How many out there have received incorrect SF97 Titles? (wrong make, wrong year etc) Did you find a remedy?

[msgjd]

GL was usually okay, as well as the DRMO's. However I have had a lot of trouble with GSA in the past several years. ie; 1953 AM-General , 1980's Kaisers , 1970's IHC 5-tons, 1968 AM-General, etc Of course those builders didn't exist in those years. GSA might as well say it's selling 1920 VW bugs and 1980 Ford model T's !

Don't get me started on the M809-series which I have had the most trouble with GSA about. They see the awarded contract date on the tag and voila! Magically, GSA says that's the build year. I'm really trying hard to not make this into a rant. I have had little to no luck when sending pics of proof, verifyable online data, and (nicely) asking them to correcting these errors on SF97's. I have also literally had to present a written formal case to the state motor vehicle commissioner every time I try to register, proving these companies did not exist etc., and proving how to decipher M809-series VIN's to obtain the correct build date so i can wind up with accurate legal papers for these vehicles. Some dmv "tellers" will actually help you out and look up the M809-series VIN. Others are sticklers and won't do anything different than what the SF97 says.

So,, what have been your experiences, and if successful in obtaining correct paperwork, what did you do to get it? Please share !

 

[fuzzytoaster]

It happens 50% of the time when I buy through GSA. I know my local office well, which happens to be the regional process office, so I shoot off an email with the full correct details and they send me a new SF-97. There is no tracking, confirmation, or acknowledgement of the process..it just happens. I send a thank you follow up email and go on my way.

I know the person who types the SF-97s up and he only puts what info he is told to by the reporting agency. If it's a Ford 2000 1/2 ton pickup that's 22,000 lbs empty (true story), it was actually a M813 likely obtained by the agency in 2000 and they didn't have a way to put "kaiser-jeep" in the system thus it's just the way it was submitted. I've had SF-97 forms filled out with only "N/A" or zeros before too. Totally useless but they should make it right if you do the footwork in a reasonable time frame.

 

[NDT]

My experience with GSA echoes Fuzzy’s. I contact the office that issues the SF97 and very politely ask them to issue a revised document. Usually they want the incorrect one back first.

 

[Elk1111]

Do one of happen to have a phone number or email where I can get ahold of someone to get a new SF-97?
Apparently someone can’t tell the difference between a 3 and an 8 so the numbers are wrong on mine.

 

[fuzzytoaster]

Do one of happen to have a phone number or email where I can get ahold of someone to get a new SF-97?
Apparently someone can’t tell the difference between a 3 and an 8 so the numbers are wrong on mine.

Contact the regional office located at the bottom of the GSA auction listing you won it from. They're the ones who process it and have the authority to correct it. Offices and territories vary.

 

[msgjd]

Contact the regional office located at the bottom of the GSA auction listing you won it from. They're the ones who process it and have the authority to correct it. Offices and territories vary.

Over the years I have sent several emails, most of them don't go through, are returned "undeliverable" although I use the address indicated from the GSA sender. I also have called, most of what I purchased had the philadelphia office on the paperwork). One of the successful changes I obtained was via the help of the surplus property site manager (forest service), she was able to contact the regional office and get a SF97 fixed.. On another truck I purchased, she was not able to get the SF97 fixed, the auction was not listed as salvage nor scrap yet the SF97 was labeled "salvage." This not only irratated me but also the site manager, who's people had been using the truck right up to the sale, road-worthy and still is. I have bought much-worse stuff having a normal title. Since the sale last summer, GSA has been totally non-responsive on that one, phone calls + emails+ letters.

 

[msgjd]

Do one of happen to have a phone number or email where I can get ahold of someone to get a new SF-97?
Apparently someone can’t tell the difference between a 3 and an 8 so the numbers are wrong on mine.

The regional contact info should be on your invoice. If you bought it 3rd party, then I'm sorry to say the name/office on the SF97 is all you have, unless someone out there in your locale (NM) happens to see your post and happens to also have an invoice the GSA emails a buyer. The contact info I have (philly PA) is very likely not the office that handled yours.

 

[usatech]

Are SF97's used for surplus boats also? I just purchased a Motor Whaleboat from a private indivual who oned the boat for 15 years, but never registered or titled her. I can get into our motor vehical department because of Covid now either.

 

[NDT]

Are SF97's used for surplus boats also? I just purchased a Motor Whaleboat from a private indivual who oned the boat for 15 years, but never registered or titled her. I can get into our motor vehical department because of Covid now either.

Google "quasi title". Hope he still has the purchase paperwork.

 

[usatech]

quasi title, That sounds like it. Thank you.