Title Caution and Potential ConsequencesThis is why you want to be very, very careful about how you get your car title. If you use a, um, sketchy or illegal method, it could come back and bite you. Here’s a story about a DMV clerk that was selling illegal titles through a DMV scam that she was running, where she had people that were selling these titles to people that didn’t have the right paperwork, and she was making 800 bucks per title. Overall, it was $3 million worth of titles that were processed. This was an auto tag agency in Miami, and there was a stolen vehicle that had, um, lowjack on it, and they found it in a body shop. But they found that there was a title for it—somebody had issued a title for that vehicle. But they tracked it back and they found that this title clerk allegedly had issued the title, and they found a lot of her records for vehicles were for fraudulent titles, and she was making a lot of money.
Consultation Services ReminderIn the meantime, remember you have access to live one-on-one consultation, undivided attention of a licensed certified expert in this subject and many others. We want to listen to your story, we want to hear your questions, and give you expert advisement of your options. We want to tell you what we know about your situation and what options you have. Now back to reading.
Legitimate Title Acquisition AdviceSo anytime you’re looking to get a title for a vehicle, you want to make sure you’re doing it legitimately. You’re not using any kind of fake mechanic’s lien, you’re not doing any kind of tax evasion, you’re not paying somebody to do something illegal because all the titles for these vehicles are getting revoked. So whoever had the title is losing out, and if you were in on the scam, they’re looking at other prosecutions. So make sure that you’re getting your title legitimately.
Importance of Proper DocumentationRemember, a title is a legal government document. You can’t buy one from a company; you can’t download one from the internet. You have to get it from the government. Yeah, they’re going to make you jump through a few hoops, but they do that to protect you as the owner. Because once they give you a title, you don’t want anybody to take it away from you. So, the same way that you have to provide a lot of documentation to get a title, that means no one can get it from you later without the same kind of documentation.
Avoiding Scammers and Ensuring LegitimacySo get your title the right way—do it legitimately. Use the legitimate source. Don’t pay any of these fly-by-night or scammers that are out there trying to sell you titles using some kind of, you know, dubious means. Make sure that whoever is getting a title for you can explain in detail how they’re going to do it, so you know it’s not being done illegally.
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Title Problems in Car BuyingSo don’t think just because you buy a car from a licensed automotive dealer that you’re out of the woods on title problems. There’s a very common scheme that some used car dealers, mostly used car dealers, occasionally a new car dealer will do this that will be a financial fraud that will harm consumers. It’s called floor plan fraud, and not many people know this, but dealerships do not own their cars for cash just like you. Dealerships have a car loan.
The Dealer’s LotIf you look at all the cars on a dealer’s lot, for example, if you have, let’s say, 20 cars on a used car lot and each car on average is $115,000, that’s $2,300,000 of cars sitting on that dealer’s lot. Most dealers don’t have $300,000 in cash extra or if they do, they don’t want to have it sitting in their cars. So what they do is they get a line of credit that’s called a floor plan or a floor line, and that floor line finances their vehicles for them. So when they buy a vehicle from an auction, from a trade-in, from who knows where, the bank actually writes a check for that vehicle. The dealership doesn’t, and the bank holds the title just like on your car financing.
Selling the CarWhen the dealership sells the car, the dealership calls up the bank and says, “Hey, I sold that 2020 Toyota Camry, send me the title.” The bank says, “No problem, send us the money.” So the dealership sells the car, takes the money from the customer, sends it to the bank, and the bank sends them a title, and now they can put it in their name.
Cash Flow ProblemsSo sometimes what happens is if a dealership is running short on cash, what they’ll do is this: they will sell you a car, that 2020 Toyota Camry. They take, let’s say, $20,000 from you; you paid for the car. Instead of taking that money and giving it to the bank to pay it off to get the title, they’ll just keep it to pay payroll, pay their rent, pay their expenses, whatever. And now the bank is still holding the title. Now you can’t get a new title registration for your car. It’s called floor plan fraud or being out of trust with your lender, and it creates a problem because you have a temporary tag that runs out. Maybe the dealership gives you another paper tag; next thing you know, the dealership goes out of business.
Real-Life ExampleIn this case, this was in Massachusetts; this is just one example. This happens all the time. 25 people have reported being defrauded by the scheme. 25 people that say reported police determined that Edward Secui, 46, allegedly receives cars on loan from a local auction but does not get the titles until he pays the auction in full. So the auction in this case is the lender. The cars are then sold at the dealership; he completes the sale, takes the payment, attaches fake or forges license plates, and promises the title will be mailed—of course, which they never do.
Victims Left HangingSEC stops responding to the victims and never pays the auction. The purchasers never receive the title, cannot register the vehicle because the auction company still owns the vehicles. They are in the process of repossessing them. So the lender can actually take the car from you even though you paid for it. Now if it’s a small used car auction, they might go through with that. Sometimes if the floor plan lender, the bank that lent the money, is a larger lender like, you know, Wells Fargo or Chase or somebody like that, they might not take a car from a consumer who knows they could legally. They have the right to, but they may just pursue it against the dealer.
