Risk For Not Changing Vehicle Title Right Away

Risks for Not Changing Your Car Title Right Away

Risks for Car Sellers: So what are the risks for not changing your car title right away? This is a risk for both car sellers and buyers of a vehicle. First, for sellers, if you sell your car and you hand somebody the title to the car, just sign it and don’t put their information, you have liability because that person now can do anything with that title with your signature. Even if you fill in their name as the buyer, you don’t know when they’re going to transfer it to their name and get a new title indexed by the DMV. In that time, when it’s still in your name, you have liability. You could be liable for damage if they crashed the car and damaged another vehicle. It could be injury to a person if the car is involved in a crime, even tickets and infractions. If they get a parking ticket or they get some kind of moving violations and they don’t pay, that VIN number of that car is going to come back to you, and those infractions will come back to you until they put the new title in their name. So you want to make sure that if you’ve sold a car that you also, in a very short period of time, fill out a form at the DMV disclaiming ownership of that car. You can put the name of the person who bought it, or you can just say you sold it. That way, that VIN number is removed from your name.

Risks for Car Buyers: What about for a buyer? If you buy a car and get a title and don’t transfer it to your name right away, a couple of things can happen. First of all, if you lose that document, you have a risk because you can’t go down to the DMV to get a duplicate. Only that person printed on the front of the title can get a duplicate, so it can be very hard to do. Also, if there are any claims against that seller, if the seller gets sued, if they get divorced, if they file bankruptcy, any one of those claimants or creditors is going to look to see what assets they have. They’re going to find that car listed as an asset because it’s still in their name. They’re going to try to obtain that car and seize that car because it’s still in their name, and you have to prove otherwise. And if you lost the title or you can’t show that you paid for it, you might have to go to court and fight. That could cost money.

Proof of Ownership and Insurance Issues: You also don’t have proof of ownership of that vehicle. So if it gets towed or somebody damages it or something else happens to the vehicle where you have to prove it’s yours, you don’t have that; you just have a title signed over to you. If you put any money into the car, if you fix it up, put new brakes on, put a new engine in it, new paint job, all that money is at risk until the car belongs to you. It doesn’t belong to you until you have that title printed in your name. In some states, you also cannot get insurance to cover the car until you can show them a title. If that’s the case, you have the risk of damage to the vehicle. Even in states where insurance automatically covers a vehicle when you buy it, the insurance company might have a defense against a claim if you don’t have the car put into your name. So be aware that as a buyer and a seller, you have a risk until that title is transferred legally to the person who actually has purchased it.

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Online Car Titles

Where to Replace a Vehicle Title Online
So where can you get a vehicle title replaced online? Well first of all, many DMVs, the official government agency, have processes to order a title through their website online.

Ensure Legitimacy
Make sure that if you’re ordering a vehicle title, it is through a licensed DMV agent or the DMV itself. If it’s a title agent, make sure that agent is affiliated with the DMV. If they’re not, anything that they’re doing you can do yourself basically for free, and you don’t have to pay them.

Ownership Verification
Also verify that you’re not signing over ownership of this vehicle to another party. Because if part of the process is signing over the ownership to them, they put it in their name and then they sign it back to you. There’s a lot of risk involved with that, even if it’s legal.

Mechanic’s Lien Check
The next thing is to look to see if there’s a mechanic’s lien involved. There is a mechanic’s lien process which is used for a towing company to title an impounded vehicle for the purpose of auction. That process is very frequently misused to get titles for people. When that happens, the titles are revoked, they’re made invalid, and people involved a lot of times have penalties associated with it.

Cost Breakdown
What is the cost for what are you actually paying for? Have them itemized the amount. How much is for the actual title, how much is for their service?

Legal Verification
And then last, verify that it’s legal. Don’t go by their word. If it’s legal, verify that all the processes they’re using qualify for the statutes for that state and the fact that they have licensed themselves in a business license that you can verify independently of what they give you.

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Lost Car Title Consumer Report

Consumer Protection on Car Titles
So if you’re a consumer looking to get a replacement for your lost car title there’s some things you can be aware of that’ll protect you from getting the wrong paperwork or creating damage or creating some type of problem with your vehicle title.

