Fake Auto Sellers: A Growing ConcernWe’re seeing this more and more with these fake auto sellers. They might have a vehicle for sale online and they might ask you to ship money and they’ll send you the car. They might even have the physical car available for you to look at, but it’s not a licensed dealer. One of the things you want to do anytime you’re buying a vehicle from a person or company is make sure you buy it either from a private party that’s the owner of the vehicle or a licensed dealer, and you have to verify both of those.
Verifying the Vehicle’s TitleIf you’re buying a vehicle from a private party, what you want to do is look at the title, look at the name on the title, and make sure the person you’re dealing with is the same person whose name is on the title, not a third party that’s flipping the vehicle or saying, “I’m selling my cousin’s vehicle,” or “I got it from an auction.” If the person on the title is not who you’re dealing with, don’t buy the car. Because here’s the thing: vehicle titles cannot be reassigned. Once a vehicle title is signed over to another person, the title can’t be reassigned to somebody else. That person has to get a new title first before it goes to somebody else. So, let’s say somebody’s flipping cars. They buy a car from John Smith; their name is Sally Jones. Sally Jones can’t resell it to you until she gets a new title. So, if a car has been flipped and you’re not dealing with the person whose name is printed on the front of the title (not written on the back, printed on the front), you could have a title problem.
Unlicensed Car Dealers and ScamsAnother thing is these unlicensed, fly-by-night car dealers. What these dealers are doing is pretending that they’re a legitimate dealership but they’re not licensed. How do you verify that? Get the name of the business and their address and check with the Licensing Bureau of your state to see if they have a valid auto dealer’s license. If you’re buying it from a company that does not have a valid auto dealer’s license, they’re not allowed to buy and sell cars for a living. Now, if you’re buying it from a company that owned it, like Joe’s Plumbing, that has a bunch of trucks, that’s a different story. They’re selling a vehicle with a title with their name on it, like we talked about with the private sell. But if you’re buying it from a company that’s flipping cars, buying cars at auctions, and they’re not a licensed dealer, that’s not allowable under the law. In this case, there’s a couple in Oregon that lost $45,000 because they bought a vehicle from a fake dealership from a stolen car.
Protecting Yourself from Fraudulent SellersIf you buy a car from a licensed dealer and they make a mistake and sell you a vehicle that has a title problem, they’re supposed to make it right, and there are funds and bonds that can make up for that. So, make sure when you’re buying a vehicle, that’s your hard-earned money you’re putting at risk. Either buy it from the person whose name is printed on the title or buy it from a company you can verify has a dealership license, and they can show you the title. Don’t give them money if they can’t at least show you the title. They might not be able to give it to you because they might have to process it into your name, but make them show it to you to make sure they actually have the title and are not selling a vehicle that they haven’t paid for yet.
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How Duplicate Titles Work for a Motor VehicleSo how do duplicate titles actually work for a motor vehicle? A duplicate title request is when a person who is the legal titled owner of the vehicle requests a replacement certificate for the one that they had or lost, or never had to begin with. Now keep in mind that a duplicate title is a very specific phrase. What it means is exactly what the two words mean: duplicate title. It is a duplication of the last title issued. So remember, a vehicle title is a legal document that explains and identifies an actual vehicle’s year, make, model, and VIN number, but also assigns the ownership of that vehicle to a particular person. Right, so Joe Smith owns this 2020 Toyota Camry. Well, if Joe Smith is the owner, he has a title; it’s a certificate. If at some point Joe Smith loses that title, Joe Smith and only Joe Smith can request a duplicate title certificate. Nobody else can because the DMV or the titling authority in your state is not going to give that title certificate to anybody except for Joe Smith. It protects him in his ownership because if anybody could get the replacement title, then anybody could get any title for any car they wanted, even if you had a bill of sale or receipt or anything. So the only person who can request a duplicate title is the person whose name is in the title records.
What to Do If Your Name Isn’t on the TitleSo how does that work? Well, if your name is not in the official records, then you don’t want to order a duplicate title. You want to do a title replacement, title recovery, or a title transfer. That’s a whole different thing. We’ve talked about that in other videos, and you can find out more on our channel or on our website. But if your name was on the last title and you want to order a duplicate, you can do that. Now remember, if there’s a lien holder listed on the title, they have to be cleared off first. Even if you paid off the loan, that lien might still be lingering in the title records. You might have to get that cleared up, and we can talk about how to do that. You can find it on our website. If there are other owners on the title, a co-owner or co-signer, you also have to get their signature to make sure they’re okay with you getting the title.
