The Expert Podcast

Today we're going to talk about a couple of types of titles that you may be running into if you're buying cars at Copart or IAA or you have a car that came from there. Many times these are called junk or parts only vehicle titles. In some states they're called non-repable. For example, in Florida they call them certificate of destruction. There's a version in Kentucky called a Kentucky red title and that's their version of what's called the non-reparable certificate. What does this all mean and how does it affect different states?

Well, a vehicle that goes through an insurance claim process where the insurance company decides they do not want the vehicle back on the road can issue this designation called a junk or parts only or non-repable and they put it into a system that goes to all 50 states. Here's what Tennessee says about it in their state. This is from the Tennessee Department of Revenue. They talk about the other states. Kentucky red titles are the equivalent of a Tennessee non-repairable title. They're damaged beyond repair.

Now, you may find vehicles that have no damage that have this, and we'll talk about that. A vehicle that is not repairable may not be registered in Tennessee or really any other state. Why is that? Well, there's such a thing as the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, and that is a federal government record system that takes information from one state and transmits it to all the other states. Every time a vehicle is titled, changes ownership, registered, all states get that information from this national motor vehicle title information system.

And it's originally designed to prevent stolen cars and title fraud and different types of problems that somebody would want to know about. What happens is anytime there's a title brand put on a car, it goes to all 50 states plus Guam, Puerto Rico, and Washington DC could participate in this. And what does the law say? The law says that information within NMVTIS, the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, shall be available to jurisdiction, states, federal and local law enforcement, insurance companies, and prospective purchasers.

So, it's saying that this information is out there. It's for people to see. It allows jurisdictions to verify the validity of titles prior to issuing new titles. It prevents title fraud and auto theft. So that's the reason for having this. In addition, it tracks odometers to make sure nobody's rolling back mileage on vehicles. And the federal law that went into place has five capabilities at a minimum. Five minimum capabilities.

First of all, validity of a title. The title state for a vehicle—what state is a title in? Number three, whether an automobile is non-reparable or known as junk or salvaged vehicle. That's the number three one. And it repeats it again. Has it been reported as a non-repable or junk? It's so important they put it twice on the list.

Now, it also does something else. When a vehicle moves to a new state, the NMVTIS notifies the old state, allowing the old state to inactivate the title record, which means you can't get a duplicate title in the old state. And they can purge the record. So, if you move from one state to another, your old title becomes invalid.

And why do they want to have this out there? Because it gives buyers the ability to check for vehicle safety and reduce unsafe vehicles on the road. Things like salvage or crash vehicles might have safety issues that need to have inspections done or more thorough investigations into the repairs and they check this.

This is the procedures manual—happens to be from Florida. All title transactions performed on Florida title vehicles will make an inquiry to NMVTIS. This will ensure that the vehicle has not been titled in another state since being titled and brought back to Florida because people sometimes will do that to try to remove a title brand. They'll flip it from one state to another. But NMVTIS prevents that from happening and this includes the title brands.

When an application for title is being processed, emphasis must be placed on the brands reported by NMVTIS rather than the brand that's on the title. This is important. Your title certificate, if you have one for the vehicle, might not have any brand on it. Might be clear, right? However, the DMV is going to go by what's in the record, not by what is on the title. Brands reported by NMVTIS will be automatically carried forward to Toyota. There are two NMVTIS brands, which will result in a no Florida title certificate being issued—dismantled or junk.

And then junk has those different versions in different states, non-reparable, parts only. So, how do you undo this? If it's a junk title, how do you get a title for it? Well, there are two ways to get a junk, non-repairable certificate of destruction vehicle back on the road. One is to get a new VIN number, and the other is to have the brand undone.

Why would you need a new VIN number? Well, like the manual said, if you have a vehicle with a junk VIN number, they can't give a title, but you could do a new VIN number. It says if a new VIN has been assigned to a vehicle, you can't use the old VIN for a title. You can get a new VIN by calling it an assembled vehicle or a kit car, and that's a process you can go through. Or you can do what's called a court order reduction, meaning that you can file a petition with the court to have the court override that non-reparable junk title status.

You have to give the court evidence where they will override the reason that that was done. And they don't have to do it, but that's the only way you can even try to get the non-repairable junk status removed from a vehicle because once it's in that NMVTIS brand code, and you can see here, number eight is junk, number seven is dismantled, then you can't get a title in almost every state.

Well, in every state, certainly in Florida, there's other types of junk or salvage title determinations that some states won't accept on top of seven and eight. Some states won't accept reconstructed or rebuilt, right? So, you have to be very careful. But if you do have a seven or an eight—dismantled or junk—you have to either get a new VIN number issued or have a court override that. And there's a court order title application process you can attempt. Our website will give you instructions.

Again, it doesn't always work, but that's the only chance you have. If you don't do it, you have 0% chance of getting a title. At least with that, you may have some chance. So, if you have more questions about a title status, you can contact us at the link below. If you like this video, be sure to click on a few others on our channel to see if there's other information that might be helpful to you about this same subject or maybe even other related subjects that could assist you with your resolution of your issue.