The Expert Podcast

The video channel if you're watching this, it's probably because you have a vehicle that needs a title you have title problems, or maybe you're just an auto enthusiasts that run into vehicles without titles We're going to talk about. Different ways of getting a title and why some of the common ways people go about getting a title really aren't that good There's really only two ways that you should try to get a title for a vehicle when you don't have the old title. What do we mean by the old title Well, a vehicle title as you know is a legal government document It looks like this. It's not a blank sheet of paper you can buy from a company it's, it's actually a physical certificate. And if evidence is not only.

The vehicle itself but who's the owner on that title is listed, who was the legal owner Now you can't buy a title from a company You can't download one from the internet. You have to get it from the government in the only way they give you a new title. Is if you have the old title. There's a lot of little loopholes and backdoor methods. use to get titles, but a lot of times they can get you in trouble Let's take a look at.

An example of that where there are methods of getting a title. Which sometimes are not really that good because. When you use them, you can have your title revoked. You can get. Legal problems.

There's a very famous…

Auto rebuilder. Then Boyd Cottington Now this is an old article This from 2004 20 years ago. And which is about how long we've been doing titles by the way since the early two thousands. And the state of California. Filed charges against this person Now we're not casting doubt on them but.

What this person is doing is the attorney general. Special crimes unit. Conducting the investigation fraudulent registration of replicated vehicles and what they were doing was they were. switching VIN numbers from one vehicle to another. And the reason that we're doing that is because these were constructed vehicles.

Made out of parts of different cars. And so they were switching vehicles. You know VIN numbers from one of the cars to another. And all the above actions are a felony. Because they were registering a vehicle where it's represented.

Registering a vehicle where the values represented. And avoiding compliance with small gloss So if you're using any title method, that's trying to do some backdoor to avoid taxes, to avoid smog laws, to avoid inspection. Or even to change the identity of the vehicle. That's going to be a problem It's not just California. That's going to be a problem.

And. If you are getting a title not only do you want to make sure that the method. Is good. You want to make sure you know what the method is And the reason we say that is because there's a lot of…

APU. You'll find out there on Craigslist Facebook online where there'll be somebody that says look. Pay us money We'll give you a title. And if that company. Or person.

Is not telling you exactly how they're doing it…

Then you might want to be suspicious because who knows if the method they're doing it is any good. Who knows If it's going to get you into trouble, who knows If the title even can get revoked? What's an example of that Well, There was a company back about the same amount of time. It was called Broadway title. And that again this is back from 2011.

Word of caution. I purchase a vehicle. and I went through Broadway title and Alabama. And…

I had to return my plates entitled to the state of Illinois after having them for two years. Because the method that this company Broadway title used. Was illegal. It wasn't right. Now I think.

Broadway title the name has been sold to some other companies So I can't…speak to if this company's any good, and this is just one person's opinion. But other people have said. that…

There. Method of doing it was ridiculous. That…they had to get a lawyer. that the state didn't allow it. There's a lot of potential.

variable So let's not jump too much onto Broadway title but what they were doing according to other comments and you can read to yourself this is in a very. Popular. Classic car vehicle website You can look this up…

What they were doing is you would sign the vehicle over to this company they would get a title in their name and then sign it over to you So who knows what they were doing to get the title in there name. Right If they were doing something that was maybe not just illegal but just borderline unethical. And if the state sees too many coming from this one company. They might crack down on them. That's why the best way to do it is to not…

Do something that's opaque that you can't tell what the title method is You want to know what it is in fact. The way, we do it is we don't actually apply for the title. You want to be the one that applies for the title If you let somebody else apply for the title, first of all the title might not be in your name It might be in somebody else's name and you have to rely on them to give it to you. Number two. You won't know the method.

Until you sign the form which means that you're liable for some method that you didn't even know how it was done. Right. There's only two ways that the government really says you should be getting a title Well let's take a look at those one is what's called the bonded title process. And in most states there's a few that don't do this have a bonded title process where…if you do not have the proper paperwork. To get a title.

You can go through this bonding process. And get a title. Now there's a couple of misconceptions Some people say or think you have to pay thousands of dollars for a bond to do this. You have to buy a bond, but usually the bond costs you. Couple hundred bucks.

It's not that much Right. And what you have to do is provide an exploitation explanation for requesting a bonded title. Basically what they're asking you is why didn't you. Have the right paperwork. Are you in legal control of the vehicle Are you in possession of the vehicle?

Right. And if that's the case. And you have an explanation and you buy a bond. As long as the vehicles legitimate it's not stolen. You don't have any liens you don't have any claims against it.

you pay a 15. non-refundable fee. And if you have any evidence of ownership title bill of sale canceled check. Provide that as well. They'll take a look at it If all things look like it's okay.

And the state accepts. You will get a title. Right…

That's the official…

Suggested recommended method that the states have. That's what you should look at first. Now. There's another method. That you can use as a backup.

And we'll talk about the pros and cons of bonded title here in a minute. But the other method. Is what's called a court order title. And you can get more information about these on our website at CarTitles.com…

The other method…

Is used in states that don't have a bonded title or if there's some reason that the bonded title doesn't work in your state. Here's an example of court ordered title This happens to be in Ohio. What are the steps you have to visit a clerk to get the court order packet which is this packet right here. You have to request the last known address of the vehicle by submitting the form to the BMV It cost five bucks no big deal.

