DIY Duplicate Lost Car Title

Getting a Duplicate Title for a Vehicle
So how do you get a duplicate title for a vehicle? If you have a vehicle that was previously registered or titled in your name, you can do what’s called a true duplicate. You don’t have to do a title recovery or often a bonded title. It was legally titled in your name, you can get a duplicate title from the DMV in your name where it was issued.

Ensuring Correct Name on Title
Make sure, however, that it was in your name, not in your seller’s name, and you’re also going to the same state where it was last issued. For example, if you have the title in Minnesota but you’ve since moved to Texas, you actually have to request that title from Minnesota.

State Requirements and Notary Forms
Some states require you to go in person. If they’re requesting an in-person title application, you can ask them to send you an affidavit notary form where you sign it in front of a notary. They just don’t want to be sending titles to the wrong people that don’t actually own the car. They’re protecting your interest, but you go back to the state where it was last titled to request the document to get a duplicate title.

Handling Liens and Fees
If there was a lien on the vehicle, even if it’s paid off, you might need to get a lien release. Your bank will issue that to you free of charge, and you can send it in to the DMV or bring it in person. They’ll issue that duplicate title for a very small fee—five bucks, ten bucks—usually a very nominal fee. They normally will not do it on the spot; they won’t hand you the title across the desk. They have to print it in an off-site location and then maybe mail it to you later, but it’s usually pretty quick.

Additional Steps and Resources
Make sure you go back to the state where it was last registered and make sure you have a lien release even if that lien was paid off. The DMV may not know it was paid off, so you have to get that duplicate lien release letter from the bank where the loan was. That’s an easy way to get a true duplicate. If it wasn’t in your name and you have to go another route, look for other videos, and we’ll give you do-it-yourself step-by-step process on those as well.

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Instructions for getting a Replacement Lost Car Title

Getting a Title for Your Car with a Bill of Sale
So you need to get a title for your car and all you have is a bill of sale. You may have been running into some difficulty because in most states they require more than just a bill of sale to get you a legal title in your name. Fortunately, you can do it yourself without having to pay any companies to get a title for your car.

Step-by-Step Process
Step-by-step process goes like this: first, go to the Vermont DMV website. Make sure it’s the actual government website from Vermont; looks like this over my shoulder. No, I know what you’re saying, you’re not in Vermont, you may not be from Vermont. That doesn’t matter; we’ll talk about that in a second.

Download the Form
Download this form from the Vermont DMV. There’s a link on their site. You can fill it out online, or you can even download it. You can find it at cartitles.com as well. Send in that form to the state of Vermont. There may be a fee of $40 or so depending upon what type of vehicle you have.

Receiving the Registration Title
They will send you what’s called a registration title. That’s their form of a title for a vehicle of that type. Once you receive that in the mail, that’s the legal ownership document.

Exchanging for a Legal Title
Step 3 is to take that to your state DMV and exchange it for a legal title in your state, in your name. At that point, you’ll have full clear title for the car. You can sell it, you can insure it, you can register it, do whatever you want.

Additional Notes
You don’t have to be from Vermont, you never have to go to Vermont, you never have to—the car doesn’t have to be from Vermont. It’s just a process in that state that allows you to get a legal title in your name. You can do this yourself; you don’t have to pay anybody to do it. It’s all a direct consumer process that you can use. Again, you can download the form from the Vermont DMV. You can even get it from cartitles.com without having to pay any outside service fees.

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How to get a Replacement Lost Car Title – Do It Yourself

So if you’re watching this video you probably have a vehicle that you’re looking to get a title for and you’re searching online for places or websites for information on how to get a title for that car. The good news is this is something you can do yourself for free.

Avoiding Unnecessary Costs
You may have come across companies and websites that’ll charge you money to get a title for your car, but if it’s your car you should be able to get a title for it. This is called a level two title recovery.

Using a Bill of Sale
If you have a bill of sale for the vehicle when you purchased it, you can use a process to get a title for the vehicle without having to pay an outside company.

