The Expert Podcast

…We get over a thousand calls a day in our car titles. Answer desk And unfortunately we're not able to get all of them A lot of them are free customer service calls from DMV but we're going to go through a couple that might be of interest to help people understand what are the answers to common questions So we're going to go through these voicemails to see how these might help you, because these are the common questions people ask that might give you some insight into how the car title process works. The first. Question comes to us from a caller in Florida that asked. how long does it take to get a title and registration So in this case they're asking about the Vermont loophole process and how long that takes and typically the Vermont process.

from the time the paperwork is signed. It takes about 10 to 14 business days. For the Vermont DMV the send you back your ownership documents. It's important to get that paperwork to them. Properly because if there's anything wrong with the paperwork, You won't get the ownership documents back in 10 days you'll get back a rejection letter in 30 days So it takes you longer to get back paperwork if it's wrong than if it's right So you.

to make sure it's right in the first place the Neptune has to do with an auction title. I got a title from an auction and a loss before I could transfer it to my name So what do you do if a car came from an auction? And it hasn't been transferred to your name It's kind of a tricky situation. But there's usually an easy answer first of all make sure we're not talking about an auction like Copart or IAA Those are insurance auctions. Those have a different process And we'll talk about that.

But if you're a dealer or a consumer that has purchased a vehicle from a normal auction like Manheim or Southern or one of the other major auctions, First of all the auction can help you write the auction never had the title in their name. They're not allowed to apply for a duplicate All they can do is they can try to go back to the owner that sold it at the auction to have them get a duplicate and then transfer that to you But most of the time, Now you're doing like musical chairs you have two or three people in the process and it gets lost in the shuffle. However, in that case you have a couple options. If you got a copy of the title from the auction. You can see from that image who is the legal owner on the front of the title not the dealer who sold it on the back, but whose name is printed on the front of that title by the DMV or titling authority, that person, and only that person is allowed to apply for a duplicate title so that person can be requested to get a duplicate Now it's very important how you do that.

You don't want to call them up You don't want to email them You don't want to Facebook message them, text message them. Because now you got to remember this Person's getting some message out of the blue from somebody they don't know that says, get me a title for the vehicle. They're never going to answer you, right Because they don't want to get involved with. Dealing with DMV getting a title It's a process. But what you can do is you can send them something in the mail.

What we recommend doing is this is how we do it. Get the actual duplicate title form that they need to sign, print it out fill it in a hundred percent. Mail it to them You have their address It's right on the title and ask them to just sign it and send it back You'll do all the work. Just sign it and send it back…

Make sure that you put a return envelope because this day and age nobody has envelopes and stamps laying around their house Everybody does online Bill pay. So if you send them the form and they decide to help you and sign it but then they don't have an envelope to send it back They're just going to throw it away. So put a return envelope in and you'll get it back Now What about if it's a salvage title Well that's a different story because the owner of that vehicle was an insurance company. You have to send it to the insurance company. And hopefully they signed it over to you The problem is when that insurance company sold the vehicle at Copart or IAA, they probably didn't sell it to you as a consumer.

They sold it to a dealer or broker and that broker signed it over to you. So if now if they get a letter in the mail from. John Smith. Asking them for a title They're not going to know who you are and they might not be that comfortable giving you ownership of a vehicle They sold to somebody else So you might need, it might be a little more tricky.

this is how we do it Our website will give you more instructions and in fact, we do most of the titles for a lot of these big auctions They call us all the time to do their titles and this is exactly what we do for them And you can do the same thing yourself. Okay The next one comes from a 2 0 3 number in Connecticut Have a car to my yard It's a 2012 Jeep compass It's been there for a year or more I do. Property management. and I do paperwork for the owners the previous owners deceased. They told me by the tenant they're using it for work, trying to sell it to me but can't get a title because the owner is no longer living.

How can you help Well, this is a very good example of a higher level title recovery So this person. The own the cars deceased. And the title is. Missing. So in that case what you want to do is either file for a bonded title.

