Sold my car 2 months ago, buyer still hasn’t transferred the title and keeps generating 91 Express Lane tolls — what else can I do?
I’m in California and sold my old Prius in a private sale.
I filed the DMV Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (NRL) online the same day, and DMV records confirm that the vehicle was sold and the release of liability is on file.
The problem is that the buyer apparently never completed the title transfer.
Since then, the car has repeatedly used the 91 Express Lanes, and the toll violation notices keep getting mailed to me because DMV still shows me as the registered owner.
I’ve called 91 Express Lanes multiple times. Every time they verify that I sold the car and remove the charges. I now have a case number with them, but they told me they cannot permanently stop future notices from being generated.
There were also more than $200 in outstanding tolls/penalties associated with the vehicle.
I contacted the buyer several times asking them to finish the transfer. When they previously told me there was a smog issue, I even offered to cancel the sale, refund the money, and take the car back. They refused and kept the car. Now they have stopped responding completely.
What makes the situation stranger is that after the sale I discovered that the buyer’s Facebook Marketplace account appears to list a lot of used cars, many marked sold, and also advertises temporary California plates/registration services. I have no idea whether they are licensed, so I’m not claiming they are doing anything illegal — I submitted that information to DMV and asked them to investigate.
So far I have:
• Filed the NRL on the date of sale
• Obtained DMV records showing the Release of Liability
• Disputed the 91 Express Lane violations
• Filed an online complaint with DMV Investigations
• Filed INV 172A (Record of Complaint) with DMV’s Involuntary Transfer Section and received fax delivery confirmation
• Saved all messages, sale documents, toll notices and Marketplace screenshots
At this point I’m mainly worried that the car is still being driven while the DMV title remains under my name, and I’m tired of having to deal with toll notices every time someone uses the car.
Has anyone dealt with this before?
Did INV 172A / the Involuntary Transfer Section eventually get the car removed from your name?
How long did DMV take to respond?
Is there anything else I can legally do to force the ownership record to be corrected?
Would filing a non-emergency police report for possible title/registration fraud actually help, or would police just send me back to DMV?
I’m especially interested in hearing from anyone who has dealt with a buyer who simply never transferred a California title.