The vehicle title is the most important vehicle document. It contains identifying information about the car and its owners. Among car enthusiasts, a PTS is often called a registration certificate.
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Such a document is mandatory for transactions of purchase and sale of a car. Recently, cases of fraud have become more frequent when cars with a duplicate registration certificate are sold on credit or as collateral.
When is a duplicate PTS issued and what does it look like?
The owner has the right to apply to the State Traffic Inspectorate office with an application for the issuance of a duplicate PTS. You can receive it on the same day of application, except in circumstances where additional inspection of the car and verification of numbers on parts is required. In this case, obtaining a replacement passport may take up to one month.
In addition to the application, the car owner needs the following documents:
- owner's civil passport;
- certificate confirming ownership;
- a document indicating how the car was acquired - purchase, inheritance, donation;
- insurance policy;
- a certificate confirming payment of the state duty;
- explanatory note (in case of loss of the original).
The duplicate of the technical passport contains information in the “Special notes” column about the reason for issuance, for example: “Duplicate. Issued to replace the scrapped vehicle title." This is its only difference from the original. The series and number of these documents must be the same, as well as all other data in each paragraph.
The grounds for issuing a duplicate registration certificate are:
- change of personal data of the owner - last name, registration;
- the free space for recording the data of the new owner of the vehicle has run out;
- the previous PTS was lost, stolen or damaged.
On a note! In case of document theft, the best option would be not to include the registration certificate in the list of missing documents. According to the order dated April 24, 2008. A duplicate of a stolen registration certificate can only be issued after the criminal case regarding the theft has been closed.
This is often a very long search process, so you will be prohibited from using your vehicle during this entire time. It will be easier to write a statement and an explanatory note due to the loss of the original.
Passport authentication using the traffic police database
The traffic police database contains detailed information not only about the passport, but also about the vehicle.
Here you can find out about the presence/absence of unpaid fines, road accidents involving a car, whether it is wanted, whether there are restrictions on changing registration data and other information.
If we are talking about a car that has been registered, the check is carried out according to the license plate number. If it is deregistered, the series and number of the vehicle passport, VIN are used.
There are three ways to verify the authenticity of this document using the State Traffic Inspectorate database:
- during a personal visit;
- by contacting any stationary traffic police post;
- using the online service.
The latter option should be considered in detail, since it provides more comfortable conditions for car owners (no queue, high speed of obtaining the necessary data).
Checking PTS step by step:
- Go to the official website of the traffic police.
- In the “Services” menu, go to the “Vehicle check” tab.
- Fill out the form fields and select a category.
- Submit your application by clicking the “Request Review” button.
Using this service, you cannot check information about cars that are pledged. Perhaps the situation will change after the widespread implementation of the electronic PTS system.
How to legally obtain a duplicate PTS?
To carry out the procedure for legally obtaining a registration certificate, it is important to follow these simple steps:
- Prepare in advance the entire list of necessary above-mentioned documents and pay the state fee for issuing a duplicate and a new STS;
- Arrive at the State Traffic Inspectorate office in a vehicle for which your passport is being restored;
- Wait until the inspection officer completes the inspection of the car and checks the license plates in order to receive a conclusion (this item is necessary in case of loss of the vehicle title);
- Submit your documentation to a specialist from the State Traffic Inspectorate;
- Pick up the finished duplicate on the specified day.
How is the replacement carried out?
If your registration certificate is lost or stolen, you should immediately begin the process of restoring it.
Conditions
To restore a lost PTS or replace a document that has become unusable, you must contact the traffic police department with a corresponding application.
When contacting in connection with the theft of a registration certificate, inspection staff will require a certificate from the owner of the car about the closure of the criminal case. You can receive such a certificate only after completing all necessary actions on the part of the operational department employees. Therefore, there is a possibility that the owner will not be able to take any legal actions with his car for a long period of time - until the case is closed.
If a document is lost, the application must describe in detail where, when and under what circumstances the document was lost.
Package of documents
Without a registration certificate, it is impossible to carry out any legal actions with the car. Therefore, if there is no PTS, it must be restored to the traffic police.
To obtain a new registration certificate, you must provide a package of documents:
- car owner's passport,
- STS,
- OSAGO policy,
- statement,
- receipt for payment of state duty.
This operation is quite simple and requires only a little time. In order to avoid standing in line, you can use the State Services portal and sign up to submit documents at a convenient time.
Why is a duplicate PTS bad?
When purchasing a car with a duplicate registration certificate, you can fall for scammers. Most often this is typical for credit cars. Although for this category of vehicle the original PTS is stored in the bank that provided the money for the transaction, experienced fraudsters know how to get a replacement document.
There are also cases of attempts to sell a stolen car using a replaced vehicle passport. A fraudster, under the guise of the owner, can contact the traffic police department to restore, as if previously lost, a PTS, and by such actions receive a duplicate in his name.
