I've noticed an apparently abandoned 122 sedan in my area that looks to be in pretty good shape interior and exterior wise. It's sitting in a foreclosed business parking lot for sometime now. There are no plates or for sale signs.

Does anyone know how to go about seeing if it can be claimed through the DMV, or finding the PO and how much hassle it would be?

I would hate to see a perfectly good Amazon go to waste.

Tom

/// The law varies from state to state. Here in Alabama getting the sheriff remove a abandoned car and sell it at auction for storage after all legal notices proved not to be good enough. There is a case here of an owner returning and reclaiming a car with all the improvements and repairs the auction bidder made. Only if you are parting out the car is this a good idea. If the actual owner can show that ineffectual notice was given you are out of luck and the police authority usually has no responsibility. You might not even get back your auction bid payment.

Try getting the V.I.N. number and the checking with the DMV to see who it's

registered to. Then check the phone book..call up the name..and maybe you'll get lucky that way..

Hope this helps you out..

Rob

Sad to hear about a good car going to waste.

I hope you can get it.

The best place to start would be to find the owner of the business that is forclosed, or even an employee. Ask the neighboring businesses if they know who owned or worked there. If you can find them, you might be able to find out who the car's legal owner is.

Next thing you should do is contact the property owner. He/she should be able to get some kind of legal ownership if the car is abandoned, however, it is a hassle for them to do it, so you'd probably be wise the throw in a bone. The owner of the property would also be a good person to talk to about the business owner.

If they are not willing to go through the red tape, they might be willing to have the car towed. If it is abandoned, the towing company will eventually be able to get a title, and you could buy it from them.

The legalities are going to vary quite a bit from state to state, so its hard to give you anything concrete.

Is the property for sale or lease? contact the realter....

If that fails, go to the property owner.

If that fails, and if all else fails, you could call in a complaint about an abandoned ugly car with the city....they will have it towed. You'll need to know which towing company took it, and then make a deal with them. This would be an absolute last resort though! Don't try it until you have exhausted all other means of contact with either the owner of the car, or the owner of the defunct business...

Tricky stuff indeed, but it can be pretty cool when it works out and you get a good car. Been there, done that.

Good luck!

-Matt B