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Peter H. Smith, 66 and recently retired, plans to sell his home and move out of state, possibly to Colorado.

Before he can sell it, though, he needed to prove it was his, and that’s where he was running into problems with the state Department of Safety and Professional Services.

Smith’s two-bedroom in Janesville is a manufactured home, delivered many years ago in more or less one piece to the Rockvale mobile home park on U.S. Highway 51. Smith’s late wife had purchased it, Smith said, and the two had continued to live there even after divorcing in 2005.

Unlike traditional homes — which are built from scratch on site and recorded with the county — manufactured and mobile homes are titled through the state.

Smith said that because the home was in his late wife’s name, he needed to get it transferred to his before he could sell it. She died in November and had left it to him in her will, he said.

So about three months ago, he filled out the necessary paperwork and sent it to DSPS, including an additional fee to have the agency expedite his request, he said.

The title, though, didn’t arrive, and that became a problem as the weeks went by because someone wanted to buy the place, Smith said.

There were a “lot of phone calls” placed to DSPS, Smith said. “I couldn’t even get anybody to answer the phone calls.”

At one point he traveled to the agency’s headquarters in Madison, he said, only to find the counter had closed early that day.

SOS emailed DSPS on July 20 and after another nudge six days later, DSPS director of public affairs Jennifer Garrett said she asked staff to call Smith directly to explain what he needed to do to get the title.

“There are some departmental policies in place about communication in writing versus phone,” she said, “and he doesn’t have an email address on file. So our staff will call him but will also send a letter to the address on file, and that letter will detail what documentation is still necessary.”

Garrett also said that because the expediting fee hadn’t resulted in much expediting, the agency was refunding it.

SOS spoke with Smith on July 28, when he said an official with DSPS had called the day before and said he should get his title by July 30. He later explained he was told his application was held up because he failed to send a death certificate and filled out part of title paperwork incorrectly, he said.

Smith said the title arrived as promised; he plans to close on the home’s sale at the end of the month.

Since September 2007, SOS has helped save Wisconsin State Journal readers more than $204,186.03 and solved hundreds of problems. You can send an SOS using any of these methods:

Online form: http://go.madison.com/sendSOS

Mail: SOS, Wisconsin State Journal, P.O. Box 8058, Madison, WI 53708

A sampling of SOS' vehicle-related calls for help.

The owner of the shop said neither he nor a shop manager were aware that the car-shaking problem was ongoing.

Regular customers of some of the chain lube-and-oil shops are familiar with the upsale.

"Consider this matter resolved," Kraft said.

"The gas tank was partially held in place by a ratchet strap."

The dings and scratches were reportedly caused by a piece of car getting caught up in the car wash's rollers and other machinery.

The EX was candy-apple red with a sunroof, heated seats and other bells and whistles.

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"The way I look at it, I'm still alive, so the lifetime warranty is still in place," Zeman said. 

"All of the numbers result in going through long, involved telephone trees that do not let you talk to anyone," Levin said.

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