
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 01:40 p.m., December 17, 2007
Updated 01:40 p.m., December 17, 2007
Q I purchased a car at a local auction and, although I had to make a 40-mile round trip to get the cash from my bank, the auction company could not furnish the title. It has been several weeks, and they have not contacted us, do not answer the door, nor return calls. Can they change their mind or be required to follow through, as the car was auctioned off?
A Once the car has been paid for, the seller has 30 calendar days to provide the title, according to Ray Wilk, title manager with Titles and Registration, Dealer Licensing Bureau, Division of Vehicles, Kansas Department of Revenue.
“The 30 days start the day he gave them the money,” Wilk said. “If they don’t deliver that title, then it’s fraudulent, void sale.”
Details of the law are contained in Kansas Statutes Annotated 8-135, Section C, No. 7. The State of Kansas has no involvement in forcing the seller to produce the title for the buyer, he said.
“Fraudulent and void means go to court and the judge says, ‘Yes, that’s the way it is. Give him his money back,’” Wilk said.
An exception would be if the seller had mailed the title by restricted mail, which is required by law if the title is to be mailed.
Only the buyer whose name would be on the title can sign to receive restricted mail, so if the buyer was unavailable to sign for the letter, the undelivered mail would be returned to the seller. The seller should not open the returned letter, but should keep it until the buyer can be located to come in and pick up the envelope, Wilk said.
“So that would get the seller off the hook because it would be their proof that they complied with the law,” Wilk said.
In that case, the buyer would be responsible for any penalties and interest caused by the late delivery, he added.