The Expert Podcast

In our business we deal with the various DMVs all around the country on a regular basis. And a lot of times they have some very good information for consumers about how titles work and when you're buying a vehicle, what type of information that is important In fact, you can avoid a lot of title problems by just reading what the DMV says As far as jumping titles properly signed titles, import vehicles. Even a bill of sale has all of the requirements on the website We're going to go through some of the common problems that you may run into as a consumer about titling your vehicle and what the DMV says, what type of problems can't be solved There are some title problems that are. Impossible to solve where you. never going to get a title for your vehicle So you have to be very very careful.

So let's take a look at what one particular state this happens to be Delaware says about vehicle titling and what your requirements are what your rights are and maybe what you're allowed to do or what you can't do with a vehicle And this comes from their titling. division. First thing is make sure if you're getting a title check the front of the title make sure it matches the vehicle you're purchasing I can't tell you how many times our sales department tells us we have another customer that called up. They got a title. And it doesn't match the vehicle They have they have a different VIN number. That's a problem. Because you basically have a vehicle. that you don't get a title for That title was for somebody else's car. You have to start like you don't even have a title There's no changing VIN numbers on a title You can't do that. Also look to make sure you're not buying a flood salvage rebuilt reconstructed salvage vehicle. A lot of times people say, well I'll just get it inspected. In reality. The DMV doesn't pass many salvage title inspections They don't want these vehicles on the road. So they're going to try to find a way not to pass it Maybe you don't have the right receipts Maybe it's not. up to snuff as far as factory specifications, but that's going to be a problem.

What about a homemade vehicle? Sometimes people build a vehicle from scratch. And they have to issue a new VIN number for that's something that you'll have to get issued first before. You try to get a title you have to have a VIN number. Lienholder that's a very important thing If you have a vehicle that has a lien holder, even if it's not reported on the title, if it's in the title records. The lien holder prevails You will not be able to get a title until that lien is cleared off the title record. And there's a way to do that. But you have to do that first before you do anything else.

one of the other things that's very very important is what's called jumping title or skipping title What does that mean? If this said. signature is already on the title that you're buying and you're purchasing vehicle from somebody else. You may be purchasing from an illegal dealer or somebody than the original owner that's called a jump title or a skip title. Maybe it's what's called a curb stoner. A dealer who buys and sells cars and flips them without having a dealer's license. Right. What happens is the original owner has already sold the vehicle and notify the DMV of the sale. If something goes wrong with that transfer You're not going to be able to find them. This is what happens A lot of times people will buy a car They buy from somebody who bought it from somebody else who bought it from somebody else That title has changed hands but nobody changed the title record. Now you're trying to track down that. Original owner. And what's there What's called out of the picture. This practice is illegal in Delaware Most states it's illegal You can't do a jump title. Once you change a title before you can sell it to somebody else you have to get a new title in your name. Right.

You should also be very careful of vehicles that are titled in another country. There are some vehicles that are allowed to come into this country under a DOT or EPA exemption if they're 25 years old however, that exemption does not. Require the state to give you a title. It just exempts it from different DLT and EPA standards However, if it wasn't manufactured for the us and it does not conform to those standards, it can be imported, but. Your title and registration can still be denied by the state and you may have to spend thousands of dollars. At a federally licensed shop. To get that changed over So just because it's been imported doesn't mean the state has to title it. And… most states have a penalty If you don't change the title within a certain period of time 30 days.

So these are some good. Pieces of advice and suggestions from the DMV. Obviously there's more than that but these are a lot of the common questions that come up This is why it's on their website, all these things, because they're common questions. They're the same kind of questions we hear when people call us up. I imported the vehicle. I don't have a bill of sale. The VIN number is different There's a lot of these same things that come up lienholders over and over So if you're buying a vehicle make sure that you avoid these. And if you're already in a position where you have one of these title problems, you can check out our website for what the solutions might be in your scenario.