Just a question but what if you had bought the truck from out of province, wouldn't you just need a Bill of sale from a previous owner ? And what if it was from a province like Alberta were a bill of sale could be written on anything and not necessarily a Gov't issued Document ?
Would that not satisfy the bureaucrats at SAAQ ?
In Alberta the Gov't issued registration (pink card) technically is not proof of legal ownership it is just proof of registration.
Those of us from Alberta look at your Vehicle Pink Cards NO where on them does it mention registered owner or ownership.
So a bill of sale from Alberta will technically not have any Gov't issued proof of ownership either for you or from the former owner.
Even if the bill of sale is on the detachable part of the pink card, that part of the pink card is technically not legal proof of the ownership of the former registrar it is just proof that the vehicle was registered in that former persons name.
By them signing it and using it as bill of sale they are then legally stating they are legal owner.
But the card proper is not proof of that.
But the catch is you can not get the registration (the pink card) with out providing proof of ownership (bill of sale) and proof of insurance, while legally the pink card is not proof of ownership you have to have a bill of sale (proof of legal ownership) to get the pink card, And only the legal owner of vehicle can insure it in Alberta.
There technically is no Gov't method in place in Alberta to track legal ownership of vehicles it is just assumed by Motor Vehicles and the law that the vehicle registration is held by the legal owner since they have to produce proof of ownership (bill of sale) and proof of Insurance to get registration and only the legal owner of a vehicle can obtain vehicle insurance in Alberta.
You can register a vehicle in your name in Alberta even if you do not own it.
Only the legal owner can insure a vehicle as per Alberta Law. If you are registering a vehicle you do no own, the legal owner will insure the vehicle.
When the vehicle is registered since you have no bill of sale the registration will be in your name and the legal owner (who ever got the insurance policy) will be on the registration, as you have to have insurance to get registration, and not always is the insurers name actually on the registration pink card it just depnds on how the clerk decides to enter it. The name of the insurer will be in the Motor Vehicles database regardless of what is on the pink card.
You then will be the primary registrar and your drivers licence number will be attached to the registration and the plate and not the legal owner (insurer).
So it is perfectly legal in Alberta to have insurance papers in one persons name and the registration in another persons name on the same vehicle. (been there done that)
So just cause a persons name is on the pink registration card it does not necessarily mean they actually own the vehicle in Alberta.
Once the registration lapses (after one year) and is not renewed the old registration (pink Card) does not provide proof of ownership it just tells who the vehicle was last registered to. There is no method in Alberta to get a Pink Card ( for proof ownership) from Motor Vehicles if the vehicle is not insured and registered for road use.
I know in Ontario you can get a Permit from Motor Vehicles providing you with proof of vehicle ownership even if the vehicle is not on the road. In Alberta there is no such option available.
So since Alberta has no vehicle titles, ownership permits, etc so to speak and no Gov't tracking of vehicle ownership. If a vehicle changes hands a couple times from the last person that registered the vehicle for road use , while never being put back on the road in the intern a Bill of sale then becomes the legal proof of ownership.
A bill of sale in Alberta can be written on any thing and just has to include the Buyers Name , Vehicle VIN/serial number ,description (what it is with year), Sellers Name and signature (the legal owner) , the amount it was sold for and the date of the sale.
That is all the law requires here to legally transfer ownership, and it is all the insurance companies and Motor Vehicles needs to plate register and insure a vehicle in your name.
So say you had bought the truck from an individual in Alberta and the former legal owner never put it on the road during their tenure of ownership, all you could possibly get from them is a bill of sale written on what ever they decided to write it on.
SAAQ then would sort have to accept the bill of sale from the former owner as that is all the documentation you could provide them with and all the documentation the former owner was legally required to give you, or even able to give you. You would then have legally purchased the vehicle and transferred ownership under the laws of Alberta where the purchase was made.
They reasonably could not expect you to provide Alberta provincial issued proof of ownership as it was not available or required where the vehicle was purchased.
This is just some FYI to use as you see fit and for future use in case you buy a vehicle from Alberta that the former owner never registered for road use.
Matthew
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