Quote Originally Posted by deermagnet View Post
I was just thinking some more, I know that's dangerous. It seems odd that this well known professional would take your money and not pay off a loan in her name, ruining her credit and having the lien holder hounding her day and night to hand over the VX. Is she that desperate that she would basically steal money and do something probably illegal? Maybe she payed off the loan and never got the title and doesn't care 'cuz she's free of it? Maybe the title was in someone else's name (an ex-something) and she's not liable? It doesn't seem like she fits the profile of someone who would do this, but ya never know about people.
That's my personal opinion. Someone that's in the public eye or depends on a favorable public opinion to make a living (artists have to sell their work after all) doesn't seem like a likely candidate to be a professional scam artist. My money is on the scenario where she uses the money to pay off the loan, then never finishes up the paperwork with DMV to get you the title. I know in Virginia there's not a physical title for a vehicle until after its initially paid off, at which point the bank/credit union "releases" the title in the DMV database to reassign to the new owner. What's interesting is that you never actually have to go get a physical title from DMV unless you want to sell it. If this is what's happened, the TX DMV is probably sitting on a title that was released by her bank but never received by her. I know contacting the DMV could be risky, but personally I would do it - they are the sole authority on this mess. I would just call them on the phone and explain everything that's happened and see what they think. But don't give them your real name (anybody has a right to call their DMV to get info about a VIN without having to provide personal info) for the reasons that have been listed elsewhere in this thread.

Quote Originally Posted by Marlin View Post
Good deal for him, the guy doing the scam was in the Navy and had sold over 20 cars on base. He is still in prison.
Too bad the guy that sold us Sonya's Honda isn't in prison. He was buying frame-damaged cars on eBay but only after ensuring that the CarFax report didn't show the damage. Then he would stick the report in the window of the car and park it on the "lemon lot" on base, where he (as an O-4) could swindle unsuspecting E-1/2/3's out of their already minimal pay. I would LOVE to see that guy go to jail, unfortunately we had Mahalia in the NICU at the time, so we didn't have the energy to really pursue it.

Good luck man, it doesn't look good, but hopefully there's a happy ending around the corner.