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Eight months ago, an acquaintance asked to park his car in my driveway when he moved to the mainland. He told us that he would be coming back to sell it and some things he had in storage in "a couple of months." Well, he has never come back and has now announced that he never will. Turns out that his ex-wife had the title to the car in her name and will neither sign it over nor arrange to have it sold.
The vehicle is worth about $1200, and I wouldn't mind having it as a back-up "beater." Is there any legal way I can get an official title due to abandonment? Thanks in advance for any ideas.
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No car would be safe if there were, the way things get stretched here.
Probably best you can hope for is to get it towed away, so you don't have a permanent lawn ornamate.
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Is there any legal way I can get an official title due to abandonment?
24-199: "any special mobile equipment, vehicle, trailer, or equipment on wheels, whether operational or nonoperational, left unattended on any public or private street or thoroughfare which is subject to this chapter for more than twenty-four hours shall be deemed abandoned and may immediately be taken into custody by the police department. All such vehicles are declared to be public nuisances."
See also HRS 290.
Generally (as in "other jurisdictions") the rule is "abandoned for 30 days" and "owner does not respond to registered letter from DMV". Hawaii is probably similar.
The other mechanism is called a "mechanic's lien", apply for a lien against the title (say, for "storage fees"), then foreclose the lien. If the owner doesn't respond to process, lienholder gets the title.
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have you actually tried to communicate with the wife (address on the title) or just taking the guys word who stuck you with the car? tell her a reasonable storage amount , say 25 bucks a month, or you would take a signed title instead. if she is uncooperative then small claims court or contact the dmv for options... hopefully someone will have a better answer than me...
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@lquade: The wife responded (through her brother) that she would do nothing, which would seem to be pure spite because I offered to pay the value less a storage fee.
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I went to the Mainland about 20 years ago,when I was on Maui, and left a VW van on the street of my old rental.
Racked up a lot of parking tickets and my old roommate covered for me, went to court for me and settled it. We had to push a lot of paper back and forth in order for him to sell it. He was a great help and when I returned it wasn't an issue for me.
Maybe if you tell them you are going to push the car out into the street and let the tickets pile up and they will be liable. And the state will start sending collection letters and It will be very difficult if they want to come back, They might re-think the situation.
One Thing I can always be sure of is that things will never go as expected.
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push the car out into the street and let the tickets pile up
Yes, if you can reverse the situation so that the car becomes her problem, then she might decide to take you up on your offer.
Remind her that by Hawaii State law, she is still responsible for all liability on the vehicle until she mails in the pink slip with the new owners name. Perhaps mention that, and "oh yeah, there's a 14 year old kid down the street who wants to make a dune buggy out of it. I think I'll just let him have at it."
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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I had a roommate that left his car behind. After several months of no response, I called the police. They said they couldn't do anything if it was on private property (my garage), but push it out into the street and report it abandoned. I did that, and it was gone in a couple days.
Get this car out of your life and find another beater.
><(((*< ... ><(("< ... ><('< ... >o>
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Thanks for all the responses. This is HPP, so there won't be any parking tickets to use as leverage, and both parties in the former marriage have no intention of ever returning. I think I will send a last message stating that if it isn't dealt with in ten days, I will have it towed as abandoned.
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Yep, pretty much any way you look at it, its her problem, not yours, and she has the title to prove it.
