Selling Car in Florida?
 

I hope the car folks here can help me.

How does one sell a car in Florida? My mother-in-law in St. Pete has a buyer for her car & she asked me for help. I don't know what to do to help her transfer the title & whatever else needs to be done to make the sale legal. Can anyone here let me know what needs to be done?

Thank you! :ho:

Remove proof of insurance and other personal papers
Take the plates off the car
Have the buyer sign a quickie bill of sale acknowledging that the car was purchased "as is, where is, with no conditions warranted"
Get the cash
Sign the title
Turn over the keys
Run to the bank to deposit the cash:a040:

Thanks Jim!
We don't have to go get the title signature notarized?

Not that I know of. Just so it looks like what was on the orginal title filed with the state and even then I really don't know if anyone checks it out.

Thanks for all your help Jim! :ho:

It is also important to file a Form HSMV, Sale of Vehicle. This tells the county to whom you have transferred your vehicle. The purchaser might not properly register the vehicle and you would still be legally responsible for the vehicle if it were to be involved in an accident. These forms are available at any county annex.

Thanks Perrjojo. We'll try to find the St. Pete County Annex. Maybe they have this form at the DMV? This is turning out to be more complicated than I thought it would be. My mother-in-law is 89, and I don't want to make her stand in line if she doesn't have to.

I would go with the buyer to ensure the car gets registered in his/her name.

Is the form you're referring to, the one you can download at the top of list on the following web page?

Official Website Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

If so, uujudy can save herself the trip to an HSMV location to pick one up. There may be other useful forms downloadable on the list as well. Check it out!

If I were doing it what I would do is meet the seller at the Tax Collector office for the county that the buyer lives in and do the transaction inside in the office. Get cash sign the title in front of the people at the license dept be sure and get your plate and registration out of the car along with anything with your name on it and leave. This will also help the buyer to get his plates on the car.

Do not under any circumstances sell the car and let the person use your plate till they go to the license branch. Meet them at the branch it is a safe place to handle the transaction.

Two different friends of mine sold their cars themselves in Pinellas County where the OP's mother-in-law lives. They got the cash and signed the title. The seller is 89 years old. It's doubtful she can chase all over the county after she sells her car.

Interesting form, never knew about it or signed one. Over the years I bought 4 sports cars (low mileage toys) from Villagers, one for myself and 3 for friends who drove them back to Wisconsin and Iowa. All we did was mail in titles to the respective states' DMV and back came new titles and plates.

I am not an attorney, but I do not think legal liability will remain with the orginal owner if you have proof of sale. I would guess that the "ownership status" comment at the bottom of the form is concerned more with who will be contacted in case of an "incident". The DMV would go to what is on record. It is interesting that nowhere is listed the license plate number.

I forgot to mention in my earlier posting that the seller should always get and verify the name, address, and driver's license number of the buyer as part of the transation.

Is using the plate of the owner actually legal? I know that in NYS you have to cancel the insurance and the only way you can do that is that BEFORE you turn over your car you have to take the plates into the DMV and get a surrender certificate before you can transfer your car's title or cancel your insurance.

Technically, using the NY plate of the owner is in and of itself legal so long as their registration and insurance is in effect. Not a wise thing to do though as there are circumstances where you can potentially get your drivers license, privileges, registration or to have a vehicle registered in your name suspended or revoked if the insurance is no longer in effect.

My suggestion is based on 35 years in Auto sales before I retired. First of all just signing a title does not mean you are not the legal owner of a car. The state of Florida will have you as the legal owner until legal ownership is transfered by the state. If you trade or sell your car to a auto dealer you will walk out of there with a legal purchase/sale contract which will show a legal transaction. If you think that just signing a title means you are no longer the legal owner of the car you are dreaming.

Second of all the seller is 89 years old and if that were my mom and she was handling this without me being there I would want her is a safe place to do this transaction. Many times in this type of transaction you don't know who you are dealing with. If that were my mom I would be there and that is the way the transaction would be done. Many times the easy way is not the best way.

Also if I were handling this type of sale there are two state license and title offices within a 10 minute drive of my house here in The Villages so I would not think that is chasing all over the county. I don't know about Pinellas County but I would think that there would be one not far away.

I assumed the OP wanted the best way to handle this.

:BigApplause::agree: amen!

I agree that simply signing a title may not be proof positive of a legitimate sale......But if the signing of the title was accompanied with a Bill of sale identifying the seller/buyer, date of sale, price paid and any/or no conditions..that would equate to a contract. I would make certain that the person buying the car has the proper ID (Drivers license) is of the proper age to sign a legal document and that I would take MY tags off the car. Whether or not the buyer has the right license tags or insurance is his or her problem.

Also in my former state, you could return to DMV the owners card identifying the new owner and the date of sale......not certain if that applies here in Fl.

WOW! You guys are the BEST! I just knew this was the place to ask my questions! :thumbup:

I'll use all the wonderful information you posted & let you know what happens.
Thanks a bunch!
Judy