Of course, not in all cases, a duplicate registration certificate indicates an “unclean” past of the car. There are legitimate cases that give rise to its issuance.
For example, the original ran out of free space to enter information about the new owner. In this case, the buyer should most likely be wary of what circumstances caused the frequent change of owners.
VIN check
The simplest step is to check the car’s VIN code indicated in the passport and directly on the car itself. All vehicles have an identification number, a 17-character alphanumeric identification unique to each vehicle. Commonly known as the VIN number, your vehicle's identification is assigned when it is manufactured. And just like your Social Security number is unique to you, a VIN reveals details specific to a specific vehicle.
You can find your car's VIN in the following places:
- On the dashboard. The most common place to look for a VIN is on a vehicle's dashboard, especially near where the dashboard meets the edge of the driver's side windshield. Typically, the VIN is attached to a metal plate and the code is displayed so that anyone can read it from the outside of the car by looking inside.
- On the driver's side door jamb. Another place where the number is usually located is on the driver's door jamb. It’s just as easy to find here – just open the driver’s door.
- Check your insurance card. If the car is already insured, the VIN can be found on the insurance card. This card should be kept in a safe place, such as in the glove compartment with other important papers and files (eg, owner's manual, repair records).
- In other places. The vehicle's VIN number can also be found on the engine guard and other key components, including the transmission. This is mainly due to safety. Considering that many cars are regularly stolen, dismantled and parts sold separately, it is very important that the alphanumeric code matches everywhere. If there is no match, it does not necessarily mean the parts were stolen. Rather, it may mean replacing the engine or other component.
How to protect yourself when buying a car with a duplicate title?
If the future owner has his eye on a used car, but the seller only has a duplicate title, it is important to be very careful before concluding a deal.
Need to check:
- how many owners are indicated in the document and how often they changed - a large number of owners in a short period of time seems very suspicious;
- check the license plates of the registration certificate and the car so that they are identical;
- pay attention to the region where the car was registered and the residential address of the last owner - if the distance between them is very large, then this factor should be treated with caution;
- check the information about the last owner with the seller’s information in the car’s registration certificate - it is better to draw up an agreement with the owner than with an authorized representative;
- pay attention to the records of termination of registration. If a car has been deregistered due to disposal, it can no longer be used;
- look at the date of issue of the technical passport - the relatively recent issuance of a duplicate may indicate that scammers are trying to sell it faster after some illegal manipulations;
Also in the registration certificate you can find information about criminal cases in which the car was involved, about the replacement of any parts and repainting.
○ Features of PTS.
The passport is a double-sided document in A4 format. It folds, resulting in a kind of little book.
The document is created on a special government-issued form; watermarks, holograms with very fine details, and other degrees of protection are applied to it. However, PTS are often counterfeited and it is important to know how to distinguish the original.
The passport contains 24 items that display comprehensive information about the car: VIN number, make, model, category, body type, etc.
The PTS also contains information about the owners of the car, the maximum number of them is 6. If their number exceeds this figure, a duplicate passport is issued, into which all the information is transferred and the old one loses its legal force.
How to check the authenticity of a duplicate PTS?
Often the subject of fraud is a fake document, which they try to pass off as a reliable, replaced vehicle title.
To check its authenticity, you need to pay attention to such signs as:
- the duplicate, like the original, is manufactured at a specialized enterprise in accordance with State Standards;
- the specific design of the document must be clear;
- hologram in the form of a circle of high quality and clarity;
- a three-dimensional pattern on the back of the technical passport in the form of a flower that changes color from green to gray when the viewing angle changes;
- a three-dimensional volumetric watermark “RUS” is visible when holding the document up to the light
- The document is marked in large letters “DUPLICATE”.
The authenticity of the replaced document can be checked on any Internet resource that provides such information. If the registration certificate contains reliable information about the car, then during an online check there will be no problems in obtaining information about the car and its owners.
You can also verify the originality of the document at any nearest traffic police department.
What is PTS
PTS is the main document confirming ownership of a car. It is also called a vehicle passport.
The vehicle passport is a sheet of blue A4 paper with watermarks, has its own series and a unique number consisting of six digits.
Often, when buying a car, buyers are interested in various entries in the car's passport, which may seem incomprehensible at first glance.
For example, in advertisements for sale, the description contains the wording “.25 PTS” - many people wonder what this means. This is a series of documents for the region, indicating that the car was imported into the Russian Federation through the customs of the Primorye Territory. Most right-hand drive cars of Japanese or Korean origin have this mark.
What information does it contain?
The PTS contains information about the car owner and technical characteristics of the vehicle.
Owner information covers the following data:
- surname, first name, patronymic,
- passport details,
- registration address.
The “special marks” column in the PTS can be difficult for a novice driver - decoding may be a difficult task for him. This column contains information about serious accidents in which the car has been, which resulted in the need to use welding seams.
