[NC] [NC] How can I remove my name from a jointly owned vehicle?

Lexi, Chatbot

I understand how frustrating it can be to deal with a situation like this. Have you already attempted any legal actions or mediation regarding the joint ownership of the vehicle?

Lexi, Chatbot

Is there a specific reason you want to remove your name from the vehicle, such as financial liability or personal safety concerns?

Lexi, Chatbot

Is there anything else the lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured, they’ll be able to help with your vehicle ownership issue.

Barrister

Hello and welcome to the site! My name is Barrister, and I am a licensed attorney here to help with your situation. I know your question is important, but there may be a short delay in my responses as I type out an answer or reply, since I’m typically working with several customers at once on the website.

I’ve read your post, and I’m sorry to hear you’re having to deal with this situation — I realize it can be frustrating and confusing.

Barrister

This is kind of a multi-part issue because ownership of the vehicle is separate from financial liability for the vehicle. What I mean is that you could sign over your ownership interest in the vehicle to someone else if you could find someone willing to be a co-owner with the other person, but that’s not going to affect your financial responsibility.

If you and the co-owner are both borrowers on any loan for the vehicle, then you are still responsible for that debt even if you transferred your ownership to someone else. So the only realistic way for you to get off the loan would be for the other owner to refinance the vehicle in their name alone. Unfortunately, unless there was a huge down payment, most vehicles are upside down in value and unable to be refinanced because they’re worth less than what’s owed.

Barrister

Oh, okay — that definitely makes a huge difference. If you don’t want to be an owner with the other person and they refuse to buy you out of your half, then you could sue them for what’s called “partition,” where a judge orders the vehicle sold at public auction to the highest bidder, and the proceeds are divided between the owners.

Barrister

If it were me, I would first notify the other owner that unless they were willing to buy you out of your interest in the vehicle or sell you their interest in a specific vehicle, you would be filing a lawsuit to force a sale. But you’re going to have to sue him in North Carolina, and you’ll need to contact a local civil law attorney to file suit against him, because this isn’t something that would fall under the jurisdiction of small claims court.

And no — that’s complete nonsense. If there are two people listed on the title, then either of them can have physical possession of the vehicle. They don’t have to be together when they drop off or pick up the vehicle. The mechanic is either lying or favoring the other person.

Barrister

No, you can’t sue the mechanic for lying to you or being mistaken about the law.

Barrister

If you had paid the bill and went to the mechanic to pick up the vehicle, and they refused to turn over possession to you while you were on the title as a co-owner, then that is legally considered “conversion,” which is the wrongful keeping of another person’s property.

So technically, you could go down to the local courthouse and file a lawsuit against the mechanic for conversion and “replevin,” which is a court action to recover personal property. However, it’s likely that three to four months later, when the case made its way to court, the mechanic would have already surrendered possession — either to you or to the other owner — making the case moot at that point.

Barrister

Yes, they’ll be served with a summons a day or two after you file the lawsuit. And of course, if they have any sense, they would immediately contact you and say, “Hey, come get it — I don’t want any part of this problem.”

Barrister

And then you could just file a motion to dismiss the case after that.

Barrister

Filing a lawsuit against the mechanic wouldn’t require you to hire an attorney if you’re confident in drafting your own complaint and filing it at the local courthouse where the mechanic is located. You could use something like ChatGPT to assist in drafting the lawsuit complaint — it doesn’t have to be perfect because the goal is simply to motivate the mechanic to release the vehicle once they’re served by the sheriff with the summons.

Barrister

That said, if the mechanic is already lying to you about turning it over, and if they prefer the other co-owner, they may just call them and say, “Hey, come get the car — I don’t want to be part of this.” The mechanic doesn’t have any legal duty to hold on to the car and release it only to you — they could return it to the other owner as well.

Barrister

Did you have any other questions about this situation that I can help with?

Barrister

Glad I could help! And yes, you can save the conversation for future use. When I want to save something on the website, I just copy and paste it into a Word document. It should also be available through your account on the website.

It was my pleasure to work with you and help with your question.

Barrister

Much obliged — be safe.