I did a straw buy of a vehicle. DMV wants registration renewal fees

[guppy4]

I did a straw purchase of a luxury vehicle that has been paid off in full but now the DMV is sending me renewal registration notices and wants me to pay the registration fees. The guy never picked up the license plates from me and the pink slip was sent to him. He's since skipped town and I imagine the car is in China by now. There is no way of getting ahold of him either to transfer the car into his name. WTF should I do? What will the DMV tell me?

Thanks.

Guppy

 

[mightymoose]

When you sold the car you were required to notify the DMV of the sale. You did not do this?

 

[CdwJava]

Start here:

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/dmv/vr/buyingandselling

And here for selling, specifically:

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1dmy&urile=wcm:path:/dmv_content_en/dmv/vr/sell

The problem is that if you did not transfer the liability and he didn't sign anything (STOOPID on your part), you may be left holding the bag on this.