My girlfriend files for bancruptcy and asks me to buy her a car with
only my name on the contract.  I have excellent credit and have no
problem qualifying for the loan by my self  It is a 1994 Toyota Camry
w/24,000 mils 4 cyl. purchased in 1997. She makes all the payments on
the car, with her check.
The car has not been fully paid off as of this date
Who does the car belong to legally and why. State of Florida

Hi there!

According to Edmunds.com, a car buyer's resource site, the bank or
finance company technically owns the car until all payments are made:

"Finance: If a car is "financed," it means you are borrowing money --
either as a loan or a lease -- to pay for it as you drive it. Instead
of financing a car, you could buy it outright with cash. When you buy
a car with cash, it immediately becomes yours. When you finance the
car, the bank owns it, and holds the title, until you've made the last
payment."

...and once all payments are made, the title is sent to the owner. 
The owner of the car is the person named on the title:

"Title: A title is a legal document providing specific information
about the vehicle and stating who owns it. If you borrow money from a
bank to get a car, the title will be held by the bank until you make
all the agreed-upon payments."

"Financing glossary"
[ http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fiw/articles/47361/article.html ]

"A certificate of title is the proof of ownership to a motor vehicle
in the State of Florida. Most vehicles are required to be titled. The
exceptions are mopeds, motorized bicycles and trailers weighing less
than 2,000 pounds."

"What is a title?"
[ http://www.hsmv.state.fl.us/dmv/faqtitle.html#1 ]

 
Though you've obtained this loan on behalf of your girlfriend, you are
legally responsible for payments, as you are the sole borrower and are
named on the title (the bank will be listed as a lienholder).  As
such, if she defaults on the payments, the lender is within its legal
right to compel you to pay, re-posess the car, or both.

However, if you were to take possession of the car (say, in the
unfortunate circumstance of a break up), she could legally regain
possession of the car in court, by presenting all receipts for
payments on the car.

*Legally*, the car is yours.  Ethically, it's hers.

Hope this helps!

missy-ga

After viewing all comments...it would appear that possession is 9/10 of the law

In the answer, the suggestion is made that if you take possession of
the vehicle that she could get the vehicle back by taking you to court
and presenting receipts. I am not totally sure of that.

For example, a married couple have a vehicle financed but on the title
it only has the wifes name. They get divorced and the judge rules that
the wife gets to keep the vehicle but the husband is to continue to
make the payments. The finance company does not have to recognize that
as the divorce decree does not supercede the finance contract. They
would still pursue the wife. If the husband did not continue making
payments it would be up to the wife to take the husband back to court
and have him served with contempt of court, meanwhile if she didn't
make the payments she could still lose the vehicle.

Once the vehicle is paid for it will be his no matter who paid for it
due to the fact that it would be his name as sole owner on the title.

$$$JACKPOT$$$

Wow, you have every man's dream sitting in your lap and you don't even
know it!

Amazing!

Ok, here goes...

The car belongs to you. Why? It's in your name...! It's that simple!
But here's where it gets interesting. She's paying for the car. So let
her. Think about it, your girlfriend is driving your car, paying for
it every month with her money and improving your credit every time she
makes a payment on time. What more could you ask for?

The Bad news...if she's late on a payment or misses it, it affects you
and your credit. Bottomline, you guys break up and she decides not to
pay the car bill for, hmmm, let's say 3 months, just for spite...you
get screwed...!

The Good news, it's a '94 Toyota Camry with only 24,000 miles on it.
Well then, just make sure she keeps the mileage low and you shouldn't
have a problem selling it for the value of your loan, if not more.
Used Toyotas with low mileage are very easy to sell. Esp. Camrys. It's
your car. You can sell it anytime you want. Just make sure:

1. "YOU" keep the papers for the car - ALWAYS!!
2. "SHE" pays her registration every time it's due. If she doesn't,
you're liable, not her,

As for when you decide to sell the car, this is the best part. 

Let's say you bought the car for 10000. She's paid 5000 of the loan
off. You sell the car for 7500. You pay the remaining 5000 you owe on
the loan and the extra 2500 cash in your pocket can be:

1. Either your fee for allowing your name and credit to be used for
the purchase of a car that your girlfriend drives and pays for.

...OR...

2. The rental price of a car with your title of ownership it. You
bought the car in 1997. It's now 2002. Let's say you sell it this
year. Well then, your girlfriend paid only $42 a month to rent your
car from you. Try to get that deal at a HERTZ.

By the way, that was a great answer and I think I deserve my $20.
Don't you?

Sorry...none of these responses may be right.  

You did not provide enough detail on the sequence of events, but there
are some issues to consider either way.

If your girlfriend bought the car in her name, and then wants you to
buy it (as the last part of your note seems to suggest) then all bets
are off.  Bankrupcy proceedings look for these kind of asset
transfers.  There's more to this since that particular loan is secured
with the care, but that's too complicated for this forum.  Good news
is that the lender should work with the two of you to get his
payments...lenders ALWAYS loose money when they repo a car.

Even if your friend has already filed bankrupcy and just can't get a
car loan, then what you are doing is buying the car with your credit
rating and her money, which could get very dicey in terms of
ownership, taxes, etc.  May want to consider a simple lease-to-buy
deal between the two of you, if you are willing to file the schedule C
on your federal income tax.

The commenters' notes boggle me, so I'm just going to add this
clarification:

If the question becomes "Who owns the car?" *after all payments have
been made*, the correct (ethically speaking) thing to do is to have
the title transferred to your girlfriend, since she's made all of the
payments.

What happens in a divorce is completely immaterial to your situation. 
If, after all payments are made, you don't transfer the title to her,
you two split and you take the car, she *could* take you to court for
the car *and win*.  And, if Florida is anything like Ohio, stick you
with court costs and punitive damages.  I strongly urge you to ignore
plain_yogurt's "advice".  It could prove dreadfully expensive.