The Expert Podcast

So what is a court order title, and how does it help you get a title certificate for a vehicle? A court order title process is a method where, if you don't have the right paperwork that your DMV or your title agency in your state is willing to accept, you go over their head, you go over their authority, and you go to the court system in the county where you reside. You basically tell the court that you are the legal owner, you have documentation, you have a bill of sale and receipts, and you want them to sign an order directing the DMV commissioner to give you a title that gives you power over the DMV.

Now the court's going to verify your story, whatever story you have about how you bought the vehicle. You're going to have to put that in writing. It's an affidavit of facts, a declaration of non-interest, and a petition. You prepare those three forms, filing them with the court. If everything checks out in the vehicle—it's not stolen, no liens, no salvage, no back taxes—the court will generally give you a judgment of ownership based on their discretion. Once you get that judgment of ownership, you bring it to the DMV, slap it on the counter, and they give you a title. Every state has different rules about that. Sometimes you have to get rejected first by the DMV before you go to court. Sometimes the court will do a background check on the vehicle. Sometimes they'll want you to send out letters to the last owner. You will not know what you need to do until you file with the court. So the first step is to file with the court.

Now, you can't just walk into the court and say, "I want to do a court order title." They're not going to know what you're talking about. You have to walk in with your petition, your affidavit, and your letter of non-interest already prepared, file them with the court, and let the magistrate take action on them. The court clerk can't advise you. They're not going to know specifically what a court order title is. You have to come in already prepared. You can't come in empty-handed because the court's not allowed to give you assistance. They can't give you legal advice. So make sure you're prepared when you walk into that courtroom. In fact, we don't recommend walking into the court. We recommend filing it by mail because that way the clerk won't make any misunderstandings about what you're trying to do and will reject it before it even gets to the magistrate.