Can you claim a storage lien against a vehicle title?

Filing for a Storage Lien on a Vehicle

So how do you file for a storage lien on a vehicle or storage abandonment on a vehicle? Well, be careful because in most states you are not allowed to file for a storage lien or collect storage even on a vehicle unless you are a licensed automotive facility and you have written authorization for that storage. Towing companies are exempt if you’re a licensed towing company and you have verification that the tow was done properly either by a police request or from private property with a signed contract from the property owner.

Exemptions and Restrictions

There may be exceptions to the storage exemption, but if you’re just a private person or civilian, you’re not allowed to just randomly make up storage fees to claim a vehicle. You also don’t want to call a vehicle an abandoned vehicle. In most states, abandoned doesn’t mean finders keepers, it doesn’t mean you get to keep the vehicle. You have to surrender it to the state for them to auction it off.

Proper Channels for Vehicle Title

However, if you have a vehicle you’re trying to get a title for, the way to do it is not through an abandoned vehicle claim or storage lien unless you are a licensed automotive facility that has a signed repair order authorization from the customer. The best way to do it is to do a court order title. You file a petition with the court to have you be declared the owner of the vehicle by court order. The court order supersedes any DMV rule, so if you have the right story and you’re legitimately entitled to own the vehicle, the court will sign off on that petition.

The Court Order Title Process

You present that to the DMV, and it’ll give you a title. If you’re trying to make a questionable claim to some vehicle that really you shouldn’t be having, don’t bother because it’s not going to work. But if you purchased a vehicle, acquired a vehicle, were given a vehicle, something was left on your property, the way to do it proper channels is to go through the court order process. That way, first of all, it will work because the DMV won’t reject it, and number two, it will verify your story that you’re entitled to the vehicle and it’ll make it completely legitimate.

Avoiding Invalid Claims

If you try to falsify or make up some paperwork to do an abandonment or mechanic’s lien or maybe a storage lien that’s not true, eventually it’ll come out and haunt you because they audit all of those even after they issue the title. Many titles have been revoked after the fact because they found that the story or the paperwork was invalid. So, court order title is the way to go. More information on our website.

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