The Fastest Way to Get a Duplicate TitleNow, what’s the best way to get a duplicate title? Well, the fastest way to do it is to go in person to the Department of Motor Vehicles office. Drive there, take an appointment, wait in line, show your ID to show who you are. They’ll match your ID, look up in the system, “Yep, that’s your name on the title.” Here’s another title. They normally can give it to you the same day. Sometimes smaller branches might not have blank titles in stock, and they might have to mail it to you in a couple of days. That’s the fastest way to do it and the cheapest, for that matter. But now, you have to go to the DMV, get the right forms, and do everything. There are ways to do it that are easier where you don’t have to go anywhere, but that’s going to cost a little more money.
Remote Options for Ordering a Duplicate TitleIf you go on our website, cartitles.com, it’ll show you the process for doing it remotely. You can order it online. It’s going to take longer and might cost more money, but it’s going to be less work. So you have to balance: do you want it faster and cheaper or slower and easier? Right? It’s easier to just click a button online and get it, but if you need it fast or you’re on a budget, go to DMV in person. Bring your photo ID, bring the VIN number, and you can get it directly there that way. If you don’t mind waiting a little bit and would rather not go in line at the DMV, then you have other options.
Conclusion and Additional InformationThat’s how a duplicate title works and how the duplicate car title process is handled. If you do have more questions, you can click the link below. It’ll give you instructions and also offer you the option if you want to talk live to a licensed, certified title agent. You can do that as well on our website, cartitles.com.
DMV Horror StoriesSo we all have DMV horror stories. In fact, this publication asks readers to talk about your worst experiences at the DMV, and they had no shortage of responses. But, you know, it’s not hard to find the bad stories. The question is, why? Anybody ever stop to wonder why the DMV is so difficult to deal with and why they make it a hard time? Well, it’s a combination of a perfect storm of two factors. One factor is, it’s a government agency. It doesn’t have the same efficiency, implications, and goals and objectives as a private company.
Government Agency vs Private CompanyIf you’re a private company, if you don’t do things well, you go out of business. If you don’t serve customers well, customers don’t come see you, and you close, you fail. If you’re a restaurant and have terrible food, you’re done. Right? If you’re a bookstore and you don’t have good customer service, lock your door. DMV is different. The DMV doesn’t matter how bad the services are; you have to go there. You don’t have a choice. There is no competitor to DMV. They don’t have to make a profit. They don’t have to have good reviews. They’re the DMV.
Legal Documents and DMV ResponsibilitiesThere’s another factor that people don’t realize. They’re handing out legal documents. When they hand somebody a license, a driver’s license, that’s not just a card something you put in your wallet. It enables you to do lots of things: to go on airplanes, to show your ID, to buy things, to vote, to open a bank account. If they handed it out without doing the proper due diligence, it could create a lot of problems for identity theft or fraud. When they hand out a car title, they’re handing the ownership legality of that vehicle to that person because the title doesn’t just have information about the car, it also tells who is the owner.
Title as Legal OwnershipSo if I went to the DMV and said, “You know what, I want a title for this car, 2022 Toyota Camry, whatever it is, fin number 1234, give me a title,” if they didn’t make sure all the documentation was correct, giving me a title to the car isn’t just a piece of paper I can put in my file cabinet. It now gives me an equal dollar amount to the value of that car. So if that car is worth $30,000, when they hand me a title, in effect, they’re handing me $30,000 in cash. And also, the other side of that is they’re taking it away from somebody else because somebody else used to be the owner. So unless they make sure all of that is correct, they’re arbitrarily taking away something from somebody and giving it to somebody else. So they have to do it right.
Bill of Sale and DocumentationSo their process is going to be pretty strict, and you might say, “Well, I have a receipt. I have a legal bill of sale. I bought it from somebody.” What is a bill of sale? We will be back in 8 seconds. In 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 your video.
Understanding Bill of SaleA bill of sale is just something somebody wrote on a piece of paper that said, “I took the money from somebody and gave him this car.” It doesn’t necessarily mean they were the legal owner. It doesn’t mean they had the right to sell. It doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lien holder on it, a co-owner, or it wasn’t their car at all. Right? Well, I rented the van. It’s not a stolen car. It doesn’t have to be stolen to not be sellable. If I rented a car today from Hertz to rent a car and drove it around and then put an ad on Craigslist and said, “Hey, I want to sell this car,” I could give you a bill of sale, sell you the car. It won’t come back as stolen. I gave you a legal bill of sale. I can even get it notarized. Does that make you the owner of the car?
The DMV’s Role in Protecting LegalitiesWhat happened to Hertz? It’s not how it works. There are legal documents you have to have. So the DMV is enforcing those to protect you as much as anybody else. You wouldn’t want somebody to sell your car out of your driveway if you went on vacation without paperwork or with fake paperwork and didn’t check everything out. So it protects everybody. Is it inconvenient? Absolutely. Is it tough? Sure. And that’s why we have a division of our company called Cartitles.com that helps people navigate that difficult title process. It makes it easier.
