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Do
You Have Authority to Sell This Piano?
Pianos,
unlike cars and Real Estate, do not have titles of ownership listed with
the state the owner lives in. But, this does not mean that there are
not laws that apply to ownership of the piano and the ways in which an
owner can and can't transfer title to another person.
As
a broker of a piano, you are responsible for:
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Obtaining
written authorization from the sole owner(s) of the piano to enter
into legally binding contracts to sell the piano on their
behalf. For example you might have something in your contract
with the seller that states "You authorize (Your Company Name) to accept offers to purchase, receive
moneys, pay off liens, disburse funds, and to act as your authorized
agent in all matters pertaining to the sale." If you don't
have this authority, you cannot authorize us to do this for you under
our Silver Selling Service Listing Agreement.
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Obtain
a "Bill of Sale" from the sole
owner(s) of the piano with original signatures in favor of the buyer
during the escrow process. You will usually need to do this
within 3 business days of Piano Finders acceptance of a buyer's
purchase offer, so if you have any doubts about the owner(s)
ability to perform during this short period of time, obtain the Bill
of Sale (leaving the buyer's name and address blank) before the
sale is complete and hold it in escrow pending a sale. This Bill
of Sale cannot be signed by you, unless the sole owner(s) have given
you legal right to transfer title. If you have legal right to
transfer title, then you also have to charge the buyer sales tax in
the state of California (and other states where applicable), so
consider carefully if you want to do your transactions this way. In
California, if you don't have the right to transfer title, then you
don't have to charge sales tax on a piano owned by a private party who
has sold fewer than 3 pianos in a year.
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Obtaining
permission from the owner to authorize the pickup of the piano during
the escrow process. Since the piano will be released to the sole
owner(s) through a "Pick Up
Authorization" form that you will be signing on behalf of the
sole owner(s), it is important that you have written permission from
sole owner(s) to make these transactions. We assume that you
already have possession of the piano. If the owner has
possession, then it will be better for the owner to be signing the
"Pick Up Authorization"
form.
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Assuring
that the people who have stated they are sole owner(s) of the piano
are indeed authorized to make that representation. These are
some factors to consider:
Here
are some of the reasons that the person claiming to be the sole owner of a
piano CANNOT be the only one signing a contract:
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They
are married in a community property state. You should obtain the
both spouse's signature on your contract with them.
-
They
were given their piano by a relative, but there are other relative's
who claim ownership of it. All disputes should be cleared up
before any documents to sell the piano are signed. The person(s)
who declare legal ownership should obtain a signed document from the
person who gave(sold) them the piano stating that it is theirs, free and clear
of any liens or encumbrances.
-
They
are in the middle of a divorce proceeding and legal arrangements
agreeable to both parties of the divorce have not been made yet.
You should either obtain an official document from the court that
clarifies their sole ownership of the piano, or obtain both parties signature on their contract
with you.
-
They
are the beneficiary of the piano through an estate that is currently
in probate. In this case, the piano still belongs to the estate
and they do not have authority to sell it as an individual. The
contract with us should be written by the Executor of the Estate,
"(name), Executor for the Estate of (name of deceased) and signed
by that person.
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There
are any judgments of the court that have been rendered
against them that might affect their ability to legally transfer title
of the piano to a buyer. They should consult their attorney
if they have any questions about situations they are currently
confronted with of this nature to be sure they have authority to sell
the piano.
-
They are currently in the middle of, or plan to file bankruptcy within
the next 90 days. During bankruptcy, all of their assets belong
to the court until the bankruptcy proceedings are completed.
During that time, only the representative appointed by the court has
authority to sell their piano. Transactions that have happened 90
days previous to the filing of bankruptcy may be questioned by the
court if the piano was sold below its retail value.
Do
They Own This Piano Free and Clear of Any Lien's And Encumbrances?
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If
they have taken out a loan on the piano from a bank, financial
institution or other entity and they have taken a lien on the piano
until their note is paid in full, then they should list the Lien holder
on your contract with you and you should list that same Lien holder on
the contract with us.
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If
this piano belongs to an Estate that is in Probate, then the IRS may
have a lien on the Estate until after escrow closes. Usually
this means that the IRS will only have an interest in the piano if the
Estate taxes are not paid. Since Real Estate and personal
property transactions are conducted all the time during probate, this
does not mean that the estate cannot sell the piano. However, it
does mean that they should state "Estate in Probate" under
the Lien holder section of their contract with you and the same should
be stated in your contract with us. We may require
an additional statement from the attorney handling the Estate as part
of the document transfer in order to protect the buyer from any unpaid
IRS estate taxes after the estate has received payment in full from
the buyer.
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If
they have liens on your personal property and assets by tax agencies
who are attempting to collect payment from them for debts they owe
those agencies,
then they should list the agencies that have liens against them that
would affect the piano.
The
important thing we require is full disclosure of all the issues that
affect might affect transfer of title to the buyer, free and clear of any
lien's and encumbrances. If you have any questions about the owner's
particular situation, you can discuss it with us.
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Copyright 1999 to 2005 Piano Finders. All Rights
Reserved.
Piano Finders #2914
2121 North California Blvd., Suite 290, Walnut Creek, CA 94596
925-676-3355 fax: 925-945-8806
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