The Expert Podcast

If you are an automotive repair facility, storage yard, or dealership, you actually have some enhanced authority to get a vehicle title that most civilians do not have. This comes in the form of a mechanic's lien title or a garage holder's title. They call it different things in different states, but as a licensed automotive facility, you can use this privilege along with your business license to obtain titles for vehicles that have been left at your shop or abandoned at your shop.

Maybe somebody didn't pay the bill, or perhaps the vehicle was towed in and nobody claimed it. The mechanic's lien process for automotive facilities gives you that privilege, whereas most civilians can't just go to the DMV and get a title for a vehicle left on their property or driveway.

It's important that you follow the necessary steps. Most states require you to complete a certain series of checklist items. For example, you probably have to send out a notice to the owner and publish an ad in the newspaper declaring that you're claiming ownership of the vehicle. Some of these steps have to be done within a certain period of time but also not too soon.

For instance, in most states, you can't sit on a vehicle for five years and then suddenly file a mechanic's lien. You have to act within the allowed timeframe, but you also can't do it within just a couple of days. You might have to wait 30 or 60 days after each step.

The important thing is that most states also enable you to erase bank loans from vehicles using the mechanic's lien process. So, if someone leaves a vehicle on your lot and it has a $10,000 loan from Chase Bank, your mechanic's lien, in most cases, will erase that bank loan from the vehicle.

That's a big bonus for you because if the bank loan remained on the vehicle, you wouldn’t be able to dispose of it or recover the money owed to you for repairs. Look into the mechanic's lien process, see if your scenario qualifies for it, and check if your license enables it.

It’s an incredibly valuable process that you have as part of your business, and you want to use it to your advantage. Don't let it go to waste—use it to reclaim money or payments that are due to you for your professional work on a motor vehicle.