A deregistered car - can it be bought and how to register it?

In the fall of 2013, the Administrative Regulations came into force in our country, which included some changes affecting the re-registration of cars upon sale. It's 2021, but people still don't know what to do if a car is deregistered and is being sold on a car market or bulletin board? Why do previous owners deregister cars and is it dangerous to buy such vehicles?

In 2021, every motorist has the right to register cars at any traffic police department. In addition, there are no longer transit numbers, and they are issued only to citizens of the country leaving Russia, for example, for permanent residence. If you are looking at a used car on the secondary market, you must have come across vehicles that have already been deregistered.

When can the owner deregister a car?

Termination of registration means termination of use of the vehicle. After deregistration, the owner will no longer be able to drive the car. The reasons may be as follows:

1. Selling a car. It happens that new owners drag their feet and do not register the car. Then the owner faces financial risks, and it is in his interests to terminate registration as quickly as possible.
2. The owner no longer wants to use the car. For example, the car is no longer in use, or there is an intention to scrap it.
3. If the owner plans to sell the car, retaining its license plate number. Then the car is deregistered, the buyer then receives new license plates and registers the vehicle with them.

If the car is stolen, the owner also needs to take care of deregistering it so as not to pay the mandatory transport tax.

If we are talking about the sale of a vehicle, then the owner has the right to deregister after 10 days from the date of concluding the sale and purchase agreement. The right is confirmed by the contract itself, a copy of which must be in the hands of the seller.

Reasons for refusal of registration after disposal and procedure in this case

The reason for refusal to re-register a scrapped vehicle can only be that the vehicle has undergone the process of actual recycling. That is, if there are documents confirming that the vehicle was disposed of under the State program, then the service of registering it will be completely denied. We discussed other possible reasons for refusal to register a vehicle here.

In all other situations, refusal to register a written-off car will be illegal and the owner will be able to apply to the court for help in resolving this issue.

Why deregister a car?

While a citizen owns a vehicle, he has obligations to pay tax. Every year he must pay tax for the previous year to the Federal Tax Service. It doesn’t matter whether he used the car or not. If the car is registered, the owner pays tax.

Another important point is the fines that the owner may receive after selling the car. The new owner may violate traffic rules, get caught on camera, and these debts will be attributed to the person to whom the vehicle is registered.

If the new owner suddenly gets into an accident and causes damage to someone, the real owner may also suffer from this. So, if you see that the buyer is in no hurry to register the car, it is better to deregister it. What next is the problem of the slow buyer.

It happens that the buyer cannot register the car due to the seller’s debts: the bailiff has imposed a ban on registration actions. The situation is complicated, until the debt is paid off, the car will be registered with the previous owner. Moreover, he can even be taken away for debts. Sometimes you have to break a purchase and sale agreement through the court.

Reason #2. Not all information is included in the documents

The new owner must be included in the title. Pay attention to the signatures. Not only the new owner, but also the former owner must sign the vehicle’s passport. And if you buy a car from a legal entity, then the organization’s seal must be on it.

Often, in the chaos, the seller forgets about the signature or the buyer decides to save time and fill out the title at home after the purchase. Most often, when filling out a document at home, he does not even notice the line for the former owner’s signature and learns about the shortcomings in the documents already in the traffic police. And then try to find the former owner, especially if the car was bought in another city. Therefore, do not create problems for yourself, but immediately carefully fill out all the fields in the documents.

Also read: How to tell if a used car is in good condition

Make sure the car is registered

Before deregistering a car through State Services, make sure that it is actually still registered in your name. And if we are not talking about a sale, but about terminating the registration of a vehicle at personal request, you need to make sure that there are no prohibitions from bailiffs.

Checks for registration and restrictions are carried out on the traffic police website. You just need to enter the VIN, and the system will display the information:

The information will look like this. Below, after the vehicle data, the dates of the last ownership of the vehicle are indicated. From them we can conclude whether the new owner has registered the car in his name:

Below on the same page you can “punch” the car through the bailiff database, that is, check it for prohibitions on registration actions:

How to check if a car is registered?

The most reliable way is the traffic police website, which, unfortunately, periodically freezes or refuses to provide information. But alas, all other services and sites take information from here.

To find out whether a car has been deregistered by the State Traffic Inspectorate, go to the vehicle verification service on the official website of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. You will need the car's VIN. It must be entered in the very first field, click below “Request verification” in the registration history block and enter the numbers from the picture.

Based on the result, you need to look at the last date of the vehicle ownership periods. If there is no text fragment “to date” in the last line, this means that the car has been deregistered.

• Here is an example of a car deregistered from the traffic police:

  
  Please note that the date highlighted in the red square is December 15, 2016 – this is the date of termination of car registration.

• But everything is fine with this car, because it is currently, October 9, 2021, owned by an individual:

How to deregister a car through State Services: step-by-step instructions

So, you have decided to deregister your car through State Services. Regardless of the motives, the operation is performed according to one scenario. Please note that thanks to the state portal, this action can be carried out completely remotely without visiting the State Traffic Inspectorate.

How to rent a car through State Services:

1. Log in to the site using your credentials and use a search to find the “Vehicle Registration” service. Here you will see links with reasons for withdrawal. We will consider the most common option, when the buyer did not register the car in his name within the required period of 10 days - last link:

2. A page will open with a detailed description of the procedure and conditions for its implementation. Please note that the operation is free of charge and there is no need to pay a fee. After reading the information, click on the “Get service” button:

3. Proceed to fill out the application to deregister the car. The application can only be submitted by the owner of the vehicle from his account on State Services; the system will automatically enter his data into the form. They must be supplemented with an indication of the place of registration.

4. Next, you need to provide information about the car that is being deregistered. This is the registration number, information about the STS and the date of conclusion of the purchase and sale agreement. At least 10 days must pass from this day, otherwise the application will not be accepted.

