Vehicles & Servicing Buying a Used Motorcycle

Does anyone have a reference for an attorney who has an excellent understanding of LTO rules and the law? Particularly how to clear up open deeds of sale. There are many vehicles in the rural areas that are not able to get registered because of old "open" deeds of sale.

An "open" deed of sale is where the seller signs a deed of sale while leaving the buyers information "open" (blank). The buyer simply continues to pay the registration fee every year on behalf of the previous owner. This is a common thing that the locals do here.

This works until the new or any subsequent owner fails to renew on time and the registration expires. Then the registered owner needs to show up at the LTO to renew it. This is often not possible.

As a result there are numerous vehicles that are not able to get registered at the LTO. They are not stolen. They have fallen into this issue.

Because there are so many vehicles with this issue I assume there is a way to resolve it.

Does anyone have a reference for an attorney who has an excellent understanding of LTO rules and the law?

Thanks

 

Standard Insurance (https://www.facebook.com/StandardInsuranceDumaguete/) does.

 

I was in at the new smoke test in Banilad today and spoke to Smoke Test Ernie. He said to renew an overdue OR you should have a copy of the last valid OR and a copy of the CR to bring the OR up to date. There is no need to involve the registered owner. He said there will be some penalties for being late renewing the OR (not sure the cost).
Once the OR is brought up to date it is straight forward to transfer the CR.
Note: you need a photocopy of the sellers ID and a notarized Absolute Deed of Sale and the original CR.

The new smoke test in Banilad charges the same prices as all the other places in town. They have a nice airconditioned lounge to wait while your vehicle gets tested.
The wait time was short as they don't have many customers. People seem to think the new place is fancy so it must be expensive, which it is not.

 

Just as a matter of interest - is it possible for the original owner to have the Open Deed of Sale notarised with just the owner's signature?

 

The situation here in the province is confused. The overarching goal is to prevent vehicle theft. Technology has helped the LTO immensely but because of privacy rules it does not help the unsuspecting buyer.

There are two processes. 1) The new network database technology and 2) the old paperwork process.

1) The new network database technology works to protect the LTO.
Thanks to modern technology, the authorities and the LTO have a database of chassis, engine and license plate numbers. A past registered owner can report the vehicle as stolen. The authorities then place an "alarm" in the database associated with the vehicle id, engine number and license plate. The authorities then can track down any subsequent person who tries to register or has already registered the vehicle.

As part of this new technology there is a user interface that the public can use.

from any mobile network, text LTO VEHICLE and then the license plate of the vehicle to 2600 during LTO business hours and it will respond with a listing of any alarms raised against the vehicle. this way you know that currently there are no reports of theft against that license plate number and the engine and chassis numbers associated with it.

Example, assuming the license plate is ABC 123 then text
LTO VEHICLE ABC123 to 2600
Note the space between the letters and numbers in the license plate has been removed.

2) The paperwork process serves to protect the buyer from buying a stolen vehicle.
The thief does not care if the buyer can register the vehicle. The thief only wants their money. The way to do this is to obfuscate the origination of the vehicle. This is done through intermediaries and can be expedited with an "open deed of sale". The problem is that this "open deed of sale" is also used by people acting as dealers to flip cars. They buy cheap and sell it soon for more. The "flippers" want to avoid the additional cost of registering the car to themselves.
The open deed of sale has also become popular with people in the province who do not have the time and money to travel to the LTO office to register the car. They simply keep the open deed of sale and continue to pay the registration fees of the previous owner.
The problem is that only using the open deed of sale leaves no evidence that the intermediary was involved in the sale. So the buyer has no recourse against the actual seller.

IN SUMMARY
If you are interested in purchasing a used car from an individual do the following:

BEFORE YOU BUY THE VEHICLE !
1) Text the licence plate number to the LTO service at 2600:
LTO VEHICLE ABC123
This will tell you if there is an alarm on the vehicle.

2) Take the vehicle to the smog test place and have them create tracings of the chassis and engine numbers. Make sure these agree with the numbers shown on the original Certificate of Registration. This helps to ensure that the vehicle has the proper license plate.

3) Make sure you get a notarized deed of sale from the person selling you the vehicle and a copy of two government issued ids with three signatures on each copy. (The person who will be taking your money.) This is a legal record through which you can hold them accountable if there are problems later. (encumbrances, theft, etc.)

4) I advise against this. If you are buying a vehicle under an open deed of sale, then have this second deed of sale notarized etc. Make sure you have copies of two pieces of government issued identification of the original seller and the current seller. So you will have two deeds of sale from two sellers. The original and the current. This way you have evidence of the person who actually sold you the vehicle.