The Car Is Here, the Owner Is Not: Title, Power of Attorney and Insurance

It happens in a lot of families: a brother goes back home, a father retires to his town, a cousin's visa situation changes, and the car stays in the driveway with their name on the title. Driving it that way for a while feels harmless. The trouble starts with the first renewal notice, the first claim, or the first time someone needs to sell it.

Why the name on the title matters

• Liability. Under Vehicle Code section 17150, an owner is liable for death or injury caused by the negligent driving of anyone using the car with permission. The absent owner stays exposed for as long as the car is in their name.
• Registration. Insurers report coverage to the DMV electronically. If the DMV does not receive proof of insurance for a registered vehicle, the registration is suspended, and the car may not be driven or parked on public roads until proof is submitted.
• Claims. Payments for the car follow the policy and the title. A check made out to someone who lives abroad is a check nobody here can cash.

Before the owner leaves: the checklist

1. The owner signs the California Certificate of Title as seller. If there is a loan, the lienholder has to sign or release its interest too.
2. The owner submits the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability within 5 days of the transfer.
3. You submit the signed title and the transfer fee to the DMV. The DMV says any change of ownership must be reported within 10 days.
4. Ask the DMV whether a smog certification or a bill of sale (REG 135) applies to your transfer; it lists both among forms that "may be required."
5. Insure the car in your name on the day the transfer happens.

If the owner has already left

The REG 260 Power of Attorney. On this DMV form the owner appoints a person "as my attorney in fact, to complete all necessary documents, as needed, to transfer ownership as required by law." The form identifies the vehicle by VIN, year, make and plate; it must be signed in ink; the owner certifies it under penalty of perjury and writes their driver's license or ID number. The original has to reach you, so plan on mailing it.

If the title is lost. The DMV requires an Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title (REG 227) first, and says titles usually arrive by mail within 15 to 30 days. Start this early, because nothing else can happen until the title exists.

Insuring the car in the meantime

What you'll be asked for: the owner's name, your relationship to them, who will drive the car, and where it is kept overnight.

What usually works: telling the company plainly that the owner is abroad and you are the person driving. A policy that still lists only the absent owner as driver, at an address where they no longer live, describes a car that does not exist.

What varies by insurance company: whether it will insure a driver who is not the titled owner, and on what terms. Some will, some will not until the title is transferred. That is one more reason to finish the transfer.

What not to do

• Do not let the owner's old policy lapse before yours starts.
• Do not sign the owner's name on the title yourself. Use the REG 260, signed by them.
• Do not wait for a renewal notice to tell you the registration was suspended.

When the title is moving into your name, get your quote here so the coverage starts the same day.