Obtaining a Replacement Title: A Step-by-Step GuideSo how can you get a free replacement title for your vehicle if you’ve lost it? Well, first of all, start with the premise that it fits your car. You deserve a title if you’re the legal owner.
Understanding the ProcessYou deserve to have a title for that vehicle. Most states only charge about five dollars for a lost title. The question is: can you get qualified to have a lost title issued to you? That’s really going to be the question.
The Importance of OwnershipIf you want the name transferred, that’s okay too. But you have to start with the premise that it’s your car. You deserve a title, and a title really only costs five dollars from a state most times.
Beware of Excessive ChargesAdditional money is paid out of ignorance or lack of knowledge about the process to get the title. You’re paying some company or some person to do work for you that you could do yourself if you just knew about it.
Knowing the FeesLook at the actual DMV fee for the title that you’re getting. Why would you pay more than that? The DMV fee is twelve dollars, and you’re paying two or three or four hundred dollars. What is that money for?
Assessing Reasonable CostsIt’s for somebody who just knows about something you could probably look up on the internet. If you need help, it’s okay, but make sure it’s a reasonable amount. Anything more than about a hundred dollars should be a red flag that there might be other things wrong with that transaction.
Risks of Third-Party InvolvementSome of the outside companies that get titles require that you transfer the car to them. They get a title in their name, and then they transfer it back to you. That’s a huge risk. Anything can happen, and you could lose your car altogether.
Avoiding False StatementsYou also want to make sure that the process is not loaded with false statements. When you’re signing a title application, you’re signing saying that everything is true. And if you’re having somebody else do it, you don’t know if they’re using a process that has false statements.
Ensuring Legal ComplianceJust because it’s easier for them to do and doesn’t cost as much money rather than looking out for your best interests. You want to make sure you’re not helping somebody jump title on a car where you’re jumping from one owner to another without documenting that ownership and trying to evade sales taxes.
Beware of Unintended ConsequencesOnce you sign that form, you’re liable for everything else that happened behind the scenes. Just using it, some out-of-state loophole in some other state might technically be legal, but it might create some other improper representations.
Final ChecksIf you’re putting an address for a state or if you’re presenting a title to state from outside your jurisdiction and might be representing that you move there or the car was in the other state. And if those things are true, it could put the titles of the car at risk, the ownership at risk, and other products at risk.
Conclusion: Stay InformedSo, if you’re paying any more than a few dollars to get a title, look at what that money is for and what somebody’s doing behind the scenes to get your title to make sure it’s legal and you’re not going to get in trouble later.
Visit Our YouTube Channel for more insights and discussions on various topics. Consider subscribing to our YouTube channel. Click here!
So what happens when you purchase a vehicle from Copart and you don’t get a title or you lose the title?
Insurance Company’s Title IssueReplacing a title for a Copart auction purchase has some complications. Typically, the insurance company that sold the car through Copart didn’t have the title in their name. This is a car that was crashed or damaged and was insured by, let’s say, Geico or Progressive or some insurance company, and they totaled it and sent it to Copart to sell. Copart never titles the car in their name. The insurance company usually doesn’t title in their name. So the last legal title is still in the name of the owner who had the car that crashed it.
Owner’s Inaccessibility and ComplicationsThis creates a complication if you need to get a duplicate because neither Copart nor the insurance company can get a duplicate from the DMV. Only that last title owner can do that. That person may not have had the vehicle for months, sometimes more than a year, by the time the car goes through the claims adjusting process, gets sent to auction, is appraised, and sold in the whole nine yards. So this is a person who hasn’t had any contact with this vehicle for close to a year and is now being asked to get a duplicate that could be complicated.
Lien Holder’s InvolvementWhat makes it worse, in most cases, these vehicles have a lien on it. They were under a car loan or an auto lease. So the lien holder will also need to sign off because at some point they just sent the title to the insurance company. They never closed it out with the DMV. These create complications.
Seeking SolutionsNow the first place to check for a duplicate is Copart to make sure that they didn’t retain it. Maybe they have another copy of it, maybe they have a power of attorney that they can use to get another copy. Failing that, the process is more complicated. You may need to deal with a title agent. Sometimes you need to get a private investigator or even a court order to get a title if Copart can’t get you one or if the prior owner is not easily accessible to be able to get that title for you.