Protecting YourselfSo how do you protect yourself against this? What we recommend doing if you’re buying a used car from a dealer, obviously they can’t hand you the title because they’re going to do the registration and title paperwork. Even if you’re financing the vehicle, go through your own bank. Have them show you the title. Just say, “Hey, before I do this deal, show me you have the title.” If they don’t have the title in hand, tell them that you’ll come back and pay for it when they have the title in hand.
Ensuring a Smooth TransactionHere’s what they’ll have to do: they will have to pay that floor plan lender for the car before they get your money, and then they’ll get your money to cover where they got the money from. They might say, “Well, we can’t do that.” Well, guess what? If they can’t do that, if they don’t have enough cash in the bank for one car to cover one car, do you want to do business with them? So if they can’t show you, just flash the title. They don’t have to give it to you; they don’t have to sign it to you to show you they have it in their hand. We don’t recommend buying the car and tell them, “Well, it’s at a floor plan bank.” No problem, go pay it off, get the title here, and then I’ll pay you for the car, or I’ll sign loan documents for the car, whichever you’re doing.
Avoiding Floor Plan FraudYou don’t want to leave that to chance. Remember, we’re talking about your hard-earned cash you saved up for this vehicle, or even if you’re financing the vehicle, your hard-earned cash that you have to pay for it. And don’t think that if the bank doesn’t give a title that you don’t have to pay for the vehicle. If you finance the car through another lender, whether it’s your own bank or through the dealer, that lender you signed a contract to pay off the loan even if you don’t get a title or the bank doesn’t get a title, you still have to pay the loan because they paid the dealer.
Red Flags and Final ThoughtsSo you don’t want to have your money at risk by having a dealer that doesn’t have a title. The dealer might say, “Well, we don’t have the title on hand because it’s at the bank.” Hey, no problem. Just pay off the bank, get the title, and I’ll pay you for the car. If the dealer is unable or unwilling to do that, it could be a red flag that they don’t have that much cash laying around and they’re running tight, which means you know that might be a decision to make or that they’re trying to scam you.
ConclusionSo don’t fall for floor plan fraud. This, you know, is one example of an article where this happened here recently in Massachusetts, but this happens all the time. Dealerships going out of trust, dealerships leaving people holding the bag. This is a way you can avoid it as an informed consumer. If you like this reading, be sure to click on a few others on our channel to see if there’s other information that might be helpful to you about this same subject or maybe even other related subjects that could assist you with your resolution of your issue.
Title Status and Lien Status InquiryWhen buying a vehicle or working on getting a title for a vehicle one of the questions that comes up is how do you check for the current title status and lien status. While it may not be necessary to do this when you already bought the vehicle and you’re trying to get a title you definitely want to try to check the title status before you buy a vehicle. If you’re buying a vehicle from somebody and they’re not handing you over a legal title certificate, you do want to perform searches to make sure that the vehicle is eligible for a title.
Caution with Online VIN CheckersNow one of the things that a lot of people will do is go online to Carfax, VINCheck, or one of these online VIN checkers. Be very leery of those sites. If you read the disclaimers, it tells you, “This is not the official title record.” This is just some arbitrary third party that may have some records but not all of them.
For example, those websites cannot check for liens, period, end of story. Lien information is very tightly controlled, and sites like Carfax might tell you “no liens found,” but that’s because they can’t even search for them. It’ll say in the disclaimer that liens are not part of it.
Also, title records may not be totally available on the online searches. So how do you do it? Well, the only official source for title records is the government. Every state has a department that issues titles and keeps records. In most states, it’s called Department of Motor Vehicles; some states call it Motor Vehicle Department; some states call it Department of Transportation; in some states, it’s done by another agency like the Secretary of State.
That government organization/agency is the only—and I mean only—official record of the title. If you get the official record from that agency, you will be 99% sure it’s accurate. There are a couple of exceptions, but that’s where you want to get it: right from the horse’s mouth. Don’t do these online VIN checks because they’re very misleading.
Checking Title for Lien in New YorkHere’s an example of where you can check it in the state of New York. Not every state has anything online; in most states, you will have to go in person to a government office or the DMV, show your photo ID so that they can make sure they’re giving out the information to somebody appropriately. There is a federal law that prohibits giving out certain title information to random people—it’s privacy rules.
In New York, you can look up some information now. It’s not going to tell you who the owner is, but it will tell you things like:
The way you do it is you go to this website—it’s a title status website for the DMV. You check off if it’s a vehicle, put in the VIN number, what year it is, and then a make (like Mercedes-Benz or Chevrolet, that kind of thing). Hit continue, and it’ll give you some basic information. Again, it won’t tell you everything, but at least it’ll start you on the right track.