Helping Customers Navigate the DMV ProcessIt’s tough because we are the ones that have to deal with the DMV, work with the bureaucracy, and then also deal with the clients that still have, you know, some difficulty. But at least it makes it easier for our customers, which we love doing. Someday, there’ll be electronic titles, and you won’t have to do paper. But that’s years away. So if you’re wondering why the DMV is always so hard to deal with or gives you the runaround, that’s why. They’re not bad people. They’re not trying to, you know, make your life more difficult. They have a job to do, and their system of structure is different than a company.
Understanding DMV’s System and MindsetLook, if me and you walked into the cell phone store and we wanted to go get a new cell phone, right? We walked in and say, “Hey, I want to buy a new phone.” There would be five people jumping over themselves to try to help you to sell you a phone because they’re going to make money on that phone. They’re going to make a commission. They might get a bonus. DMV is not like that. They don’t get a commission if you get a title. They don’t get any extra money if you get a title. So there’s two different mindsets. They’re there to protect the legalities of a process, unlike a private company that’s trying to get as much stuff out the door as they can.
Perception of the DMVSo if you look at it that way, it won’t be as annoying. It won’t be as frustrating because you have to look at it as two different things. Just because you walk through a door into a lobby, it’s not the same experience as walking into Home Depot, where they ask you, “Can I help you find, you know, that fitting?” DMV is not like that, and if you look at it differently, it’ll be much easier to navigate and much more peaceful for your well-being.
Dealing with the DMV for a TitleSo you might be wondering why is it so hard to deal with the DMV to get a title. Are you getting the run around for getting a car title or vehicle title from the DMV? You might think that it shouldn’t have to be that hard. In fact, in this article, this woman’s talking about making three trips back to the DMV, back and forth to their house. We’ve had clients we deal with every single day that tell us, “I’ve had to go back and forth with DMV a dozen times.” Well here’s the reason why: The DMV has very specific requirements for getting a vehicle title that you have to meet before they can give you a title. Even if the person sitting at the window is sympathetic to you and they hear your story and they say, “Yeah, you’re supposed to have a title,” if you don’t have the right paperwork, they cannot give you a title. Even if they wanted to, the system won’t let them print one. A title is a legal government document issued only by that government agency, the DMV. You can’t buy one from a company. You can’t download one from the internet.
Preparing Before You Go to the DMVYou have to go through the DMV. Now what you need to do is be prepared before you go there to make sure you understand what the requirements are. Don’t guess. Don’t say, “Well, I have a bill of sale, that’s enough. I have insurance, that’s enough.” You have to know exactly what their requirements are. How can you find out? Well, you can use our website, cartitles.com, as a free consumer resource to get all the requirements for the DMV before you go. Because if you, you will be back in your reading in just a few seconds. In the meantime, remember that actualhuman.com offers you live one-on-one private video consultation with an expert in this exact subject. We want to listen to your story, we want to hear your questions, we want to give you expert advisement of your options and tell you what we know about your particular situation. Now back to your reading.
Getting Information in AdvanceGo there and have them tell you what the requirements are. You made a trip, you waited in line, you talked to them, then you have to go home to do everything and then go back again. You can get all this information in advance. You can even get the forms, all the blank forms for the DMV, print it out from our website, fill them in, follow the instructions. We even have other videos like this one that’ll explain to you exactly how to prepare these documents. That way, when you go in, you’re not empty-handed. You have everything you need already done. The DMV employee will appreciate that from you. They’ll process your order faster, and you can get in and out of there in one trip rather than having to go back and forth with getting everything.
Don’t Guess and Avoid FrustrationSo don’t leave it to chance. Don’t guess and see if you think you know what it takes to get a title. Even if you got a title two years ago, the laws may have changed. Requirements may have changed. They change all the time, and not knowing what the current requirements are is going to put you in a position where you’re just going to waste extra time and go back and forth, and you get frustrated. Maybe the DMV person will sense that, and they might not help you as well. So use our website as a free consumer resource.
Make It Easier on YourselfLook, dealing with the DMV is going to be bureaucratic, it’s going to be inconvenient, and annoying anyways. Make it easier on yourself so you don’t end up like this woman, having to make three trips back and forth to get done what you want to get done. We wish you the best of success, and if you do want more direct instruction, you can click our website below to get consultation to talk to a title agent or to get the forms. If you like this video, 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.
Licensed Dealerships and Title ProblemsWe’re seeing more and more of these vehicle title problems popping up from people that bought cars at dealerships. This is not, you know, buying a car from some guy on Craigslist on the street corner or buying a car on OfferUp or Facebook Marketplace where the seller was kind of maybe sketchy at best. These are people that bought cars from licensed car dealerships and didn’t get a title. Here’s a person who bought a cheap Wrangler. The dealer won’t give me a title, making it impossible to get license plates. And when they went back to the dealer, the dealer laughed at them. Can’t drive their new vehicle because they can’t get titles and plates. How does that even happen? This is a dealership.
