So my daily driver (Jeep Grand Cherokee) was broken into the other night. They stole the manual, ownership/insurance, and remote FOB for a garage at another location, as well as some loose change. Why would they want the ownership and insurance? While it have the VIN and my address, the VIN is in the windshield and address is where they stole this stuff from. Not sure what they get from this info that is more or less readily available, or am I missing something.
If there were going to steal it, I would have thought they would have plugged into the OBD port, programmed a key and would be gone (not bothered with going through glove box).
They did not force their way in (no broken glass or lock). Not sure if somehow it was left unlocked. Passive entry is disabled so not sure "boosting" FOB signal from the house would do anything.
Just curious why take ownership and manual? They would get more from the pawn shop for the 3-4 Iphone charging cables they left behind!

 

Crack head likely looking for $10 for the next hit

 

hopefully just a crackhead and the manual and ownership was tossed in a neighbour's yard and it will show up in a few days.

 

We left a car open one night. Someone went in, pulled the ***** off the radio and left them on the console. Bored kids?

 

Happened to me too... accidentally left my car unlocked and woke up the next day with all the storage bins rifled though, spare change gone, and a bag of cleats taken from the trunk. Found my cleats on a neighbour's lawn a few houses down.

 

This is a big problem in the town I live. I figure it's gangs of kids with an adult as their leader. They grab whatever they can and the leader decides what's worth anything. Never have they broken into the car, just looking for unlocked doors.

 

Id be concerned about someone taking a loan or putting a lean on the car or selling it to someone without you knowing...kinda like what they do with mortgages and selling property without owner knowing.
good luck.

 

pro tip : if you own your house free and clear , put a line of credit on it .. Acts like a mortgage and the bank is immediately notified if someone tries to sell your house. The scammers Danny speaks of dont dare touch houses with mortgages, banks are scary dudes to mess with.

 

if you ever had a mortgage during ownership, you have title insurance which protects you and the title. don't have to pay legal fees to put a loc on it, unless you paid cash.

 

Good Point, many people these days are selling houses and buying new properties cash with Equity built over years. Probably why Gen X/Y ers hate us baby boomers so much lol. We have all the wealth it would seem

 

How often have you physically verified the VIN buying a used car? If it was any other car, I'd assume crack head, in this case, I'm thinking it could be a method for someone to sell a stolen jeep. Basically represent the stolen one as yours with your paperwork. Everything would check out unless the buyer compares dash tag to ownership which I've never seen anyone do, and I've sold piles of cars.

 

I wish this were true but it’s not. A fraudster can get rid of a mortgage on title as well.

 

I am a firm believer...one day some bad person is going to come across the wrong element.

 

how do they get around title insurance? or is just you get your property back in the end after a lot of run around?

 

title insurance is the best way to protect against title fraud. But to say a lender gets notice if someone tries to sell your house isn’t necessarily true. Someone could register a fraudulent discharge of the mortgage too.