Steps to Obtain a Title
Here’s how it works: first of all, you’re going to go to the website for the state of Vermont DMV. Then you’re going to download this form. You can actually download it for free from that website. You can even fill it out on the website online and then print it out from there. You’re going to send that to the Vermont DMV along with a very small fee, maybe $40 or so depending on what kind of vehicle you have. At some point, they’re going to send you in the mail a registration title for that vehicle.

Vermont Residency Not Required
Now you may be saying, I don’t live in Vermont, my car is not in Vermont. It doesn’t matter. The car doesn’t have to be in Vermont, you don’t have to be in Vermont, you never have to go to Vermont. What’s going to happen is they’re going to send you their version of a title.

Using the Vermont Title
When you get it in the mail, you take that to your state and then in your state you’re going to get your title for your car. Once you have that Vermont registration title, you don’t have to go there, you don’t have to ever have the vehicle there, you don’t have to get it inspected there. All you need to do is download that form for free.

Why Companies Charge
The only reason that companies charge you money to do this is because they know about it and you don’t. Now you do, so you can do it for free.

Hiring a Company
If you do decide that you don’t want to do this yourself and you want to pay somebody to do it, that’s fine. You can do that. There’s companies that might charge you 70 or 80 bucks on top of that to do this for you. Make sure, however, that the company is licensed because doing car titles requires a license in most states. Also, that they have a good physical address. Look up their address online, make sure it’s not a PO box or a mailing company because they’re going to have your personal information. They’re going to have your copy of your driver’s license, they might even have a power of attorney to do paperwork for you, so make sure it’s legit if you’re going to go that route.

Bill of Sale Requirements
Make sure also that you do have a good bill of sale for that car. It doesn’t have to be from the prior owner, it doesn’t have to be from the registered owner. It has to be a bill of sale for the vehicle. You can actually download a free copy of that online. You can even handwrite it on a piece of paper with just the seller’s signature and the date that it was sold.

Conclusion
So again, you can do this for free. You don’t have to pay anybody. Get your car title that way. You can register it, sell it, insure it, do whatever you want with it from that point forward. The links you’ll find on the Vermont DMV website or even at cartitles.com have a free download.

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Vermont Title Process – Common Mistakes

Today we’re going to look at the top few common errors that are made on the Vermont registration form which is what many people use to get a title when you only have a bill of sale. So we talk to Vermont many, many times looking at files and cases for our clients. They tell us all the time what are the common errors they see when customers fill out the form themselves and we’re gonna go over those with you so you can avoid those issues if you decide to do this on your own.

Section 4: Most Common Error
So here’s the Vermont VD-119 form, very common. The first most common error is in section 4 where asked what is being applied for: new registration, lease buyout, title only, renew. Many, many clients will select title only because they intend to be getting a title. However, when you’re using the Vermont process to get a title, you’re not actually getting the title from Vermont. You’re getting a registration from Vermont, which then you bring to your state to get a title. So the box you need to check off is new registration, not title only. I can’t tell you how many times Vermont tells us that they’ve received applications for title only that they have to send back. So that’s the number one error that people will make when they fill out the VD-119.

Section 3: Second Common Error
The second common error is in section 3 to start putting down things like lien holders and prior owners. All you really need to do in section 3 is enter the name of the person that you bought the car from. They have to match your bill of sale. Now, if you put the date and you want to put the address, that’s fine. It does not have to be signed. A lot of times customers will sign their own name there or they’ll put down a Vermont dealer number or their own address. Now, in theory, you could actually leave it blank, but we recommend writing in the name of the person that matches your bill of sale. It has to match exactly. If it doesn’t match exactly, they will send it back.

Section 1: Third Common Error
Another common error is when you put down section 1 vehicles owned. They’ll put down the name of the prior owner, which says owner. This is for your name, the new owner of the vehicle. So if you put down the last owner, it’s not gonna work. You’re gonna actually get a registration that you paid for in somebody else’s name. So those are the three most common errors.

