Question:
Does anyone know the law as to whether one person can be the Titled
owner of a vehicle and another person Register and Insure the car?
How about whether one person can be the named as owner of the car on
the Title, be the name on the Registration, yet another person be the
name on the Insurance for the same car?
Answer:
Registering a vehicle in NYS requires submitting proof of ownership.
That generally means a title signed over to you. Also, to register a
vehicle you have to show proof of insurance in the same name as the
registered owner of the vehicle. So the short answer is "no". See:
http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/reg.htm
Speaking of registering a vehicle, if you own a vehicle popular with
car thieves, avoid the 1-800 DMV number for re-registration. It turns
out that DMV contracts this service to the NYS Department of
Correction. In other words, the nice lady on the other end of the
phone is an inmate, probably at Bayview or Arthur Kill Correctional
Facility.
Two weeks ago, my garage was broken into by a group of very
professional thieves and my Harley-Davidson motorcycle stolen while I
was home. The curious thing about this theft is that I only recently
moved to the neighborhood and was so busy with my job that I never
took the bike out of the locked, windowless garage. Even the
neighbors didn't know I had bikes, but these thieves did. I
originally thought it was the Home Depot garage door installers but
after talking with other motorcyclists whose bikes were stolen under
similar circumstances, the finger points at DMV's BONE-HEADED decision
to use convicted felons for their 1-800 registration service. Gee, do
you think these people might know any professional vehicle thieves?
Progressive Insurance Company hit the ceiling when they learned this.
Since April 10, there has been a record number of motorcycle theft
claims with their company. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the
fact that all motorcycle registrations in NYS expire on the last day
of April.
