Car Title Recovery True Duplicate Scenario #1

Scenario Number One: True Duplicate
So if you need to get a title for your car, we’re going to look at scenario number one, which is what we call a true duplicate. What that means is that the vehicle is currently legally titled in your name, and all that happened is that you lost that document. I mean, the title was already printed with your name on the front, your address on the front, and it was issued to you. You just lost it. It’s not that it was signed over to you. It’s not that somebody gave you a title application. It means you issued to you. You just lost it. It’s not that it was signed over to you. It’s not that somebody gave you a title application. It means you already have the title in your name. If that’s the case, then here we go.

Steps to Get a Duplicate Title
All you need to do is go to the DMV office the title office their license office whenever they call in your state sometimes it’s Department of Transportation sometimes its Secretary of State if that’s the case you go to that office you bring your photo ID and you bring your VIN number your vehicle identification number with those two things you present it to the clerk they’ll look up in their system to make sure that you are the legal title donor that vehicle they will check your ID to make sure you are that person because they don’t want to be handing out legal documents to the wrong person right so once they verify that you can order duplicate title right on the spot and it’s exactly what it sounds like it is a duplicate replacement title there’s no changes they don’t put it in somebody else’s name they don’t change anything about it.

In-Person Process and Possible Mail Delivery
Now, that’s easy to do in many cases; they may be able to hand it to you on the spot. In some DMVs, now we’re going to have a vault printing system where they don’t keep blank titles on location because people were stealing the blanks and typing them up with any car they wanted, and it was a security problem. Sometimes, a state will have a vault where they print all the titles. You can order it at the branch location, but they may have to mail it to you in a few days.

Handling Liens on the Vehicle
One other curveball that may come up is if you had a lien on the vehicle, even if it’s paid off, the DMV may not be aware that that lien is cleared. Here’s why, when you paid the last payment on that car loan, the bank simply pulled that title out of their file cabinet, signed it, stamped it paid, and mailed it to you. They never really notified the DMV that you paid off your loan, so now it could be ten years later and the DMV’s records still show that loan that was originally issued on that title, so you might have to get a lien clearance letter or a lien release letter to bring with you so the DMV will issue that title.

Cost and DIY Process
A true duplicate it’s very inexpensive some states as low as two dollars most states are between 10 and 15 sometimes 20 dollars there’s a few notable exceptions the state of Florida has a 70 or 80 dollar fee the state of Illinois has a 70 or $80 fee most states are relatively inexpensive and you can do this yourself you don’t have to pay anybody to do this you don’t have to hire a title agent to do it you can do it all yourself you probably cannot do it online you probably need to maybe download the form from the website print it out sign it in most cases the DMV is going to want to have good identification of you as the owner so that way it protects you from having somebody just type in your VIN number online and get your title you want to have your title protected so that only you are able to get it and that is policed by having a legal form with a signature sometimes it has to be notarized if you’re not going to be in person at the DMV office but every state runs a little bit different so a true duplicate with no name changes is a very straightforward process it’s a little bit of bureaucracy because you are dealing with a government agency but it’s something you can do yourself usually inexpensive make sure if there was a lien that you have a lien release letter and it should be in good shape without too much hassle look for that form on their DMV website you can download it print it and handle it that way.

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