Dealership License SuspensionsWell, it is happening. Here’s a new car dealership, Lefon Hyundai in Detroit, that had their license suspended because they were selling cars without titles, selling vehicles, and failing to have a title in possession of the vehicle. They also failed to properly complete the state’s title application. How does this happen? Well, here’s one of the scenarios that can come up that you may not know about as a consumer, but it’s important to be aware of when you’re buying a car from a dealer.
Dealer Financing ExplainedDealers, like consumers, actually finance their cars. If you buy a car, you’re going to get a car loan, and you make payments on it. Dealers have car loans on all the vehicles in their inventory. It’s called floor plan credit, floor plan financing. The word “floor” comes from the cars on your showroom floor—there’s a plan for financing it. So what happens is, you might think, well, the dealer, why do they have to finance their cars? Think about how many cars are on a dealer’s lot. Even if a dealer has 100 cars on their lot, and let’s suppose each car averages $35,000, that’s $3.5 million of inventory sitting on a lot.
Costs for Smaller DealersLet’s say a new car dealer. First of all, most new car dealers have more than 100 cars, and cars don’t cost $35,000 anymore; now they’re $40,000. So that’s a minimum. Even if you have a small mom-and-pop used car store that has 10 cars on their lot, and they are $7,000 each, that’s $70,000. Think about the mom-and-pop car dealer with a little trailer on the corner. $70,000 might be a stretch for them to come up with, so they do this floor plan financing.
How Floor Plan Financing WorksHow does it work? When you buy these cars, whether it’s from an auction, from the factory, or from a trade-in, you contact your lien holder—that’s called a floor plan lender—and you tell them, “Look, I just bought this 2022 Jeep from the auction.” Great, we will pay the auction, wire transfer them the money. You go get the car, you ship it. We’re going to hold the title. And that’s the key: the lender holds on to the title.
Title Holding by LendersJust like you as a consumer, when you finance a car, the bank holds your title too because they don’t want you to sell it without paying them. The floor plan lender wants to do the same thing—they want to hold that title to make sure the dealer just doesn’t sell the car, pocket the money, and not pay them off. Let’s say the dealer bought that car for $22,000; the lender financed it. Now the dealer sells it for a profit. Let’s say they sell it for $25,000.
Dealer Responsibilities and Cash Flow IssuesThey make $3,000. They take the $25,000, take $22,000, give it to the lender, and keep the $3,000 for profit. What they’re supposed to do is send that $22,000 to the floor plan lien holder to get the title. Then, when they get the title, they can get an application, put it in your name, and you’re good to go. They sign the back. However, sometimes if that car dealership is running short on cash—maybe they have to make payroll or pay their rent—that’s where title problems come up.
Financial Mismanagement and Ponzi SchemesThey might have a problem getting the title from the lien holder if they don’t have the cash. They figure, “Well, I’ll just use this buyer’s money to pay some bills, and I’ll pay for it later.” It becomes a Ponzi scheme, like taking your money to pay somebody else’s car off and their money to pay your car off. Next thing you know, the lender has what’s called an out-of-trust scenario.
Risks for Buyers and LendersIf that dealership maybe even only has five cars that they didn’t pay off, it doesn’t sound like a lot, but five cars could be $100,000. If the car dealer is short on cash, they may never be able to come back from that $100,000. If they’re already losing money, they can never pay it back. This results in buyers not getting titles for cars.
Issues for Buyers with Car LoansWhat makes it worse is if you are a buyer who financed the car when you bought it. Let’s say when you bought that $25,000 car, you went to a bank, such as Chase Bank, and took out a car loan for $25,000. They paid the dealer for the car. If the bank doesn’t get the title, you still have to pay that car loan, and you have no title for your car.
Bank Options in Title DisputesYour bank is not going to waive your loan just because the dealer didn’t give you a title. They paid the money. When you get a car loan, the bank writes a check to that dealer for 100% of the car in full, so they’re already out the money. If the dealer doesn’t give the bank the title, the bank can either call the loan in full and make you pay it back or convert it to a personal loan instead of a car loan, increasing the rate.
Advice for BuyersWhat do we recommend you do? If you go to a car dealer and are going to buy a car, have them at least show you the title. They’re not going to give you the title, but before you sign the paperwork or give the money, say, “Show me the title that you have it in your possession.”
Avoiding Title IssuesIf they can’t show you the title, if they say, “Well, we don’t have it, even if it’s at the floor plan lender,” you can say, “That’s fine. Why don’t you get the title first, and then I’ll buy the car?” If they can’t do that, it might be a sign that the dealer is cash-strapped and not someone you want to do business with.
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