The Expert Podcast

…This is car titles Again today we're going to talk about releasing a lien from a vehicle and what the process is for it and how you can do it yourself and what the additional steps are to make sure it gets done right the first time. the first thing. You have to remember is liens are recorded on title records with the DMV and they won't release that or take it off the title record until a certain number of things have happened Number one is the lien holder needs to sign off on a form and it's very important. How you get that lien release is done properly Otherwise it will never get taken off your title record You won't be able to sell the vehicle registered at another state transferred. You got to get that lien removed So how do you do it Well the first thing you remember is. The lien release requires a certain form And you see on the screen right here, we have a form as an example from the state of Texas there's a couple other exams. You'll see one here from Nebraska one here from New York, but they're all pretty much the same It's important to get the form for the correct state and the state you get it from has to be the state where the last title was issued. So let's say for example, the last title was in Texas. Here's the form So what do you do with it? It gives you the instructions. You fill out the form a hundred percent put in your VIN number your year make model body style. Title number If you know it. License plate If you know it as you can see from this form it says if known so this is optional You don't have to put that. The lien information is crucial. So if your lien holder is let's say bank of America you put their name address, you don't sign it because that has to be done by the lien holder…you'll see here that it has the signature of the authorized agent and the printed name for that lien holder And it's very serious Falsifying information is a felony So you don't want to try to forge the name of the lien holder. How do you get it signed? Well here's what we recommend I…don't…call the lien holder Don't email the lien holder Don't text message The lien holder. Don't. contact them through their online help desk. Print out this form and send it to him by postal mail It's very very crucial you do by mail because here's the problem. Lien holders. Don't have…a department of people waiting around to do lien releases There's no lien release department and most lenders we deal with all the major lenders…This is going to be somebody who has another job. So if you make their life easy for them all they gotta do is sign this form and mail it back You'll be in good shape In fact, we also recommend putting a return envelope with a stamp and an address so they don't have to do any work They don't have to find that envelope find a stamp They don't have to find the form. They only have to fill out the form it's already done. You want to send them a letter? And here's the letter. This is the example we sent. I so-and-so I'm the owner of the vehicle Here's the description. There's previously alone requesting a lien release document on official letterhead or on the application. And this is the application…In the event that lien is still open reply with a payoff balance If the lender says that money is still owed you want to have them tell you that. You also want to offer an alternative if there's no record of a lien. Then you want to offer them this? What's called a letter of non-interest, which is saying be advised that we have no security interest in the vehicle and make no claim of lien, put the year make and model and VIN number and offer that as an alternative. If you send this correspondence and request letter. Along with the letter of non-interest in the lien release form to the lender. With a return envelope. That's your highest probability of getting that thing back fast to you? So let's look at a couple other states. Here's Nebraska. Again lien release form by a lender who does not participate in the electronic program. Which is most cars still have paper titles. same information to lender vehicle owner You're making model. where to send the title. This one has to be notarized. So that's another important thing. Here are the rules for saving New York How to remove a lien holder from a title certificate. To remove a lien. You need to mail these items, proof that the lien was satisfied original document no photocopies That's why we say send the original so you can get an ink signature…Your current title certificate or you can also send in an application for duplicate. And in New York you have to send them 20 bucks. It's to remove the lien. But. They will not. Do this unless you have the lien release document So you have to get that from the lender first, before you can go to the lender, what are the acceptable proof? Notice of recorded lien That's the form. Oh one This is the New York version of what we looked at in Texas. You can also in New York and a letter from the lienholder. Printed on their official letterhead authorized officer. And. If it's a person and not a loan company has to be notarized. They're going to verify it So don't forge a fake lean released letterhead because they're going to verify it and you'll get in big trouble…The lien release document is the crucial document. It has to be signed by the lien holder. If you. Try to get it by email or by phone or by text message whatever you get back from the lender. Won't be good enough for the DMV to remove her from the title. It's crucial that you send them the prefilled out form, because that way the lien holder doesn't have to go searching for it Think about it. There's 50 state in the country that lender may be lending in all 50 states They probably don't have this form for Texas sitting around in their file cabinet. Sure They could get it from the internet and download it and print it But now you're asking them a lot and that person who might start doing that job. It could get distracted They could get a phone call, their boss could call them to do something else So you want to make it easy for them. Print out the form send it to them and you'll have the highest probability of getting it back quickly Of course, if you have any other questions you can check out our website, car titles.com has all the forms of documents. and you can download them for free or have us do the process for you if you so desire…