Has anyone else received tickets for a car you no longer own?

I received 3 tickets a year ago in Kansas City for a car I sold about 2 years ago. I reported the sale to the State of Missouri, as required. Apparently, the buyer never titled the car in his own name yet continues to drive it... probably with stolen plates. When they can't figure out who to issue the summons to, they just send it to the last known titled owner.

I'm not asking for legal advice on how to handle traffic tickets as I've handled many over the years for clients. The Kansas City prosecutor's office dismissed them once I entered my appearance and provided an affidavit. But it was a lot of wasted time. To my knowledge they never bothered to track down the guy I sold the car to despite the fact that I gave them all of the information they needed.

I thought this was over, then in the mail the other day I received another summons. This time it was for Parking in a Handicapped Zone on 06/03/2019 by the University of Missouri St. Louis PD. I've never been on that campus.

Luckily no, did have one guy that refused to title the car after I sold it to him.

Called him up and told him we were on the way over to retrieve the car since he hadn't titled it and void the bill of sale, amazingly he had it transfered that afternoon....

Ought to be some way you can present the BOS to the DMV, and a copy of the title showing you sold it and to whom..

Heck they migh have sold it off and it's in the third or fourth party hands by now.

So if they get drunk, cause a wreck, hurt or kill someone, since it wasn't retitled does that make it even more difficult as other parties would try and come after you as well.

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Has anyone received tickets for a car you no longer own?

Great question. Yes, I have. Sold a car to a friend. A month later, got a parking ticket in the mail. Showed it to her. Turned out her husband parked it illegally somewhere. I received the ticket because they had not finished whatever paperwork they were supposed to do to complete the transfer of ownership. Also, I should have taken the old license plate off the car, when it was sold. So, gave them the ticket so they had to pay.

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Ought to be some way you can present the BOS to the DMV, and a copy of the title showing you sold it and to whom..

All of that was provided to the State of Missouri.

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Also, I should have taken the old license plate off the car, when it was sold.

Yes, I would never let a car leave my possession with a license plate registered to me.

If you took the plates, how did they discover the car belongs to you? Did they get the VIN from the windshield? Is a license plate # listed on the summons?

I put a small scrap of paper over the VIN that's visible from the windshield.

Yes, nearly 10 years after selling the car. Try finding a .gov record that showed you sold a car 19 years ago (DC Parking Enforcement said a bill of sale was not considered evidence that I sold it).

I had to request copies of the personal property tax records as they showed the car was no longer mine.

It was a big hassle, but worth it as it was a $500 fines (handicapped space, no permit) that was doubled because it took so long to find me.

I got a bridge toll and street sweeping voilation on a car that had been stolen from me. Helped to track the cars whereabouts down.

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Originally posted by 1967Goat:
If you took the plates, how did they discover the car belongs to you? Did they get the VIN from the windshield? Is a license plate # listed on the summons?

Yes, from the VIN the police can find the last titled owner. A license plate # was listed on the summons but it was not a plate that was ever issued to me. That's why I would assume it was a stolen plate.

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Originally posted by chellim1:
Has anyone else received tickets for a car you no longer own?

I received 3 tickets a year ago in Kansas City for a car I sold about 2 years ago. I reported the sale to the State of Missouri, as required. Apparently, the buyer never titled the car in his own name yet continues to drive it...

This is one reason why we always accompany the buyer to the SOS' office immediately upon private sale of a vehicle.

One of my best friends had the Sheriff's Office show up at his front door one day. Seems the marginally-operational (and that's putting it graciously) boat he'd sold had never been re-titled and the new owner had left it abandoned in a waterway, tied up to a tree on the shoreline. Luckily he was able to furnish his copy of a bill of sale to the new owner to prove he no longer owned the boat.

Only 1.
Sold a car to my sister, got a CO toll violation as she hadn't gotten it registered in CO from TX yet.

I gave a car to my sister in law. Two years later I received a ticket because it still had the license plate on it that I registered, and the title had not been changed either. The car was not on insurance either!

She spent not one damn dime to take responsibility for a gift car!

Every car or truck I have sold has the plate removed when the sale is completed. Prevents crap like this and forces the new owner to get a tag immediately.

