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zeppelin
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
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 Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:19 am Post subject: Registering a Car |
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Hi,
I bought a car from a friend who was leaving Korea. I paid and he left. It was all above board and we completed the paperwork together. He said he took advice from the mapo gu office and I have the paperwork required to transfer the car with his details and signature on it.
My Drivers License Authority handbook tells me I, as the buyer, have 15 days to register the car. It did not mention the seller. I've been busy at work so today was my only chance to go to the registration office.
They insisted that I could not register my car because the seller did not come with me. I have a contract for the sale of the car but the registration office won't accept it. They insist that the seller must come to the office but as he is on the other side of the world, that is not going to happen.
The registration office mentioned that I may need to go to court to resolve the ownership of the car. That sounds slow and expensive. Has anyone had similar experiences, any tips or advice? |
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death from above
Joined: 31 Jul 2005
Location: in your head
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| Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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i have the same problem with a scooter.
there is a document that transmits ownership. The seller's 'stamp' needs to be put on it (wink wink) and you will need to show a copy of his/her passport.
.. at least that's what they told me. i am still in the process of tracking my dude down! |
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Who's Your Daddy?
Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.
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| Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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Had the same problem. I tried several officers over a few years; they all said no. So the vehicle is forever in my friends name. I told the DMV I won't pay the road tax if they don't change it to my name and I never did. My insurance agent put myself and my friends name on the insurance. After a couple years I sold the car to another foreigner (who since sold it to another), and it's still driving around town. Road tax hasn't been paid in 4 years. I assume at some point they'll take the plate off the car.
The car can't be sold through a used car dealer, I tried. The dealer said he could have it cut up and sold to a junk yard, but I'd only get about $500.
Never paid any parking bills either.
I hope you didn't pay much for the car, because you probably can't resell it for much. |
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I-am-me
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Location: Hermit Kingdom
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| Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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| I havent paid any tax or vehicle inspection for the past 2 years. I moved and I really dont know where to go so havent bothered with it. No one has taken my tags since they dont know where i live so why upset the apple cart. I leave in 6 months so I will either leave it parked somewhere or sell it to a junk yard. Ony paid 900,000 for it and has lasted 6 years. If someone wants it, let me know. Great running car. Preferably to have someone in rural area. |
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talltony4
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, common problem.
I was under the impression it was possible to transfer the ownership without both seller and buyer being there too, but I soon got put on the right track by the Songpa Gu office.
It turns out that it *is* possible for Koreans though, because they have a Dojang (those signature stamp things). As neither I nor the buyer had one, we both had to be present in the gu office at the same time.
Which raises the question, can a foreigner get a dojang and do it that way? I think they probably can, but you would have to go to the trouble of getting a dojang and registering it with the gu office I suppose.
Korean vehicle registration is a nightmare to negotiate. I think it's just another way of encouraging people to buy new vehicles. |
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john110375
Joined: 30 Jul 2007
Location: seoul
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 5:06 am Post subject: |
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| I have the stamp certification paper you said and I had no problem registering my car in songpa gu. I had a copy of the owner's paper too. |
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Jake_Kim
Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:41 am Post subject: |
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| talltony4 wrote: |
| Which raises the question, can a foreigner get a dojang and do it that way? I think they probably can, but you would have to go to the trouble of getting a dojang and registering it with the gu office I suppose. |
You already have the answer to your question. Bring the usual package - both ARC and passport, your seal of which spelling is consistent with your ARC (both Korean and Roman alphabets are allowed, but the seal shall not be made of rubber) - to the Gu-office you're registered with. The seal is specifically called 인감('in-gahm') which basically embodies your power of attorney by registration.
In the OP's case, however, it seems that the seller didn't hand over a copy of his seal certificate (or never bothered to make one and register), which does complicate things.
A private contract alone won't hold when the transfer of property requires registration by the authority. (i.e. vehicles, real estate) Both parties of transfer reporting to the authority in person lacking registered seals automatically puts the case officer as a 'legal witness' so that the transfer becomes effective immediately simply by signatures of both parties.
See if the authority would accept papers called 출입국에관한사실증명 and 외국인등록사실증명 in the absence of the seller's seal certificate. These are to prove 'this dude used to be a legally registered foreigner but has left Korea never to return' by the Immigration record. However, in order for the OP to get those papers under the seller's name, the OP should be able to contact the seller to get written power of attorney. If that's not the case, then there's an option of declaring the seller 'missing', but I doubt that total strangers are allowed to do so, and that's the kind of road anyone wouldn't wanna go down for just a hoopty. |
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zeppelin
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Jake_Kim wrote: |
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See if the authority would accept papers called 출입국에관한사실증명 and 외국인등록사실증명 in the absence of the seller's seal certificate. These are to prove 'this dude used to be a legally registered foreigner but has left Korea never to return' by the Immigration record. However, in order for the OP to get those papers under the seller's name, the OP should be able to contact the seller to get written power of attorney. If that's not the case, then there's an option of declaring the seller 'missing', but I doubt that total strangers are allowed to do so, and that's the kind of road anyone wouldn't wanna go down for just a hoopty. |
Thanks for your reply Jake. Does Korea have power of attorney? Do you have any details in how to go about setting it up?
