example), the Sheriff usually registers this interest with the VSR . However, the Sheriff is not bound by the CSA to do so. In a situation where the Sheriff does not register an interest which arose prior to your purchase of a car, the Sheriff, and not you, may have legal title (see Ward v Alan Mance Motors Pty Ltd (unreported, Supreme Court of Victoria, 21 December 1994) and the definition of security interest in section 3 of CSA). If the Sheriff has received a warrant to seize goods belonging to the seller but has not yet removed the car from the seller's possession, and you have paid for the car, you may be forced to give the car to the Sheriff to satisfy the warrant. In this situation you will probably be unable to recover the money paid to the seller. Therefore, when buying a car privately, you should check with the Sheriff's office that no warrant exists for the seizure of goods belonging to the seller. Try to get a letter from the Sheriff's office confirming this. It is the purchaser that must prove a car was purchased free from a security interest (s.7(3)). In summary, you will normally obtain clear title unless one of the following situations arises: there is an interest registered and you did not inspect the VSR; the seller had no rights to the car (for example, the car is stolen); the Sheriff had received a warrant authorising seizure of the seller's goods prior