It's fine until the previous owner loses a lawsuit and has his assets frozen by the LTO for not paying the court order. The deed of sale pre-dating any lawsuit will not save you. I have experienced this first hand. Hired an attorney to fight it to no avail. Only way to get the bike released is to negotiate with the winner of the lawsuit. You will have no leg to stand on during negotiations as you either agree to their terms or the court will order you too turn it over to them or go to jail for contempt.
Another situation I could see happening is with the previous owner dying and their surviving family looking up their assets with the LTO and trying to come collect. Would a deed of sale save you in that situation?
I thought it would help in the previous situation but the court threw it out the window. The way the court worded what a deed of sale actually is was surprising to me. I'll see if I can find the document tomorrow but, if I remember correctly, it said (paraphrasing) that a deed of sale is only a precursor to the sale. The completion of the sale happens when the registration is updated. No registration name change = incomplete contract/sale.
Transfer your registrations. If you don't you are paying with fire.
Best Posts in Thread: Changing registration to my name
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If the deed of sale is just a precursor to the actual owning of the vehicle and ownership is finalized when it is registered with the LTO as determined by the courts, that's fine.
There can be a problem when you sell a vehicle registered in your name. If the buyer leaves the vehicle in your name and has an accident. You will be on the hook for liabilities from the accident.
A friend had that problem. He bought a motorcycle, registered it in his father-in-law's name. One of his happy workers had an accident (a left town). The injured party has been looking for the father-in-law ever since.- Informative x 4
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Thank you for your response. I had pretty much resigned myself to having been taken advantage of (yet again). It's one of those things that is a recurring annoyance and my patience for it has been wearing short of late. It's the same thing that ultimately chased me out of Thailand so I'm sensitive. Even though it's a nominal sum, it was something that was bothering me through the day. So I'm glad to hear that either I paid an appropriate amount or that I've company. :-)
I did get the registration process completed today. I had received a private message from another member who walked me through the process from his own experience. Much appreciated. As is so common here, my experience wasn't exactly the same as his but close enough to head me in the right direction. I got the serial numbers copied, secured insurance and made the appropriate copies. From there, I was notified I needed "confirmation" from the LTO because the previous registration was done in Bacolod, a different region than Dumaguete. I was also informed that I would need to have the bike inspected at the police station. Fortunately when I got to the LTO I met someone I knew and he waived all of that. It's always interesting to have so many variations to what should be a standard routine. It's also pleasant when things get easier because of "who you know". I'm not going to say more on a public forum but the process seems to be complete except for the waiting period for my or/cr to be created. The lesson I learned is to either buy new or buy from a dealer.- Agree x 3
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Take the document to an attorney and have them notarize it, I believe the seller may need to show up and sign the document in person. The one by PJs restobar, Atty. Nathan Ramacho, is one I've used in the past but almost any attorney of your choice can do it. Just make sure it is a flat fee (should be a couple hundred pesos) and not a percentage of the sale. Take the notarized document to the LTO to have the name transferred. If the registration needs to be renewed go to a smoke testing shop first.
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What are the advantages of changing the registration? With he old papers you can just renew every year, why bother? Or is this a bike you ant to sell one day?
Would not bother at all, like most locals dont bother. 'Just have a notary public do the selling papers and it is yours. (sorry, using the wrong names for sure for all the papers)
I would make sure it is registered yearly with his insurance comes with it. It is just not in your name.- Agree x 2
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