Verify the Legitimacy of the Title Agent
First of all, consumer protection on car titles is something that is often overlooked but gets a lot of people into trouble with getting the wrong kind of title or paying for something that you don’t need to pay money for. The first thing is make sure that whoever is getting your title as either the DMV yourself directly or that it’s a licensed title and registration firm. Most states require a license for this type of company to operate.

Ensure Legality of the Process
Second of all, make sure that the process being used is legal. In many cases, there’s a process used to get your title that is used by a third party company just because it’s easier or cheaper but it might not be legal. Things like mechanic’s liens or other types of washing titles. Also make sure you’re not signing your vehicle over to that company because while you do that they actually own that vehicle anything can happen while the ownership is out of your hands.

Explore DIY Options
Make sure that if you’re using a third party that it’s not something you can do yourself. For example, if you have a vehicle that’s 15 years old or older you can use the Vermont registration title process to get a title for your car and then transfer it into your state. In addition, if it’s newer than that you can contact the prior owner and they can get you a title which then can be signed over to you or you can even do a loss title transfer ownership simultaneous process in most states.

Conclusion
So make sure that you’re protecting yourself as a consumer when you’re getting a replacement vehicle title for your car.

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How can you Look Up Prior Owner of a Vehicle Title?

How to Obtain Prior Owner Information Legally
So how can you look up the prior owner of a vehicle? The title information, if you need to track them down to get a title for it or to get some paperwork sign, access to that information is very carefully controlled under a federal law called the DPPA, the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act. There are serious penalties for the misuse of that information, so you have to be very careful how you obtain it.

Permissible Uses Under the DPPA
There are certain permissible use options to get that information about a prior owner. Things like manufacturers sending out recall notices, an insurance company getting information on a car that crashed into their insured. Even for people who are allowed to get it, it’s only for that purpose. An insurance company, for example, can’t use it for marketing. Licensed private investigators are allowed to access this information for particular purposes.

Legal Acquisition of Information
So if you need to get that information, make sure that if you obtain it somehow, it’s obtained legally. Because a third party like yourself may also be liable if you hire somebody improperly to get the information or if you misrepresent why you’re getting it.

Purpose of the DPPA
Why is the DPPA put in place? Well, it’s a privacy thing. So if, let’s say, you’re driving down the street and somebody doesn’t like the way you drive and they want to come knock on your door and yell at you, they can’t find out where you live by just getting your license plate number or even the VIN number off your car. They have to have a good reason to do that, and this protects you as well as everybody else.

Legal Precautions
There’s legal ways to do so. Make sure if you need to get that information that you get credentials and a waiver of liability from whoever is getting that for you so you don’t find yourself answering questions about why you broke a federal law obtaining private information.

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Getting a Lost Car Title when it is not in Your Name

Replacing a Lost Car Title
So how do you get a lost car title replaced if the car is not in your name?

Transferring Title and Issuing a New One
Well, in that case, there’s going to be two steps. One step is transferring it to your name, and the other step is getting a title. Sometimes this process can be done simultaneously.

Simultaneous Transfer and Title Issuance
Some states have a form that can simultaneously transfer the vehicle and issue a new title. One good example of that is in the state of Vermont. If the vehicle is 15 years old or older, you can use their form, I think it’s VT 95, to transfer the vehicle and also get a new title or registration title based on just having a bill of sale. If it’s newer than that, you may need to have the prior owner sign the power of attorney to do this transaction.

Obstacles of a Bonded Title
Be aware that other options, such as a bonded title, have some obstacles. A bonded title requires that a bonding company issues you a policy guaranteeing that if there’s any problems with the title, that they pay it off. When that’s the case, they’re gonna verify a lot of details, which if you had all that verification, you could probably get a title on your own through DMV anyways.

Sales Taxes and Transfer
In any case where you’re doing a transfer, there may be some sales taxes due if there’s not been sales tax paid on that vehicle as part of that transfer, and it is triggered by the transfer. You might have to pay that. But keep in mind all of these methods you can do yourself without having to pay a third party.

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