We’ve all seen this before: a guy stumbles onto an incredible find out on some abandoned farm or ranch in Oklahoma or Iowa. It’s dusty but in one piece, and everything's there EXCEPT for a title. The situation may be a little over-romanticized, but it is a real thing: this is a barn find.
Barn finds are vehicles that have been in storage, usually for many years. They are either sold by their original owner, a descendent of the original owner (estate sales, etc.), or are sold with the property and discovered by new owners or landlords. However you come across a barn and find a car or motorcycle, you must have a clean title to own it legally. This can be a real problem because getting an actual barn find with a title is next to impossible.
But we can help! Here at Dirt Legal, we understand the frustration of finding your prize vehicle only to get shot down by the DMV. So we are going to walk through the barn find process, define what cars we are talking about, and show you just how easy it is to get a title or transferable registration to title your barn find and get it on the road.
What Is a Genuine Barn Find?
Contrary to popular belief, a barn find is not limited to a barn, although barns hold many private cars and trucks. Unfortunately, there is no solid science on this matter, but I do have a hypothesis:
Farms tend to not be bought and sold with the same frequency as urban residences. Families will stay on farms for generations, sometimes with two or three generations living in separate dwellings on the same farm. It is a very different mindset than urban life.
Farms also have…barns. By this, I mean outbuildings. A typical family farm usually has many outbuildings built to house farm implements and tractors. In addition, family cars, vintage pickups, and the occasional “weekend special” muscle car would end up there.
Work and life pass by these projects, and they get forgotten about. Sometimes the original owner dies. The family farm gets sold. And an old, forgotten car turns up.
American Pickers & Storage Wars
Perhaps nothing has done more to stoke the interest in barn finds than reality TV, notably American Pickers and Storage Wars.
These shows cherrypick the process of finding stuff in either a cold call from a tip (American Pickers) or buying the rights at auction to a storage unit (Storage Wars).
I am sure the part they leave out is how often you strike out cold-calling hoarders to get at the vehicles and how many duds you’d have to go through in delinquent storage units.
Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist is a more likely place to find barn finds for the average person. You have an advantage over a lot of the competition: you are already at Dirt Legal, so you know there is a way to title a barn find that is missing its title.
What is the Titling Process With A Barn Find?
The idea of titling a barn find vehicle is a lot more daunting than the process, as are so many things. But, to be sure, there is a process that you need to go through first.
You should get yourself into the mindset of the average DMV employee, though. Think about what they probably deal with daily and how your request will come across.
You are a stranger off the street walking in, asking for a new title for a vehicle with no title, and you want them to issue you a new one on nothing more than your word. What would you think about this exchange?
Instead, take these steps to title your new barn find.
Check For Bonded Title Eligibility
Over half of the states in the U.S. do bonded titles when a title is missing. This is a form of a surety bond, which puts a bond on the title, so the principal (you) is liable if the vehicle comes up as stolen. This isn’t a big deal, as long as the vehicle isn’t stolen.
However, title bonds are limited to the currently titled owner, i.e., the seller of the vehicle has to be aware of the title and agree that it was sold. Suppose the owner is long gone, and there is no record of them or their whereabouts. They might not know or approve of the vehicle being sold at all. A title bond is no longer a good option, and you could risk losing the vehicle.
This poses a real problem for purchasing a barn find with no title. For example, suppose you found a car locked in a storage unit that has gone unpaid and a third party is selling it. Since the seller and the title will not be easy to find, a title bond is probably not a good way to title that barn find.
These are some of the many reasons a title bond should be your absolute last avenue but don’t worry; there are far better ways to title a barn find.
Run a VIN Check
The first thing to do with a barn find is to run a VIN check.
Even if your barn find is being sold by the original owner, a title bond will still get a VIN check. Or even if he has the title, get a VIN check. You want to be well ahead of the curve on the vehicle you are buying, and there is no better way to do that than a VIN check.
The VIN check will catch any inaccuracies along the way and, most importantly, flag whether it is stolen. That’s a big one.
The easiest way to proceed if the title is missing is to have the owner try to get a copy of the title first. If they are the legal owner, it should be on record with the state DMV, and you can get a copy of the title pretty quickly and cheaply. In my home state of Kansas, it’s about ten bucks for a replacement title, and you don't have to send in the old one if it’s missing. It’s a lot harder for the person buying the car to do this instead of the current owner.
We’ll Take Care of the Whole Process
We get it. Dealing with the DMV sucks, especially when you start talking about taking your registration through other states. Figuring out fees, forms, and processes takes time, something many of us don’t have. Whatever the reasoning for it is up to you; we won’t judge.
To register a barn find that doesn’t have a title, the first step is obvious: you must get a title. We offer a vehicle titling service that allows you to provide a bill of sale as proof of ownership. In return, you receive a title and registration with a license plate. Also, no inspections are necessary to process the titling action, so the process is quick and painless. We are here to streamline the process, so you can get on with more important things.
How It Works:
Select your vehicle year and registration options. You only need a bill of sale and a VIN to get registered.
Check out. Once you have checked out, you will receive an email with your receipt and an order number.
Fill out the vehicle information form, which will appear after checking out.
Watch your mailbox for the necessary documents. We will send you a checklist of documents that we will need to conduct this request on your behalf. These include the bill of sale, a copy of your ID, a notarized power of attorney, and sales tax if it hasn’t already been paid. If tax has already been paid, you must include a receipt.
Send it! Mail it all back to us in the pre-paid envelope, and your part of the job is done!
Parting Thoughts
Barn finds can be really fantastic, although a lot of the time, they are just junkers that have been sitting in a barn for a reason. Maybe there is some redeeming quality about it, like, that it is just a genuinely uncommon vehicle with real value. More often than not, the value in a barn find is limited to sentimental value, though, because rare cars are usually easily identified. But fear not, good ones are still out there.
About a million savvy folks know what they have on their hands for every grandma who sells her husband's collection of mint muscle cars for two grand each. More likely than not, the value is sentimental; I have a weakness for International Scouts that has no bearing on the vehicle's actual value. Whatever the reason is for buying a barn find without a title, we will ensure that you can get it legally on the road with our Title Recovery Service. And whatever you are looking at, make sure you check out the VIN first; it will be the best money you spend on that vehicle besides a car wash.
If you have a financed vehicle and want to register it out of state, you have two main options: South Dakota or a Montana LLC (with your bank's permission). South Dakota offers a straightforward registration with no residency requirement and a low sales tax, making it accessible for financed vehicles. Alternatively, a Montana LLC can save you on sales tax entirely, but typically requires you to own the vehicle outright, or get explicit permission from your lender.