Title Replacement for Classic CarsSo if you have a classic car and you’re missing the title how can you get a replacement title for one that’s been lost or one that needs a duplicate classic cars are more likely to have a missing title because it’s more likely those cars will be dormant as far as activity which means they’re not going to always be on the road they may be off the road for years and years while they’re being fixed up while they’re being you know stored in a barn somewhere in that case the title chain of ownership may be missing meaning that the last owners may not be relatively easy to find the condition of the vehicle in some cases makes it impossible to have it be on the road which means you don’t need a registration to drive it every day that’s no active records in the DMV to look for also you want to make sure that you get the title before spending money on it just because it’s a two hundred alec car now if you don’t have a title after you fix it up and now it’s worth twenty or thirty thousand you’re gonna have a problem because anybody who might have a claim to it might want that car back at that point when it’s worth thirty thousand dollars
Importance of VIN Number Consistencyyou want to make sure that the VIN number is consistent on many older cars there was no consistency of creating VIN numbers it could just be any random set of three or four or five digits rather than the standard seventeen digits you have now
Vermont Registration Title Processso in order to get a title you have to look at what’s available in that state you can also use the Vermont registration title process any vehicle that’s 15 years or older at this point you can use the Vermont registration process to get an ownership document from the state of Vermont and then bring that to your state to convert into your local title there may be some restrictions if it’s currently registered but a classic car may not be you might have to pay sales tax to the state of Vermont to do this in other cases if you go through your own state you might have to get the car inspected you might have to do some VIN verifications but if you use this process which is available at this point you can get a title for your vehicle and then convert it into your state
Title Transfer Process:So how do you change a vehicle title from one person to another like put a vehicle title into your name is this something you want to do yourself if it is you’re going to need a transfer form from the prior owner of the vehicle if they have that title and they sign it to you you can usually present that to the DMV in many states that have to be notarized take a look at that title document to see if there’s a notary stamp required under the seller signature also if there’s a lien on the vehicle even if it’s paid off at the bank there has to be a lien release authorizing that title to be transferred if you have that documentation ready to get to the DMV double check to make sure it’s proper because if it’s sent to them and there’s an error in addition to fixing that error many times the DMV will then require a vehicle inspection which you may not want to do so make sure it’s right the first time so it doesn’t trigger you to have an inspection.
Sales Tax Considerations:Also what might be triggered as sales tax in some states sales tax is established by the transfer of a vehicle it’s a sales and use tax if the vehicle has jumped title or skipped title there may be more than one sales tax due on the car.
Options for Title Transfer:If you are looking to get the title transfer to your name first determine if you have the prior owners assistance if you do it’s gonna make it much much easier if not look at your options maybe bonded title maybe title recovery maybe even something like a power of attorney might help you get that vehicle title into your name.
Purchasing from Carmax Auto AuctionSo what happens if you purchase a vehicle from a Carmax auto auction, a wholesale auction, and then you lose the title?
Nature of Carmax AuctionsWell typically Carmack’s will sell vehicles that they don’t want to keep for their retail inventory. May be too old, too many miles, maybe the conditions are not that great, and they’ll sell it at a wholesale auction, usually only to licensed dealers but sometimes to individuals.
Title IssuesMaybe you bought that car from the auction, maybe you bought it from the dealer who bought it from the auction, and they either gave you a title and you lost it, or maybe you never got one to begin with. The problem is usually these cars are not titled under the name of Carmax. They’re usually titled under the last retail owner’s name. That person may have no connection with the vehicle, and legally they’re still the owner until it has a new title issued in your name. In many cases, these cars will also have a lien holder who also needs to sign off on transferring that title to you or whoever you designate it.
Carmax AssistanceCarmax is better than most auctions in being able to track down a title if you lose it. They may charge you a fee because they’re gonna have to spend some man-hours and leg work to track that down, but better than most auctions, they have people in a title department that can maybe help you out with that. The timeframe is pretty long; we see an average of three to four months to get a title for a Carmax auction vehicle that’s been lost.
Receiving the TitleNow this isn’t a title that when you buy it from them they hand it to you. Usually, they give that to you at the time that you purchase it, maybe within a week. This is one that you lost after buying the car from Carmax
Contacting Carmack’sSo if you lost the title, first contacts contact the Carmax title department. They may be able to help you out. Be aware that it may take some time and they may charge your fee to track down that title for you.
Tell us about your vehicle and we'll direct you to a title recovery method that matches your scenario.
"*" indicates required fields