You have to mail certified letter. You have to get a inspection. And then you have to file a petition. And it says to appear before the judge normally don't have to appear Normally you filed a petition. If everything looks AOK.

They'll either give it to you Sometimes they require you to come in in front of the clerk to raise your right hand and swear under oath that this is true. And then you pick up your title. Right. So it's…a few steps You have to jump through some hoops but I have to tell you. It's a lot less steps than sometimes some of these other methods that people use.

R for example. There's the Vermont loophole and. You'll see this on our website You'll see it online You'll see it on. Even major insurance companies like Haggerty insurance car and driver has written about this loophole method. You apply by mail to the state of Vermont.

You get a registered. from Vermont You're not getting a title. You get a registration. Then you bring that to your state change for a title. There's more steps involved with that than just doing a bonded or a court order.

But. A lot of people like to do it because they feel like they're kind of being sneaky and getting over on the DMV. You can do that. You know most states you're not going to have a problem. There's a few states that if you bring a Vermont registration, they're going to say we know about this deal.

Get out of here. Right? Different times throughout the year different years some states will have more problems than others. You know as of right now in June of 23 we know for a fact that the state of Florida, if you walk in with a Vermont registration, They're probably going to tell you to get the heck out. Right.

If you want to go through the hassle of going through Vermont to get a registration and the license plate, you can do that, but…

you're running the risk of your state Not accepting it. Right And that risk is totally on you. Plus you have to pay sales tax to the state of Vermont and you might think well how much could it be? It could be a lot. Because Vermont does not figure the tax on what you think the value is or your bill of sale is they figured on what the highest book value they can find is.

Unless you present evidence otherwise in the evidence has to be a book value not a picture of the car and pieces, not what you paid for it. They might use a lower book value than what they find. But it's only a book value You can't just say well it's only worth 300 because it's in parts and we've done other videos of why that's the case. You can also sometimes do. some people will try to file for a mechanics lien Well my buddy has a repair shop.

He'll file a mechanics lien and get a title. Don't even bother. The states all across the country are cracking down on mechanics lanes. There are several title companies that were operating for the last few years that now are out of business A couple of them were actually been prosecuted criminally for filing fake mechanics liens. Look a mechanics Lien is designed for a repair shop.

That actually did work on a vehicle. Somebody didn't pay the bill and they auctioned it off to the highest bidder It's not just giving it to somebody else. So if that's not what happened, the DMV's kind of find out because they audit these and they look to see this repair shop is doing. A hundred mechanics liens a month, but they only report. Sales tax of a small amount So they know they're out there selling.

Fake mechanics liens for 500 bucks a piece So be aware that just like the article we saw at the beginning, your title can get revoked If you do it the wrong way now. The two methods that are officially. Recommended suggested required…

Bonded title court order title end of the story. If you decide to do one of. Something else besides those two. You run the risk that it could be harder than those two It could cost more money It could get rejected. Or it's just not going to work.

So make your choice accordingly If you pick. A method to try to get a title. That's not a court order not a bonded. you may run into problems down the road but you know sometimes it works. But you have to make sure that you're weighing your risk and your reward of which one you want to do So the, the title landscape in 2023, It's about the same as what it was before but it's much more.

Risky to do something other than a bonded or a court order title. Look we've been doing this for 20 plus years Doing car title paperwork for people Remember. You're not buying a title from a company. You're not getting a company to print you out or issue a title. A title is a legal government document that government has to give it to you.

Now. The company can help you get it. But you don't want to just hand it over to them and let them do everything because they may do something that's cheaper and easier for them to do…

Because it makes them more profit. But it could put you in hot water. Right. So make sure you're aware of what the process is that you read a description of what the process is You pick the process that you are comfortable with and you're familiar with and make sure you know what it is Don't just like click it and say yeah it's just whatever Just do it. Make sure you know what's going on because that title is being done in your name.

On your behalf. And once you sign those forms and send them in. You're on the hook for whatever they are So make sure that you're picking the right form. Look car titles. R a legal.

Official document You don't want to mess around with it. Do yourself a favor and do either a court order or bonded title you might think by reading it and we'll pull this back up again. That. This is going to be difficult. Right.

What are the steps to get a court order title visit the clerk requests It this isn't really seven steps Most of these steps are combined. This is actually less work. Then jumping through the hoops you have to do for Vermont. Cause remember when you do the Vermont loophole, you have to get the Vermont registration, then switch it to your state. And switch over your insurance There's a lot of steps They would get a VIN verification.

It's really the same amount of work. And you run the risk of your state, not accepting it. And you have to pay the tax. And it's just sketchy, right? You're better off going directly with the right method.

There may be some. Legitimate…

Re realistic scenarios where the Vermont process is the best way to go look. Many high profile people have done it. like I said car and driver Jalopnik Haggerty insurance. You'll see many many articles people all over the webs all over the internet have done this. But it doesn't mean in your case it's the best way to go.

Do yourself a favor…

Look at court order. Look at bonded. Don't be afraid by the fact that it sounds like it's too much work too much bureaucracy. In the long run you'll be a lot more secure You won't have to be looking over your shoulder waiting for the DMV to yank your title, because you did something that they didn't want you to do. Do you have any questions Reach us at our website.

Car titles.com You can consult with a title agent and we can help you understand any of the processes a little bit better…