1bea97b4   
   From: bo774@FreeNet.Carleton.CA   
      
   vintage (smileycheeks@hotmail.com) writes:   
   > I have a question about legal ownership of a car.   
   >   
   > When the car was purchased, a bill of sale was written up and   
   > witnessed by an Alberta registry office agent. Only a person on the   
   > bill of sale can register a vehicle, and only someone with a drivers   
   > liscence can purchase registration. My ex signed a bill of sale as the   
   > seller, and with me as the buyer, for the purchase amount of the   
   > vehicle at the time of the purchase. The vehicle was registered in my   
   > name, and also insured in my name.   
   >   
   > As stated, I have been paying him the amount of the car payment every   
   > month, and have also been paying for the maintenance of the vehicle;   
   > oil changes, tires, etc. However, nowhere was there a contract between   
   > us about ownership of the vehicle etc, and never have I signed   
   > anything to do with the car, its payments, its loan.   
      
   You lost me at this point. How did you get it registered and insured in   
   your name if you didn't sign a transfer document accepting ownership and   
   responsibility? The previous paragraph says your name was on the Bill of   
   sale. Didn't you sign the Registration/Transfer form, insurance form   
   and the purchase agreement?   
      
   If you signed it you own it.   
      
   BC has a Central Registry which can be used to check about liens and   
   other charges against vehicles. Is there an Alberta counterpart?   
      
   Is there a lien registered? Is there any other signed loan and repayment   
   agreement? If not you own it clear title, otherwise loadn repayment is hard   
   to evade.   
      
   Co-signing or accepting responsibility for loans of vehicles and other   
   property is a dicey business. When my mother told me one of my uncles   
   had co-signed a car loan for a vehicle she brought home, my 10 year old   
   question was "does that mean that Uncle Melvin will end up paying for it"?   
   Mom basically stopped paying, but the loan company gave my aunt a   
   nervous breakdown over it when they found that she was susceptible to   
   their pressure calls. They lost their home trying to keep their   
   credit good. Put me right off ever loaning money to relatives or "friends",   
   although I did pay several thousand to one of her scam victims to keep   
   mom out of prision in the late 1970s. I probably wouldn't do that over   
   with my current perspective on life, since it fed her thrill quota for   
   getting away with outrageous conduct.   
      
   It is also important to get the title transferred to your ex rather than   
   just leaving it. In BC, at least, you would still be liable if it   
   gets in an accident, as long as it is registered to you. Not having a   
   licence, or even registration, isn't enough to stop some people from   
   driving a vehicle. Take the plates off and return them to the registry   
   if you don't transfer them to another vehicle.   
      
   You might consider yourself lucky. One of my wife's co-workers got abandoned   
   with a child after paying the down payment and regular payments on a home   
   mortgage, only to find that the her ex-husband was the only person on the   
   title when he took off.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)