Additional Tips
A couple other things to watch out for is the registration type. Make sure it matches the vehicle’s in a car, truck, motorcycle. We also recommend not applying for an antique plate. It’s just gonna open up a can of worms. You’re gonna have to do more work because you’re not going to use the license plate anyways. You’re gonna be using their paper to get your title in your state. If it’s a truck, make sure you put down the weight; otherwise, it’ll get sent back. If it’s got different types of brakes, air or hydraulic, you want to check that off.

Calculating the Tax
Most importantly, this is the last thing that is very, very common is calculating the tax correctly. The tax is calculated on either the purchase price from your bill of sale or the NADA value, whichever is higher. So make sure it’s correct. If it’s the wrong amount, they will send it back. You also have to make sure that all of the other qualifications for the vehicle are matched. The right year, make sure it’s not too new, make sure that the VIN number exists on your bill of sale.

Bill of Sale Requirements
And that’s something else you have to make sure, which is not on this form, is that your bill of sale is correct for the application. It has to have the name of the buyer and seller, has to have a date, has to have the VIN number. A lot of people think that a bill of sale could just say 1985 Chevy Camaro without specifying the VIN number to know which Chevy Camaro it is. So make sure that you have that on your documentation.

Conclusion
Fortunately, they give you two copies. If you mess one up, you can do another one. It talks about verification. That’s something that we cover in other videos. So if you have any questions, you can reach us at our website, cartitles.com, and there’s a lot more information there, including these forms you can download for free. Or if you want us to help you out with it, we’re glad to do it, and you can use this process along with many hundreds of thousands of other people to get a title for your vehicle when you only have a bill of sale.

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Vehicle salvage title requirements

So, how do you register or title vehicles with a previous insurance claim or salvage history that have been through the auction process? Many vehicles come from Copart or IAAI, and those vehicles have prior title claims or title histories that in some cases prevent getting a title or, best-case-scenario, require a lot of steps to get a title. One of those steps is to have the vehicle approved and inspected to go back on the road.

Inspection Process in Washington State
Here’s an example from the state of Washington that talks about how to get rebuilt salvaged vehicles back on the road. This is just a guide that they describe their steps. So the first thing they have to recognize is you have to do the inspection. What’s going to be inspected, right? It talks about the statute in Washington, which is RCW 4612 560. It authorizes the State Patrol to inspect certain vehicles for titling purposes, and part of the inspection is for safety to make sure that the car is rebuilt, but also to make sure that there’s no stolen vehicles and stolen parts used in the reconstruction of the vehicle. So the officer will inspect all major component parts used to construct your vehicle. Documentation must be presented at the time of the inspection to show legal ownership of the vehicle and the parts used. You have to have a title for your vehicle, but you also have to have proof of the source of the parts. This is just Washington State, but many other states, almost all other states, have a very similar or exactly the same process.

When Inspection is Required
So then, when does a rebuilt salvage vehicle require an inspection? If the vehicle has been rebuilt after the certificate of title was turned into Salvage, then a reissued title and registration requires the inspection. What parts are required to pass inspection? Major component parts are what they talk about, and every state has a list of what those are. In this case, it’s anything engines, frame, transmission, body parts like door, front differential, rear clips, quarter panel, seats, hoods, bumpers, fenders, and airbag.

Inspection Details
So when the inspector will look at the vehicle, they’re gonna look at the original damage history report from the insurance company and see what parts were damaged or missing. They’re gonna look to make sure that first of all, those parts are there and fixed to safety standards, but then they’re gonna look to make sure you have receipts to show where they came from. Please note, your vehicle will not pass inspection if any major component parts are damaged or missing. If originally installed airbags must be included in working order. So that’s what they’re gonna make sure first, that the parts are there and they’re not damaged. If you have a crashed car, you can’t bring it in crashed and say, “pass my car now.” If it’s fixed, that’s fine.