Last edited by zeppelin on Thu Sep 09, 2010 7:07 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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I-am-me
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Location: Hermit Kingdom
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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| As long as you have the plates, why bother? Just drive it. |
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zeppelin
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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| I-am-me wrote: |
| As long as you have the plates, why bother? Just drive it. |
Insurance is only valid if the name of the car owner is the same as the number 1 insured person.
So if the car is unregistered and you have an accident, the insurance company won't pay out. |
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jonpurdy
Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Location: Ulsan
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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Slightly on-topic question:
I'm buying a car from a friend (he's got papers, everything is good) and he's got insurance until the 23rd. We won't be able to do the transfer until the 27th. I'm not going to drive the car in the meantime, but is there a problem with a gap in insurance coverage? |
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Jake_Kim
Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 2:12 am Post subject: |
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| zeppelin wrote: |
| Jake_Kim wrote: |
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See if the authority would accept papers called 출입국에관한사실증명 and 외국인등록사실증명 in the absence of the seller's seal certificate. These are to prove 'this dude used to be a legally registered foreigner but has left Korea never to return' by the Immigration record. However, in order for the OP to get those papers under the seller's name, the OP should be able to contact the seller to get written power of attorney. If that's not the case, then there's an option of declaring the seller 'missing', but I doubt that total strangers are allowed to do so, and that's the kind of road anyone wouldn't wanna go down for just a hoopty. |
Thanks for your reply Jake. Does Korea have power of attorney? Do you have any details in how to go about setting it up? |
Please don't get exuberant just yet. Since you and the seller are not related, you won't be granted what is equivalent to general power of attorney in common law system, and you need special power of attorney for each action.
Moreover, his power of attorney cannot substitute for his presence/seal certificate in vehicle registration itself. If it could, then the contract with his signature which you already hold should've been good enough, or the Gu-office would've simply told you to bring his '위임장'(Korean term for power of attorney) instead of going-to-court mumbo jumbo.
That is why I suggested that you check back with the Gu-office about those aforementioned Korean documents. If they refuse to waiver the whole 'seal certificate requirement' anyway, then my scenario is of no use and you don't need to bother getting hold of the seller.
But if they say 'yes we'll give you a waiver under special circumstance by the authority of whomever in charge', then you CAN use the power of attorney to get those documents under his name, prove he can neither be present nor produce his seal ever, and be done with this ordeal.
There's no set out forms regarding power of attorney for those two documents. (but not always - residence registration, for example, does require a specific form when requested by proxy) But it must contain basic details of both the principal and the agent (like names, addresses, ID/passport numbers, nationality) as well as the relation between the two, the purpose/capacity of delegation, and the date and signature of the principal.
'출입국에관한사실증명' is this: http://www.hikorea.go.kr/pt/InfoDetailR_kr.pt?catSeq=&categoryId=2&parentId=412&showMenuId=406
and '외국인등록사실증명' is this: http://www.hikorea.go.kr/pt/InfoDetailR_kr.pt?catSeq=&categoryId=2&parentId=413&showMenuId=406
Have fun. |
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zeppelin
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Jake_Kim wrote: |
Please don't get exuberant just yet. Since you and the seller are not related, you won't be granted what is equivalent to general power of attorney in common law system, and you need special power of attorney for each action.
Moreover, his power of attorney cannot substitute for his presence/seal certificate in vehicle registration itself. If it could, then the contract with his signature which you already hold should've been good enough, or the Gu-office would've simply told you to bring his '위임장'(Korean term for power of attorney) instead of going-to-court mumbo jumbo.
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Thanks again Jake. I'm going to consult with a lawyer today and see if there is a way for him to help sort out the registration and if it is at all cost effective. |
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talltony4
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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Jonpurdy,
When I sold my car I let the insurance expire before the sale, so I had to pay a fine.
The first 10 days cost 10,000 won (or maybe it was 15, I can't remember) and after that it was 6000won per day.
In your case it will be less than 10 days, so you'll only have to pay 10 or 15 thousand.
Thanks for the info Jake_Kim. Interesting to learn the reasons behind the the seemingly inexplicable bureaucracy, in particular that bit about the case officer being the "legal witness" |
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jonpurdy
Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Location: Ulsan
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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| talltony4 wrote: |
Jonpurdy,
When I sold my car I let the insurance expire before the sale, so I had to pay a fine.
The first 10 days cost 10,000 won (or maybe it was 15, I can't remember) and after that it was 6000won per day.
In your case it will be less than 10 days, so you'll only have to pay 10 or 15 thousand.
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Thanks for the info. With my bike there was no fine or anything but the law is probably different. |
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