Or for a court order title you notice what I didn't say was abandoned vehicle. Abandoned vehicle. Once you declare a vehicle to be abandoned, most states you have to just surrender to the state let them auction it off which is not what you want to do. A bonded title is when you get a surety bond from a bonding agency, signing the affidavit, tell them the story the story that you just said in the email you put it on the bond submitted to the DMV, as long as your story checks out and it's not stolen no liens no salvage. Then you can request a title.

The other one is a court order title. It's kind of a secret way of getting a title It's a more direct than trying to do bonded and deal with DMV You go right to the court in the county where you reside you file a petition saying Hey, I'm the owner of this vehicle Here's why tell your same story. And the court clerk signs off on it You slap that on the counter at the DMV and they give you a title So that's a very common scenario described in more detail on the website. The next one comes from 6 1 6 area code which is Michigan.

but the person lives in Georgia And in this case I need a replacement title for Michigan because I've moved to Georgia. And I need to switch it over but here's the key. Their message says I'm calling to see if there's any 24 hour service available Well here's the problem. title is a legal government document issue. only by government agency It's not something you can print out from the internet You can't download one.

It's a certificate that looks like money It's got all kinds of scroll work and details on it. And whatever state it's coming from in this case Michigan would have to get an application that says issue a title They'd have to verify that this person is actually the owner. They'd have to print a title and mail it to you in Georgia. That's not going to happen in 24 hours. Right.

Most states actually take two or three weeks to issue a title now. In some cases, there are procedures where if you can walk in the door to a DMV, And you present your ID Like you have to be the legal owner already This is not where you're transferring the car to you It's where you already had a title issued in your name before. You can walk in the door and do a rush title Not every state does it. And not every location Does it even in the state, if you walk in the door to a DMV branch that doesn't issue titles on, on the spot. You're not going to be able to get a title.

why wouldn't they issue it on the spot Well, these titles are not just printed on. Computer paper I'm blank. Copy paper. They're printed on very specialized certificates. Those certificates are considered to be like currency like money So they have to be kept in a vault.

So if it's in a strip mall that doesn't have a vault, you're not going to be able to get a title on the spot They're gonna have to mail it to you. So if you are in a state. Where they issue titles on the spot you have to go to one of the major branches, bring your ID. Bring all your, your documentation and you might be able to get a title on the spot. This person has since moved to another state.

You're not going to get it in 24 hours no matter what you do cave this next one's a little more complicated.

this comes from area code two four oh which I think is Maryland. They bought a 2008 Chevy van couple of years ago to time to renew the registration because the dealer. Only gave it to your registration and never got the title. The owner passed away trouble renewing Yeah In Maryland. don't know what to do So here's the problem It sounds like the dealer didn't issue a title only registration Now maybe because the vehicle was financed.

If you finance a vehicle at a dealership they don't hand you the title they give you a registration and then. When you paid off you get the title Now, if this person finished paying it off, Now they can get a lien release and get the title from the DMV. But if when they're saying the owner's deceased, it's hard to tell if the owner was of the dealership or owner of the vehicle. If the owner of the vehicle is what they're talking about. This shouldn't be the case because when you buy it from a dealership, the last owner being deceased doesn't affect you It only affects you if you bought it from that owner So in this case, you want to find out did the dealership transfer the ownership to you and clear that deceased owner?

Is there a lien on it?

this needs a little more information but if you're in this situation and you bought it from a dealership, most important thing to do is get your proof that has paid off. And then bring that to DMV to get a title. If you didn't pay it off now. You want to do is do lien mitigation You want to file with the dealer or with the lien holder. letter of non-interest to see about getting.

a document that you can use to remove the lien from the title record. This next one is about a title for a boat. And I need to talk somebody about getting a title for a boat. I tried calling back, how do I fill out the forms to get a title for a boat? So this is very common in most states boats are titled exactly the same as vehicles It's considered a motor vehicle A couple of differences are it has a hall identification number rather than a vehicle identification number So it's not it's a, it's an HIN not a VIN.

And some states also do a little bit different type of registration with boats not the title but the registration is different Also some larger boats have what's called coast card. Documentation instead of a title.

and that's a different type of ownership but if you're talking about a typical recreational boat like a 20 foot runabout or even up to 30 foot 40 foot fishing boat many of those have a vehicle title and the titles are handled the same way. so whatever title method would be used for a motor vehicle would be used for a boat as well. This next one's come from area code seven seven oh in Georgia. I have a bill of sale does it need to be notarized to get a title Well here's the thing. Most states do not require.

