Car Title problem

[John Gilson]

Hi. New to this forum. Need help from anybody who can offer assistance. I bought a car from a guy who had the title, but it was in someone else's name. That someone else, we'll call him "Charlie" had sold the car to "Joe", and apparently "Joe" sold the car to the guy who sold to me. "Charlie" signed the title release, but his name was on the back of the title as a personal lienholder because "Joe" bought it on a payment agreement. Nobody had transferred the vehicle into their name after "Charlie." When I went to the Dept of Motor Vehicles to transfer the vehicle into my name, the DMV said they needed "Charlie," (who was still in the system as the last title holder) to sign a release of interest form. We tracked down "Charlie" and although he originally said he was willing to help us, changed his mind and said he couldn't help after all. I don't trust the guy who sold us the car to provide any info about the prior transactions. I haven't ruled out taking anybody to court if I have a right to, since it appears like fraud for someone to sell a vehicle that they don't legally own. But I'm not a lawyer. Can you offer any suggestions on how to fix this?

 

Thanks.

[afcwben]

when you talk about title are you in fact talking about the V5?

[tiredTraveller]

judging by the references to the DMV I think he's in America