[TR] Government at its worst

[Mark Hooper]

Hi Andrew:

I had a similar experience in Quebec, Canada.

As a teenager, I got a ratty old Kawasaki motorcycle in 1978 from a
impound yard in exchange for my Puch moped which they had "lost"
following it being grabbed from me for driving it with an expired
license. :^( The KH250 was not in any sort of running condition having
been run up a tree by an eager sort of fellow who had confused himself
with a squirrel. He had subsequently either lost interest or left this
veil of tears and thus the bike had no papers at all.

I dragged the bike and associated parts off in a little red wagon and
worked on rebuilding the machine all summer. Alas, like you, when I
tried to license it without any title documents the officials were not
impressed by my industry and flatly refused my application and earnest
entreaties.

After much investigation, the solution was to go to a "Commissioner of
Oaths". I wrote out a statement affirming the motorcycle's history and
that to the best of my knowledge I was indeed now the rightful owner.
The commissioner affixed his seal to the document and I headed off to
the license bureau. Better than Ajax's shield, all the bites of the
venomous reptiles inhabiting that dark den were rebuffed by my sealed
paper. They positively cowered before it and I emerged into the light of
day proudly holding my new license and ownership papers.

You might try to find out what the equivalent of this odd but useful
office is in your neck of the woods. They seem to hang out around realty
offices and engineering companies. Indeed I found mine at the
engineering company where my father was working. There the commissioner
would seal statements from the engineers that the 10-story mud and straw
buildings they were designing were proof against all calamities such as
rain, wind and earthquakes.

Best of luck!

Cheers,

Mark


-----Original Message-----
From: triumphs-bounces at autox.team.net
[mailto:triumphs-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Andrew Uprichard
Sent: December 2, 2008 10:26 AM
To: Triumphs at autox.team.net
Subject: [TR] Government at its worst

Team:

4 years ago I bought TS51185 from a guy in Connecticut and got a
notarized
bill of sale.  Having now gotten the car to a point (running, almost
ready
for paint, hopefully less than a year from finished) where I would like
it
to be insured, I applied for a Massachusetts Title.  Well, apparently
our
great commonwealth recently enacted a law of "no new titles" and are
refusing to accept my application without a previous title.  I explained
that the guy who sold it to me probably never had a title, and certainly
is
not going to be interested in going about getting one in retrospect.
The
lady's reply ?  "Well, I guess you won't be driving it anytime soon"

Has anyone come across this type of thing before ?  Any Advice ?

A frustrated,

Andrew Uprichard
TR3B:  TCF 191L (titled)
TR3A:  TS 51185L (who knows......)