Sort of related; a buddy rented a vehicle in Jacksonville FL, put less than 200 miles on it and got a toll road ticket from Miami noted an hour before the vehicle was returned - in Jacksonville.

Listening to his phone calls to clear it up were comical.

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Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Sort of related; a buddy rented a vehicle in Jacksonville FL, put less than 200 miles on it and got a toll road ticket from Miami noted an hour before the vehicle was returned - in Jacksonville.
...

Had a similar experience with the Chicago Tollway, mine was easy to resolve. I rented a car and temporarily added the plate to the IPass system for the week or so I used it.

I wisely checked the tolls they charged me, a few were AFTER I turned in the car! I mailed them a copy of the charges and the rental agreement, a few days later they dropped those tolls.

I know, it's rare to read "Chicago" and "efficient" in the same sentence, but the IPass system (which I now rarely use) seems to work very well in IL and other states.

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Originally posted by PowerSurge:
Every car or truck I have sold has the plate removed when the sale is completed. Prevents crap like this and forces the new owner to get a tag immediately.

Same here. Doesn't force the new owner to title or prevent them from stealing a tag from someone else.

I have. I sold a car about 10 years ago and around a year later I got a bill for unpaid parking tickets in a city a few hours away. I just sent back an affidavit stating that I no longer owned the vehicle and never heard anything again. Had they wanted more evidence, I could have provided it.

I received one from CA. When I got out of the Navy and was leaving the state, I sold a truck to a younger kid. I moved to another state and about 6 months later I received a summons in the mail (addressed to my new address, not a forward of my old CA address.) According to them I was in an accident (the kid got in one and was uninsured.) Luckily I still had the bill of sale/transfer (that had been sent in to the state when I sold the truck.) I called the state and the kid never finished the transfer. I faxed them my copy and they verified all was legit. Shortly after that I received a letter from the lawyer that was representing the other party in the accident and the lawyer scumbag was coming for my insurance. I was so very happy to be able call him and let him know I had confirmed with the state my half of the the transfer, releasing me as owner, was properly sent in to the state when I sold the truck (I even faxed him the copy.) I had a few choice words for him, but just being able to burst his bubble was about enough to satisfy me.

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Originally posted by chellim1:

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Originally posted by PowerSurge:
Every car or truck I have sold has the plate removed when the sale is completed. Prevents crap like this and forces the new owner to get a tag immediately.

Same here. Doesn't force the new owner to title or prevent them from stealing a tag from someone else.

Yes, but at least it won’t be my tag and I have a copy of bill of sale.

Yes East Lansing issued a parking ticket to an expired plate that was registered (?) to me. 1979 registration year, ticket was issued 1983.Problem, the 79 plate was the old black plate, as of 1982 Michigan replaced all black plates with blue plates.

The state never issued that particular number by 1983 so Michigan's computer system that year tagged the last year that plate was issued with the ticket. And as a plus, they still showed that plate as current and valid.

Only problem was that the vehicle that plate originally was issued to was surrendered to the Motor Vehicle Division of New Mexico in December 1979 as required by them when it was registered in that state.

East Lansing and I went around a bit. Sent them copies of the NM title and title application, photo of the plate on the vehicle, letter from the car dealer that I worked for stating I was at work during that time and copies of the fire department run reports that I wrote that week. After a month or so they finally dismissed the ticket, no way was I driving 3300 round trip miles to contest it in court.

A few years ago I bought a new car and traded the other in.in Washington the plates stay with the car. The dealership arranged for my title and to granger the old car to them.

About five months later I got a parking ticket from a college. Yes, on the car I traded in. Turns out the dealership had a practice of not doing the transfer until they sold to the new buyer. This they had done but the transfer hadn't though when the ticket was written.After dealing with the manager at the dealership I called the campus police. Nope, they did care. Pay the ticket. Next stop was the college president. His receptionist understood what was going. She called the campus police and directed that the ticket be dismissed. A couple of months later I got a past due on the ticket. When I called the receptionist she assured me the ticket....had not been dismissed. A day later she called back and reported it had been cleared.