I received a certified letter in the mail the other day. Actually, I received the postcard that says they tried to deliver a certified letter and that I would have to go to the post office to pick it up. Ugh.
In the midst of buying a house, I figured it may have something to do with the loan approval or one of the many other steps involved in the process. So, I added "Stop by the Post Office" to my list of errands to run on Friday as I dealt with house-related tasks and prepared for Murray Christmas that night.
The letter was from a wrecker service in Falfurrias, Texas. Clearly, not a part of the loan process.
Apparently, the paperwork for the car I sold to CarMax over 6 months ago was never fully processed. In the eyes of the State of Texas, that car still belongs to me. And from their point of view, I left it abandoned on the side of a highway in the Valley. I'm sure they've come to all sorts of great conclusions as to what I may have been doing with an SUV just a few miles from the border -- and why I would have left it on the side of the road. Nice.
When I called CarMax to ask why this would have happened, the woman who answered was completely non-chalant about the situation -- as if it happens all the time. No sound of shock in her voice, no indication that she was surprised this could have happened -- and certainly nothing even close to an apology on behalf of the company.
Apparently, it's up to me to prove to the good folks in Falfurrias that I do not own the car anymore. She said I would need to provide the wrecker service with proof of sale. Little does she know that I am not one for the record-keeping and that as soon as I cashed the check from CarMax, that car was out of my life for good. Who needs a paper trail? If I can't find the receipt, I have to "physically come down to CarMax" (her words) and get a copy. Nevermind fax machines or PDF files.
So, add this to the list of my All-Time Greatest Hassles that I have to resolve.
observations | conversations | exhortations
3 comments:
A similar thing happened to my parents a long time ago. They had this ugly 15 passenger van for sale and some people came and said they wanted it to transport cheerleaders to games (I thought, "Poor cheerleaders having to ride around in that ugly thing."). Turns out they really wanted it to smuggle illegal aliens across the border. Somehow when they found the van, it was still in my parents' name! They had to do the same rigamarole to prove they had sold it. Hope it goes smoothly for you!
Been there done that, Steven. We kept getting parking tickets from the Honda Prelude we sold over 1 year ago. The dealer never changed the title from our name to the name of the new owner. It was a nightmare - to think that someone was driving around in a car that was still titled to us!
I would be happy to get the vehicle purchase agreement for you. I can have it faxed to you, no problem. Let me know if I can help. Mark Simmons 858.735.5162
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