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Is it legal to sell a used car in florida without transferring title?

My wife bought a used car privately. The seller is a mechanic (owns a tire franchise) and he claims to have purchased the car from a customer. The title was still in the name of the customer he bought it from and the sellers wife forged the previous owners name on the title. After six weeks the engine has thrown a rod and is unuseable. I know my wife shouldn't have accepted this title but I am wondering if I have any legal recourse. In Florida there is no lemon law on private auto sales but I think this guy may have known the engine was going.

Public Comments

1. Fraud is fraud. Sue the bastard.
2. Sorry. You knew it was a fraudulent transfer and accepted it, which makes you a party to any wrong doing. Engines fail. Often they give no warning that they are going to fail. You had it and it ran fine for over a month, perhaps you failed to check the oil which led to the failure. Yeah, I know, but I'm telling you what you're going to hear if you decide you want to complain about it to someone. You bought a used car as is. There is no recourse. Take you loss and chalk it up to karma.
3. wow ok jumping titles is illegal in the first place people do it to save on regiistration or to simpley to save time or to sell a illegal vechical to a citizen at a great discount only to have them find out leter that it has been stolen etc you need to contact the origional seller the one that the sellers wife forged on the the title/lost title in there name stating that they sold the car the the 2nd seller the one that you bougt the car from then they need to sign that title and state that they sold it to you ok now on to the engine if the car was actually sold to the tire shop etc not claimed under storage etc im sure that it was sold as is and if there was a warrenty it whould have been transfered to the shop and then to you so no luck with the engine get the title thing figured out so the owner who sold the car to the tire guy doesnt come back and say the car was stolen goodluck
4. 1. Check with your local laws on the internet. 2. Maybe the better Business Bureau. 3. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services . 4. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Consumer Services: 407 South Calhoun Street, Mayo Building, 2 Floor, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0800 800-435-7352 (from within FL only), or 904-488-2221
5. If you were a party to the fraud how can you claim you were a victim. And besides that, what does the name on the title have to do with the engine blowing up in the car. Even IF the real owner signed the title, the engine would have still blown up. One more thing, after 6 weeks of driving that car you have no cause to go back to the seller. How can you prove the car was defective when you bought it. How can you proves that you didn't forget to add oil and ran the car with a dry crankcase. It's a weak legal argument to prove the seller was aware of the engine problems, but you do have the right to take him to court. Doesn't mean you'll win but you can file in small claims court against him.
6. That is skipping title and is against the law in every state. That is also tax evasion. The mechanic should pay tax on the vehicle. This is a big problem. It also violates every federal odometer law. Well I could go on.