SOT: Stealing abandoned cars (in this case a Delorean!)

[haygood at myway.com (Brian Haygood)]

You can file an applicatoin for lost title, but that will take several weeks.  The state takes responsibility for contacting the owner and getting them to block your title application.  AFAIK, they won't tell you the address or name of the owner.  



Any policeman can get the license plate run to give you the owner's name.  They aren't suppoed to just do this on a whim, but I'm sure you can find one to help out in this case.  That would give you the owner's name and maybe even address within a matter of minutes.  Flag down some cop (not during his lunch break - they get aggressive when they are hungry!, LOL).  



Of course, if you can get into the car, there is almost certainly something in it that gives you the owner's name, but the trick is to get that info without committing theft.



I would consider having the car towed to a safer location - prefereably not to your home, as that would more likely be considered stealing.  Can you move it to a lot that isn't being repaved to give you time to do the title ap, or whatever?



If the poor sod who owns it is out at sea or something, they will be unlikely to respond to the title application search in time, and you will probably be awarded the title in a matter of weeks.  If you contact him and tell him what happened, I would be surprised if he didn't thank you for keeping his Delorean from being impounded and crushed, and by rights he should ante up to cover your expenses.  Of course, if you hold the title, then he is pretty much under your mercy, though he might file a civil suit - which he would probably lose.



Brian









 --- On Sun 09/25, GGehrke < ggehrke@gmail.com > wrote:

From: GGehrke [mailto: ggehrke@gmail.com]

To: Scirocco-l@scirocco.org

Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 11:14:13 -0400

Subject: SOT: Stealing abandoned cars (in this case a Delorean!)



Does anyone know if there's any way to rescue an abandoned car<br>legally?  There's a delorean that has been sitting in a parking lot<br>where I keep my cars - it's tires are flat, it's filthy, and it's been<br>sitting there for years.  It does, however, seem to have an up to date<br>sticker on the license plate, so the owner might be coming by annually<br>to change it.  There's a note in the window about "if there are<br>problems call " and a number, but the ink is so sunfaded it's<br>disappeared and you literally have to read it by the impression the<br>ballpoint pen left in the paper.  The lot is being repaved in the<br>coming weeks so the car has to move by tonight anyways, and I'm almost<br>positive that the owner has not been informed, because midshipmen are<br>the only ones allowed to park there and he certainly doesn't go to my<br>school, at least not anymore.<br><br>I want it.  I want to steal it and if it's not running fix it up, and<br>drive it for a while and then 
maybe sell it for profit.<br><br>I know there are procedures for picking up abandoned cars, paying any<br>state fees required, and registering them to yourself, but I'm not<br>familiar with them.  Maybe having to do with liens of some sort?  Can<br>I check the car out somehow from the VIN/plate number?  Does anyone<br>know the procedures for something like this.  Car is located in and<br>registered in Maryland.<br><br>-Grant-<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Scirocco-l mailing list<br>Scirocco-l@scirocco.org<br>http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l<br>

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