Ok so here's my problem ... I live in California and I drove out to. Arizona to purchase a quad ... I have never purchased a atv before so this is all new to me... Before I left I asked the lady if she had the title she said she did so I drove out there... Well when I got there she told me she never had the quad registered because in her state (Kansas) they don't require you to register it.. So no registration means she didn't have the title ... Well if turns out she was the second owner so I am now the third party on this whole deal and the atv was never registered and never had the title taken out... We have a certificate of origin bill of sale and a copy of the lien release from original owner... Problem is original owner isn't answering his phone so me and the 2nd party are trying to figure out what to do.. Anybody ever encounter this... Id hate to have to drive all the way down there again to return the quad ... Does anyone know a way around this because the DMV won't let me register it with out title .. Do you think there's any way of either me or the second party getting our hands on the title ?

 

the "certificate of origin" is the title.
You don't need to register an atv to have a title. The title (or "certificate of origin") comes from the factory with the atv- Most certificate of origin's have "transfer of ownership" sections on the back side.

You should be fine with the certificate of origin and a BOS.
nobody (not used to anyway) saves titles to atv's- unless you've purchased a relatively new atv (within 6 years old) chances are most people won't have a title for it. I've only had titles for maybe 50% of the atv's I've bought & sold.
If you buy an atv from say, a NH dealer like I have, all you get is a BOS- no title.

If there was ever a title issued from any state for the atv- you can usually pay $50 - $75 to do a "title search"
but, I'd just go down to the registry with the certificate of origin & the BOS and tell them it's all you have if they give you trouble.

 

In Wisconsin all you need is a signed bill of sale from the person who sold it to you.