> As a favor, I took on the responsibility of selling a car located here in
> California for the owner in Florida. Now here's what I'm concerned
> about; The car owner doesn't want to just turn over the title to me, they
> want me to find an escrow type business for cars that would hold the
> title and payment and deliver each to the appropriate parties when the
> deal is finalized. My question is: is this the norm anywhere, because
> I've never heard of it before and if it is done can anyone recommend
> a company in Los Angeles (Calabasas) area that does it. TIA.
Don, although perhaps not the 'norm', it's not at all unusual to use escrow
when buying expensive items by long distance. As Larry said, most banks
should be able to help.
You could also consider using one of the many Internet escrow companies that
have sprung up around eBay and the other on-line auctions; like
http://www.escrow.com/
Typically, they don't hold the title, instead they only escrow the money.
The buyer sends them the money, they confirm funds to the seller, who then
transfers the title/car/whatever to the buyer. The buyer then indicates his
satisfaction to the escrow company, who releases the funds to the seller. I
used Tradeenable when buying a vintage Judson blower a few years back, it
worked quite well IMO. However, they were apparently a victim of the
Internet shakeout, and are no longer offering the service.
Randall
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