The bill of sale to be notarized the major, you know loophole states like Vermont. Georgia Texas does not need a notarized bill of sale Now some states if you're doing a bonded title or a magistrate title you do need to have your bill of sale. Have a notarization. Most states do not However. There are some states that require a notary on a lien release to make sure that you're not forging the lender signature on the lien release So if you look at the form it'll say right on there if it needs to be notarized, but if you could just use a handwritten form, it does not need to be notarized.

And speaking of lien release this next one comes from area code 6, 1 5 I believe that's Tennessee.

information how to do a lien release. I received a call back message Obviously we didn't reach them. I pulled up a form I did access One of the questions is if the financial institution has filed bankruptcy, how to get them to do a lien release This is very common. So if your financial institution that. need to get a lien release to get a vehicle Title is no longer in business They filed bankruptcy.

They closed they got merged. What you need to do. It's to send the documents Your letter of non-interest your lien release your affidavit to what's called a registered agent A registered agent is the authorized representative who now can sign for that lien holder. If the. Lien holder financial institution filed bankruptcy.

There is a bankruptcy trustee who's allowed to do everything that lien holder could do They have full authority to sign documents, to sign letter of non-interest and you want to contact that person That's a matter of public record You can look it up on pacer through the bankruptcy records to find out who can sign your forms for you. This next one brings up a subject called the jump title or a skip title. I have a 2011 Regal that I bought from the lady the lady didn't give me a title She says she got it from somebody else that didn't have a title.

and she says I can get a title easy Well, that's happens a lot When people buy vehicles without a title the seller always tells you, oh it's easy Just use this bill of sale to get a title. Well that's not the case. If the person you bought it from was not the legal owner It's a little more complicated than that You have to do. what's called title recovery and…you can either do a bonded title VT transfer prior on a contact magistrate title. But this is what happens a lot When people buy vehicles from unknown sellers, unless you're handed the title from that person that's directly signed over from them to you.

You're out of luck. The back of the title can't be signed five or six times It can't be jumped and skipped to other people. everybody who gets a title transfer to them is supposed to get a new title in their name before they sell it to somebody else So this sounds like a jumping title or skipping title which makes it difficult for you to get a title unless you use one of these methods We've talked about this next and last one it looks like it has a couple of things going on.

it's from area code 2, 1 4 which is Texas. I bought a car. in 2020 from this guy I got a bill of sale. and I got a temp tag. and I was told by the tax office that I can't get any more temp tags So I have to get a title.

I went to the DMV and tried to get a bonded title but they said there was a lien on there. the bond place told me they couldn't get the title because of the lien I tried to contact the lien holder, but the lien holder told me that the person got the title loan needs to pay. I was told by the person that sold me the car. That the owner was deceased and he bought the car from that person. So here's the thing It sounds like this person bought the car from somebody again it's another jumping title or skipping title who they got it from.

Was not the legal owner and whoever had it before that had a lien on it. That's unpaid. Right. So what can you do? Well that lien doesn't go away just because the person died or you bought it from somebody else.

What you have to do is get a lien release from that lien holder Now you're not going to get it by just calling him up Remember we talked about before. What'd you want to do is get a lien release document, fill it in, mail it to the lien holder and cross your fingers And. that they sign it. If they see that you're not the person who borrowed the money and they see that the person that borrowed the money's deceased, they might just sign it and send it back to you. Right.

They don't have to, but if you send them a prepared document with a return envelope, many times they do if that doesn't work then you can do a magistrate title or a court order title, which is getting the court to override that lien sign an order to get you the title for your vehicle. So that's a good five or six different. Very common title methods have come up We just went through the last few voicemails that came in over the last 20 minutes. And to give you an idea of what are the common questions many of those may apply to you. To see how you might be able to get a title If you have missing or defective paperwork for your vehicle even if you have a VIN number and a bill of sale you probably have to fill out some more forms to get a title.