You can also find the abbreviation UVEOS in this column: such an entry confirms the fact that a special device is installed in the car, with the help of which the driver can urgently call the emergency service personnel.
The document also contains a column with a sample signature of the owner. If the car is purchased second-hand, then the previous owner must also sign the registration certificate.
Technical specifications include the following information:
- vehicle identification number (VIN),
- car make and model,
- type of vehicle (truck, passenger car),
- category (A, I, C, D, E),
- engine number,
- year of issue,
- frame and chassis number,
- body number,
- color,
- engine power,
- engine capacity,
- engine type (gasoline or diesel),
- nominal and maximum permissible vehicle weight,
- Manufacturer country,
- environmental class car,
- country of car export,
- series and number of the customs declaration,
- restrictions imposed by customs,
- the organization that issued the PTS,
- her address,
- date of issue of the document.
Previously, entries in the registration certificate were made by hand by traffic police officers. Printing devices are now used.
Regulatory regulation
The legislative provisions on PTS are enshrined in the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia No. 496, the Ministry of Industry and Energy of Russia No. 192, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia No. 134 of June 23, 2005 (as amended on March 10, 2017). Also, the provisions on the issuance of electronic passports are regulated by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 5, 2021 No. 1212 “On some issues related to the introduction in the Russian Federation of an electronic passport of a vehicle and an electronic passport of a vehicle chassis.”
How not to buy a credit car?
When purchasing a car, the buyer must make sure that it is not owned by the bank that provided the owner with funds for its purchase. If the car was purchased on credit, then the original title is kept by the organization as collateral until the debt is fully repaid.
Fraudsters can receive a replacement car passport document from the traffic police due to the alleged loss of the original. When making a transaction to purchase a car, the owner shows you a duplicate of the title, then you should pay attention to the date of receipt of the registration certificate. If the document was issued recently, then perhaps this was done specifically to get rid of the credit car.
The vehicle's title and service book contain a note about the dealership where it was purchased. The buyer has every right to contact a representative of the organization and use the VIN number indicated in the registration certificate to find out how the car was purchased.
A useful safety net when concluding a transaction is to indicate the full cost of the car in the contract, despite the seller’s excuses that he will have to pay a high tax. This can be a guarantee that in the event of litigation, if the buyer wins the case, he will be compensated for the entire amount specified in the document.
Otherwise, if you were sold a credit car through fraud, then while it is owned by the bank, they have the right to take it away for non-payment of the debt, or you will have to pay the loan, since you are the owner. Therefore, it is better to check everything carefully in advance.
○ What to pay attention to?
When checking the PTS, you need to pay special attention to all points of the document, as well as to the compliance of the form itself with state regulations. The most important indicators of a passport are its authenticity and the country of origin.
✔ Authenticity of PTS.
This is an important criterion that determines the level of your risk as a car buyer. Despite the high degree of security, there are many cases of passport forgery. To protect yourself from an invalid PTS, pay attention to:
- The presence throughout the document of a special ornament of the State Sign, which does not lose clarity when enlarged.
- The safety of the form, if it is worn out, this may indicate that some information has been removed from it.
- A hologram, the inscription on it must be clearly readable.
Also, when examining the front side of the passport in the light, you should see the coat of arms of Russia and the combination of the word RUS. The reverse part also contains a special state symbol - a rose. It changes color from green to gray if you turn your viewing angle a little.
All these verification methods are very simple and can be used by every motorist.
✔ Country of manufacture or country of dealer.
This information is also included in the passport. The country can be determined by the VIN number - this is 17 digits, the first three of which indicate the manufacturer. The first is the geographic area, the second is the country in which the car was produced, and the third is the specific manufacturer. Today, the VIN number is not used only in Japan.
If a car is imported from abroad, the PTS is issued by the customs service. To obtain a passport, you need to apply to the customs office at the place of registration of the new owner. You need to provide all the information about the vehicle or fill out an electronic passport yourself, on the basis of which a paper equivalent will be issued. After checking the information provided, the PTS is printed and special marks are placed on the passage of customs control.
The situation has been simplified if a car is imported from Belarus: a mark indicating customs control is simply placed on the document; registration in this structure is not required.
How to sell a car with a duplicate title yourself?
For most potential buyers, a duplicate registration certificate is a signal that the car may be “unclean” in some way. A conscientious and honest seller will not be concerned about any checks.
A duplicate PTS could have been obtained under legal circumstances. It is also a mandatory document when concluding a transaction. The replaced passport, like the original one, has full legal force.
It is important for future car owners to be able to correctly distinguish a duplicate registration document from a fake document. Before concluding a transaction, it is necessary to carefully check the accuracy of the PTS and the information contained in it.
Still, it would be better to be careful about buying a car with a replaced document, because later you yourself may have to face the difficulties of selling a car with a duplicate registration certificate.
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