Anyone sold a car with durable POA in CA?

Merla

I'm so frustrated. Twice I'm failing to sell my parents car in CA with power of attorney. I'm coming from out of state to sell the car so I'm so frustrated and not to mention in both cases I called in advance to make sure the transaction could take place. I'm off the charts irritated. I have struck out with carmax and the dealership where she bought it from.

The dealership wanted me to transfer the title to myself and then sell it and carmax required my parent with dementia sign a notarized document. Im seriously ready to ship the car to my house if I can't make a sale happen.

JulietteBee

I am sorry you are having such difficulties. I would do as the dealership suggests. What are your concerns about doing so?

Once my mom agreed to stop driving, as her DPOA, I signed the car title over to myself, then registered it. As I was sharing a family car at the time, I kept mom's so I could help to transport her to appointments, etc. In the future, after her passing, I will then have the ability to sell it.

SDianeL

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/74955/anyone-sold-a-car-with-durable-poa-in-ca

is it a DPOA? There are different types of POA’s. Maybe an attorney could help?

SDianeL

Yes, you can sell your parent's car in California as their Power of Attorney (POA), signing documents for them, but you must present the POA document to the DMVand ensure the funds benefit your parent, potentially involving a lawyer for proper handling to avoid future conflicts or Medicaid issues, especially since plates stay with the car in CA. Steps to Take:

1. Verify POA Authority: Confirm your POA document grants you the authority to sell property/vehicles and handle financial transactions.
2. Get a Duplicate Title: Request a duplicate title from the California DMV in your parent's name.
3. Sign as POA: When selling, you sign the title and bill of sale as your parent's agent (e.g., "Jane Doe, Attorney-in-Fact for John Doe") and present the POA document.
4. Notify DMV of Sale: Crucially, notify the DMV you've sold it (using a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability) to avoid future liability for tickets or fines, as plates stay with the car in CA.
5. Handle Proceeds for Parent: Deposit the money into your parent's account or the estate; if you're buying it yourself, document it as a fair market sale to avoid conflict, possibly paying Blue Book value.
6. Consider Legal Advice: If unsure, especially with Medicaid, consult an elder law attorney.

Merla

I ended up talking to the dmv and either using dpoa or transferring the title is legal. However many car dealerships and carmax and carvana will not accept dpoa even though it would be legal to do so and require transferring of the title in order to make the sale. They don't want to deal with peoples legal documents and they have their own policies in place. I'm so irritated as I called the dealership in advance to make sure they would accept my dpoa but the sales person gave me incorrect information.

so I'm going to have to have the car shipped to my home, transfer the title to me and then transfer the title to my state and then sell it. So annoying as I planned to sell the car in one swift transaction.

ARIL

I am so sorry you are having these problems. I understand the desire to handle everything at once.

In Feb. 2024 I used my DPOA to sell my dad’s car to Carmax; they cut a check in his name, which I promptly deposited in his bank account. All in a state where I do not live—although CA was not involved. Makes me wonder if Carmax has different rules for different states—or if something has changed. This was a mercifully easy transaction in my case. I wish you could have the same.

Merla

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/262192#Comment_262192

CA is known to have the most annoying restrictive law for everything. So annoying. It's a state by state issue because the policies for carmax are different in the state I live vs the state I'm trying to sell the car in. So I had to have the car shipped to my house as I didn't want to go to the "cash for cars" place that doesn't give a receipt. 😂

what irritates me is that it's perfectly Legal to sell a car with. Dpoa but these companies won't do it per their own company policies and then their own employees aren't informed of their dpoa policies so gave me bad information on the phone and literally this was a plane trip for me.

wizmo

I suggest you do first sell the car "to yourself" so it is in your name; then you will have no trouble with final sale or trade in. I did something similar with my wife's car, used POA to get retitled from (her) to (her OR me), the rest was easy. I made the initial change at one of those "DMV Partner" small business shops and not directly at DMV. They knew the process, used notary acknowledgement form allowing me to sign for her upon reviewing copy of POA. If you have all the docs and your home state does not require the car to be present, you might be able to do that part at home.