Research for Title AcquisitionNow keep in mind, if you’re trying to get a title for a vehicle, in most cases you don’t need to look this up. You may have to send in a DPPA request (Driver’s Privacy Protection Act request)—our website will give you more information on how that works. But if you’re doing a bonded title or a court order title, most of the time you don’t need to look this up; the government is going to look this up for you when they issue the title.
However, if you’re looking to buy a vehicle and the seller is not quite complete with their documents—they don’t have a title, they don’t have the ownership documents—you might want to do some of this research for due diligence prior to giving them any money. Because once they have your money, they’re not going to do any work for you.
And remember: no matter what stack of paperwork that seller gives you—bill of sale, notarized registration, proof of all these things—you could have a stack of papers three feet thick, but unless it has a title, all that stuff is worthless. Don’t let a big pile of paperwork fool you into thinking you have what you need to get a title. The only paperwork you need is one thing, and that is a title—the original legal title certificate.
Car Title DilemmaCartitles.com helped me do the impossible when it came to buying a car that had no title. I purchased this 2006 Toyota Camry from a garage sale for $500. After purchasing the car for cash, I was told I could get the title in about a week after they found it inside their house. That never happened. I found out that the car was actually titled in somebody else’s name, not related to anyone that I bought the car from, and this person had also already passed away.
Seeking SolutionsI started researching what I could do in this crazy situation. Cartitles.com was the first place and the best place that I found. I booked a live reading consultation and explained my entire problem. They told me exactly what I needed to do and how to do it in my certain case. My car required the court-ordered title process, where I had to make a lot of paperwork and do a lot of diligent research to prove that this car was not going to be going to anyone else and that nobody else wanted it.
The Process with Cartitles.comThere is no way I could have expedited these processes fast unless I used cartitles.com. They were able to help me make all the paperwork I needed and give me all the knowledge and advice I needed when I went to go talk to other people that could help me with the title at the DMV or at the courthouse. Within 3 months, I was in front of a judge on my computer via Zoom and was ruled as the owner of the car, and now I have the title in my name.
Conclusion and RecommendationHere, if you have any crazy car title needs like I had, don’t hesitate to reach out to cartitles.com. They have an answer for almost everything, and I guarantee you they will help you in some kind of way. Thank you so much again, cartitles.com.
Natural Disasters and Vehicle TitlesNo matter what state you live in, you may be subject to certain natural disasters. This year we’ve seen hurricanes in Florida, fires in California and Oregon, hail storms in Texas. How do these relate to your car title and what steps should you take for vehicle titles when you’re involved with some type of natural disaster? Well, first of all, before the season or before an event happens, make sure that you have physical control of your title certificate. If your vehicle’s damaged or lost in a natural disaster, you’re going to need your title to file an insurance claim. So you want to make sure you have your hands on it. Put it in a safe place that’s impervious to water or fire. You can buy a little fireproof bag from Amazon for $15 or $20. Put that in a Ziploc bag so if it’s flooded, it doesn’t get damaged. Because if you have to try to replace your title after a natural disaster, it could be difficult because many government agencies are shut down for a while, and they may not be able to issue the title without proper documentation.
Steps After a Natural DisasterNow if you have been through a natural disaster, the first thing you want to do is make sure you put your hands on that title document and start that insurance claim as soon as you can. Make sure you get a good appraisal; you get good underwriting for the insurance claims so that if the vehicle’s been damaged, all of the damage is properly documented. Sometimes a body shop will look at a car and do what’s called an initial appraisal, but then also put a note there might be supplemental damage that could put it over the threshold for being totaled. So you want to make sure you have those appraisals done as soon as you can so that the final appraisal amount is submitted to the insurance company as soon as possible.
Filing an Insurance ClaimNow, if the vehicle requires an insurance claim, which it probably will, you want to make sure that it’s filed with the insurance company. Get them the title properly signed. Have them show you how to sign it because if you sign it incorrectly, the claim may not be able to be processed. If there’s a lien holder involved, they probably have to sign off as well. If you have lost your title in the natural disaster, now is the time to file for that duplicate replacement title as soon as you can. You can get some instructions on how to do that from our website, cartitles.com. It’ll show you how to file for a duplicate title; that’s done through the DMV in your state. You have to fill out a few forms; sometimes it has to be notarized, and sometimes you have to appear in person to show your ID to make sure that the person they’re giving the title to is actually the owner. They don’t want to be handing out your title to the wrong person, so they may verify that you are really the owner of the vehicle.
Importance of Replacement TitlesNatural disasters are many times a reason why a client needs to get a replacement title because either the car or the title certificate has been damaged. You want to get back whole so that your vehicle belongs to you, is properly documented, and you get your insurance claim as fast as you can. If you have other questions, you can access our website, cartitles.com.
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