Only 2 Car Title Methods Are Recommended

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 enthusiast that runs 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.

Understanding the Old Title
What do you mean by the old title? Well, a vehicle title, as you know, is a legal government document that looks like this. It’s not a blank sheet of paper you could buy from a company; it’s actually a physical certificate, and it evidences not only the vehicle itself but who’s the owner. On that title is listed who is 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. And the only way they give you a new title is if you have the old title.

Risks of Alternative Methods
There’s a lot of little loopholes and backdoor methods people 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, and you can get legal problems.

Boyd Coddington Case
There’s a very famous auto rebuilder named Boyd Coddington. Now, this is an old article, this is from 2004, 20 years ago, and which is about how long we’ve been doing titles, by the way, since the early 2000s. 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 an investigation for fraudulent registration of replica vehicles. They were switching VIN numbers from one vehicle to another because these were constructed vehicles made out of parts of different cars. All the above actions are a felony because they were registering a vehicle where the value is represented and avoiding compliance with smog law.

Legal Implications
If you’re using any title method that’s trying to do some backdoor to avoid taxes, avoid smog laws, avoid inspection, or even 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. If you are getting a title, not only do you want to make sure that the method is good, but you also want to make sure you know what the method is. The reason we say that is because there are a lot of options you’ll find out there on Craigslist, on Facebook, online, where there’ll be somebody that says, “Look, pay us money, we’ll give you a title.” 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 is any good, if it’s going to get you into trouble, or if the title can even get revoked.

Broadway Title Example
Here’s an example. There was a company back about the same amount of time called Broadway Title. Now again, this is back from 2011. A word of caution: I purchased a vehicle and went through Broadway Title in Alabama. I had to return my plates and title to the state of Illinois after having them for two years because the method that this company, Broadway Title, used was illegal and wasn’t right. Now, I think Broadway Title, the name has been sold to some other company, so I can’t speak to if this company’s any good, and this is just one person’s opinion. Other people have said that their method of doing it was ridiculous, that they had to get a lawyer, that the state didn’t allow it. There are a lot of potential variables. So let’s not jump too much onto Broadway Title, but what they were doing, according to other comments, and you can read yourself on a very popular classic car vehicle website, you can look this up, was signing the vehicle over to this company. They would get a title in their name and then sign it over to you. Who knows what they were doing to get the title in their 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.

Importance of Transparency
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.

Official Methods: Bonded Title Process
There are only two ways that the government really says you should be getting a title. Let’s take a look at those. One is what’s called the bonded title process. In most states, there’s a few that don’t do this, they 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 are a couple of misconceptions. Some people 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 a couple hundred bucks. It’s not that much, right? What you have to do is provide an 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? If that’s the case and you have an explanation and you buy a bond, as long as the vehicle is 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 bonds, you’ll get a title, right? That’s the official, suggested, recommended method that the states have. That’s what you should look at first.

Official Methods: Court Order Title
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. The other method is what’s called a court order title. 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 a court order 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 costs five bucks, no big deal. Mail a certified letter, get an inspection, and then you have to file a petition. It says to appear before the judge. Normally, you don’t have to appear. Normally, you file the petition; if everything looks A-Okay, they’ll either give it to you, sometimes they require you to come 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. So it’s a few steps; you have to jump through some hoops, but I have to tell you, it’s a lot fewer steps than sometimes some of these other methods that people use.

Vermont Loophole
For example, there’s the Vermont loophole. You’ll see this on our website, online, even major insurance companies like Hagerty Insurance, Car and Driver, have written about this loophole method. You apply by mail to the state of Vermont, you get a registration from Vermont, not a title, just a registration, then you bring that to your state and exchange it for a title. There are 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 could do that. In most states, you’re not going to have a problem. There are 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. 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. If you want to go through the hassle of going through Vermont to get a registration and a license plate, you can do that, but you’re running the risk of your state not accepting it. That risk is totally on you.

Risks and Costs of the Vermont Loophole
Plus, you have to pay sales tax to the state of Vermont. 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; they figure it on what the highest book value they can find is, unless you present evidence otherwise. The evidence has to be a book value, not a picture of the car in 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.” We’ve done other videos on why that’s the case.

Mechanics Lien
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. States all across the country are cracking down on mechanics liens. There are several title companies that were operating for the last few years that now are out of business. A couple of them have actually been prosecuted criminally for filing fake mechanics liens. 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. If that’s not what happened, the DMVs will find out because they audit these and they look to see this repair shop is doing a hundred mechanics liens a month but only reports sales tax of a small amount. They know they’re out there selling fake mechanics liens for $500 a piece.

Conclusion
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 and court order title. End of story. If you decide to do 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 title, you may run into problems down the road. 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.

Final Thoughts
The title landscape in 2023 is 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 you a title. A title is a legal government document; the 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. 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 click it and say, “Access to 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.

Summary
Car titles are 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. What are the steps to get a court order title? Visit the clerk, request it. This isn’t really seven steps; most of these steps are combined. This is actually less work than jumping through the hoops you have to do for Vermont because 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 are a lot of steps there, 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. You’re better off going directly with the right method.

Alternative Methods
There may be some legitimate realistic scenarios where the Vermont process is the best way to go. Many high-profile people have done it. Like I said, Car and Driver, Jalopnik, Hagerty Insurance, you’ll see many, many articles. People all over the web, 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 of 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.

Contact Information
If you have any questions, reach our other website, cartitles.com. You can consult with a title agent, and we can help you understand any of the processes a little bit better.

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