Documentation for Inspection
You need to have documentation for the inspection. You have to have the inspection request, picture identification, the certificate of title, or receipts for the component parts. The receipts must be made out to you, the vehicle owner, your immediate family member, or a licensed shop. So you can’t have a receipt that is in somebody else’s name. You have to have bought these parts. Also, the source of the parts is very important to make sure that you have correct parts from a private party. They must be presented with a signed and released title to the vehicle the parts came off or a notarized bill of sale. It’s pretty serious. You can’t just buy, you know, a fender off of Craigslist and just get a slip of paper receipt paying $50 for a fender. You either have to have the title for the vehicle that fender came off or a notarized bill of sale with the VIN number of that vehicle in that part. The notarized bill of sale must include the name, address, and number of the seller, the purchaser, the vehicle information the parts came from (year, make, model, and VIN number), and the date of the sale. They’re pretty serious about making sure that these parts aren’t stolen.

Internet Purchased Parts Restrictions
Here’s the other thing. You can’t buy parts off of eBay. Parts purchased from the internet or electronically will only be accepted for new aftermarket components. You can’t buy used fenders or used parts off of eBay and get them approved for inspection. It has to be either in person or new parts.

Purchasing from Insurance Auctions
Then it gets into if you purchased complete vehicles or parts vehicles, and they even mention the two most popular options, Copart or IAAI. If you purchase from an insurance auction, you need these documents. It gets into the inspection guide. You have to schedule the inspection. You can’t just walk in. That’s a quick guide for the state of Washington. Most states are going to be similar. Use this as a template or a guide for purchasing or fixing a vehicle that’s a salvage. Every state is going to be a little different. Some states have a very specific form that has to have each part identified with a VIN number on the form.

Auction Industry Views on Titles
So how does the auction industry view titles? Well, we’re gonna take a look at Copart and IAAI. Here’s IAAI. They follow all the titling laws. They’re having problems with titles too, right? They’re finding that they’re having to support there’s a legislative update February 2020 written by IAAI. Okay, they are introducing bills. These bills were introduced on behalf of IAAI, allowing insurance companies to apply for titles because many times the insurer will ship these cars to IAAI or Copart and try to auction them off and then never have a title. The buyer can’t do anything with it, and they just stack up on the lot at Copart and they can’t do anything with them, and it takes up space. Copart can’t get titles for them either. We deal with Copart all the time as far as getting titles, so they’re trying to pass laws that would allow salvage pools to attain ownership documents if the vehicle is abandoned at the salvage pool, right? And this only applies to salvage pools.

Legislative Efforts and Challenges
So here’s IAAI, and in this particular example here, Kansas House Bill 2501. Well, it’s so serious that Copart actually gave testimony to try to pass House Bill 2501 that talks about the vehicles abandoned to Copart. We have a vehicle which charges have incurred, there’s no title left on our facility, and they can’t dispose of it. This is a major problem. So here’s the same exact scenario that buyers run into, that even the auctions themselves have difficulties getting titles for the vehicles.

Summary and Recommendations
To make a long story short, if you’re buying a car from Copart or IAAI, expect that the title’s not going to be a clean, clear title, and it’s going to be subject to difficulties of getting a new title in your name. Difficulties could be getting it inspected. Sometimes to get an inspection, if you go back to the rebuild salvage requirements, in order to get an inspection, you have to have a certificate of title to show you bought the vehicle. Well, if you don’t have that, you can’t even get the inspection, but you can’t get a title without the inspection. So it’s kind of like a catch-22. There may be other ways that you can request ownership information. The state of California talks about how to register a junk vehicle if you don’t have the title. You may be able to do a statement of facts in order to prove ownership. Proof of ownership could be a junk receipt or a reassignment form. If you don’t have that, you can use different types of statement of facts. It’s kind of like an affidavit of ownership, but this is what California does. I’m talking about junk and salvage vehicles.

Conclusion
Either way, the Copart or IAAI salvage vehicle is going to have problems getting a title because there’s a history established for that VIN number in a federal database. That’s going to require you, best-case-scenario, to have the vehicle inspected, show all the parts receipts. Sometimes even doing that won’t get you a title if it’s been determined to be a junk vehicle. So do your due diligence when you’re buying a vehicle, either directly from Copart, through a broker, or even through a third party that’s purchased it. If you have any questions, you can reach us at our website at cartitles.com.

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