5. The next section is to provide information about who bought the car from you. It is assumed that the information can be taken from the purchase and sale agreement, a copy of which must remain with the seller:

6. The last step is to upload a document that confirms the transaction and transfer of ownership. In our case, this is a car purchase and sale agreement. You can scan it or take high-quality photos and attach it to your application. Then click the “Submit Application” button:

The portal will send an electronic application to the State Traffic Inspectorate, which will check the data. If there are no complaints, the sale of the car is confirmed and a positive decision is made. It appears in the applicant’s personal account on State Services.

After receiving information about a positive decision, it doesn’t hurt to go back to the traffic police database and check whether the car has been deregistered. But do this a little later, since the data does not enter the system immediately.

Is it possible to re-register a vehicle after its termination?

Yes. Deregistration of a vehicle is possible in the following cases:

• When selling - at the request of the seller. The current registration procedure does not require mandatory deregistration of the car, however, if the buyer has not completed the registration steps within ten days from the date of transfer of the car, the seller has the right to protect himself by submitting a corresponding application to the traffic police.
• When disposing of a vehicle. The scrapped vehicle is deregistered and sent for recycling. However, situations are possible when even the most worn-out car still interests someone - and then the question of re-registration may arise.
• When traveling outside the Russian Federation for a long period of time.
• When a car is stolen. If a car has been stolen, its owner contacts the traffic police and, among other things, government authorities stop registering this vehicle, thereby depriving the thief of the opportunity to legally dispose of the stolen car. In the same case, if a car that was stolen was found, the question of re-registration may arise.

The procedure of re-registering a car in itself is permissible by law. However, in order to accomplish this, the vehicle owner will have to take a number of specific steps.

For what reasons can a refusal occur?

Usually there are no problems. If there are no restrictions on the car, if the purchase and sale agreement is drawn up correctly, the State Traffic Inspectorate will remove the car from registration, relieving the former owner of the burden of paying fines and transport tax.

Refusal may occur due to a ban on registration actions imposed on the car by bailiffs. This means that the owner has debts for which enforcement proceedings have been initiated. Sometimes it gets ridiculous; a ban can be obtained for underpayment of modest amounts of 100 rubles or even less.

If you see a ban, run through the bailiff database. In the list of debts you will see the amount and details of the bailiff who is collecting. Pay off the debt and contact the bailiff to remove the restrictions. After this, try again to remove the car from the State Service register.

If there is an incorrectly drawn up purchase and sale agreement, or if it contains errors in essential data, a refusal may also follow. Therefore, complete the transaction very carefully.

FAQ

I deregistered the car, what will happen to the buyer?

The buyer himself is to blame for not complying with the legal deadlines for registering the purchased car. Therefore, first he will receive a fine for violating the deadlines. If the traffic police stops him and reveals that the vehicle is unregistered, the driver will receive a fine of 800 rubles.

What should I do if I received a fine for a car I sold?

To cancel the fine, you must contact the traffic police department that issued the report and provide the purchase and sale agreement as evidence. It may be necessary to initiate legal proceedings. You can also negotiate with the new owner.

How many days does the seller have to register a car?

By law, he has 10 days to do this. If they pass, the seller can deregister the car himself.

What fee must I pay to deregister a car with State Services?

The operation is carried out free of charge. But the seller will need to pay a fee for registering the car - 500 rubles.

What to do if the bailiff has imposed a ban on registration?

There is only one way out - to pay the debt, which was the reason for imposing a ban on registration actions. While it is in effect, the car cannot be deregistered and registered to another owner.

Sources:

1. Government services: Termination of registration of a vehicle.

about the author

Irina Rusanova - higher education at the International East European University in the direction of "Banking". Graduated with honors from the Russian Economic Institute named after G.V. Plekhanov with a major in Finance and Credit. Ten years of experience in leading Russian banks: Alfa-Bank, Renaissance Credit, Home Credit Bank, Delta Credit, ATB, Svyaznoy (closed). He is an analyst and expert of the Brobank service on banking and financial stability. [email protected]

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What documents to present when stopped by traffic police officers?

If the driver is checked by a traffic police officer, the traffic police inspector on the road will have to present the following documents:

• driver's license of the appropriate category;
• insurance policy;
• vehicle registration certificate.

Punishment can be avoided if the legal norm is violated for the first time.

Important! If the 10-day period has expired and the car is moved to the place of registration using a tow truck, no recovery is provided.

Comments: 41

Your comment (question) If you have questions about this article, you can tell us. Our team consists of only experienced experts and specialists with specialized education. We will try to help you in this topic:

Author of the article Irina Rusanova

Consultant, author Popovich Anna

Financial author Olga Pikhotskaya

1. Victor
   10/07/2021 at 00:03 On the government services website, when filling out data about the new owner, you cannot select a legal entity; it immediately asks you to fill out data about an individual
   Reply ↓
2. Vyacheslav
   05.10.2021 at 23:34

   The car has been gone for 15 years, the VAZ 2106. It was taken away with the snow. taxes haven’t arrived. tax has arrived now. how to deregister and what to do?

   Reply ↓
   Anna Popovich
   10/06/2021 at 01:47

   Dear Vyacheslav, in order to deregister a car without having the car itself, the owner needs to visit the traffic police department, providing documents for the car and an application for deregistration of the vehicle.

   Reply ↓

Legal standards

Fact!
In Russia, since 2013, Administrative Regulations have been introduced regulating the process of re-registration of cars after their sale. 5 years have passed since then, but there are still people who do not know this procedure. According to this law, you can register a used car at any traffic police department. In addition, you need to know that transit numbers are not issued within the country. They are issued only in cases where the owner leaves for permanent residence in another state.