Buying a car with no title

I'm looking at picking up a project and the owner doesn't have the title. The car was in Santa Rosa and they lost the title during the north bay fires. The owner says they have the registration and proof of insurance all in their name. Seems legit to me.

Does anyone have any experience with buying a car with no title? I did a search online and from what I understand as long as I have a bill of sale I can get a new title in my name. Does this sound correct?

I haven't lived in California long, and so I am unfamiliar with most of the DMV stuff here.

Thanks in advance.

Theres a DMV form you can get for a lost or damaged title
Its called REG 227, Application for Duplicate or Paperless Title
You and the seller sign it.
It'll transfer the title to you and you'll get a copy in the mail.

As long as it has California plates and is currently registered or non-opped you should be fine. If it has been in another state it can be a huge pain in the ass. If it's not registered you could be looking at hefty fines to register it.

ThatQuietGuy said:

Theres a DMV form you can get for a lost or damaged title
Its called REG 227, Application for Duplicate or Paperless Title
You and the seller sign it.
It'll transfer the title to you and you'll get a copy in the mail.

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Wascally Wabbit said:

As long as it has California plates and is currently registered or non-opped you should be fine. If it has been in another state it can be a huge pain in the ass. If it's not registered you could be looking at hefty fines to register it.

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Thanks for the input. They sold the car before I got a chance to go look at it so they can kick rocks.

Good knowledge going forward tho lol

I had a freakin nightmare getting my own title after I paid off my loan here in California because I had my car in another state for a couple years and came back. I bought the car here, paid off the car here and was living and had it registered here. Took me almost a year and 8 trips to the dmv to finally get it. It was insanity. Every time I went they would tell me I needed something else. I can't stand the california dmv. In Alaska it took me 20 minutes to get my license and registration. In the end I had to get a letter from the Alaska dmv stating it was never titled in Alaska even though I still had a lean on the title for another year after I got back.