Problem Title, Need Help

Maybe one of yall nice fellas can steer me in the right direction.

A while back I bought a motorcycle from my stepbrother, who lived in Bristol Tennessee. So I drove from Florida to Tennessee to pick up the bike and visit for a few days. He had the bike titled in Tennessee and gave me the title. When I got back to Florida I rode the bike to the local DMV office to transfer the title, and found out the vin didnt match the title. Florida verifies the vin before the title is issued. Apparently Tennessee does not. He bought the bike at a shop that was on consignment. To make matters worse he passed away shortly after and now I dont know how to title this bike. The only thing I can think of is the shop gave him a title for a different bike and since they dont verify the vin, Tennessee issued the title. I do not even know what shop sold the bike so I am at a dead end. Does anyone know how I could resolve this. I could use any and all advice on this matter. I would hate to buy a frame with title so I can ride it legally.

have the dmv run a title check in the state he bought the bike using the frame # instead of title .

dont know about fl, texas has a bonded title, or you can look online for title services, most of the time they can get a title from another state and then transfer it in yours, may cost a few bucks

dont know about fl, texas has a bonded title

What is a bonded title?

You essentially put up enough money in bond so that if a person contests your ownership and claims to be the rightful owner, your bond will be used to buy the person off.

I came back from Missouri with a Voyager and title in hand a couple years ago. Texas also requires an out-of-state bike have the VIN verified by an inspection place. One of the numbers was not the same as on the title. The VIN on a Voyager is pretty much buried on the neck behind plastic but the problem go resolved at our Tax Office (they handle registrations and titling). Anyway, they essentially wrote a paper that was filed with the local court house saying I was the true owner and there had been a mistake made on the title. A new title with correct VIN was issued. I suspect the old title from Missouri had the VIN copied from a previous title and actual VIN never checked. It was a good lesson... I now check the VIN/title before handing over money.

there are two national titling services that you can use to get your bike titled:

* Broadway Titles
* International Title Service

Please note that these companies don't actually give you a title, taking advantage of lax titling regulations for older vehicles in their state they give you a registration in your name, a bill of sale, a copy of their local state's regulations, and depending on the year plates from Maine, Vermont, or Alabama. You then take the paperwork to your local DMV/MVA/DPS/CoC/etc, along with proof of insurance, a completed version of your your local state's title form, appropriate payment, and you should walk away with a local title, plates, and registration.

Pre-1975 1975-80 1981-92 1992-*
Broadway Price: $100 $200 $200 $300
ITS Price: $125 $140 $165 $200
*Please note that vehicles less than 15 years old must be under 300cc

Neither Broadway nor ITS is particularly fast. It will take either 6-8 weeks to process your paperwork, if you are in a hurry you should either see if your state has process for bypassing a service or go to a local titling service.

Neither Broadway nor ITS is particularly cheap, many states have free processes, why pay when you can do free?