Can You File An Abandoned Vehicle Title?

The Myth of the Abandoned Vehicle
Today we’re going to talk about one of the most common subjects that comes up in our operations department, where people call in with questions about abandoned vehicles. Many times they use the phrase “abandoned vehicle” because they want to get a title for a vehicle. They say, “I want to file for an abandoned vehicle title.” This often comes from a preconceived idea that if they say it’s abandoned, it’s “finders keepers” and they get to keep the vehicle through some process for a title just based on it being abandoned. The thinking goes: if somebody doesn’t want it and I want it, I get to own it.

Abandoned Doesn’t Always Mean Yours
What we’re going to show in this article is that if you declare something to be abandoned, many times you won’t get to keep it. Most times, the vehicle technically isn’t legally abandoned under the definition that you might think it is. For example, if you buy a vehicle from somebody and they don’t give you a title, you might say, “I’ll just file for an abandoned vehicle.”

It’s Not Abandoned if You Bought It
That vehicle is not abandoned—you bought it. Even if somebody brings a car to your business or parking lot, or if you had a vehicle that was left for storage and the person didn’t pay their bill, that’s really not an abandoned vehicle. That is a storage lien.

We’re going to talk first about what an abandoned vehicle really is and what you can and can’t do to get a title. Then at the end, we’ll discuss how you can get a title for vehicles that you might think are abandoned but really aren’t.

The Georgia Law Example
First, here’s an example from the state of Georgia. We’re picking this as a sample procedure because Georgia has an abandoned vehicle procedure that’s very similar to most states. Most states actually follow federal law for abandoned vehicles, so they’re all going to be similar.

Per Georgia law, a business or person removing an abandoned or unclaimed vehicle from public right-of-way or public property must go through a process to ensure the rights of the vehicle owners, lienholders, and security interest holders are protected. A certificate of title for an abandoned vehicle cannot be issued on a bond (or on vehicles not required to be titled, model year 1985 and older).

Rights of Owners and Lienholders
What does that mean? That means before you become the owner of that vehicle that you’re saying is abandoned (which it probably really isn’t), all of the other people with interest in that vehicle have to have the right to redeem it. If there’s a previous owner, they have to be notified and told, “Hey, your car is going to be transferred to new ownership. Do you want it?” Any lienholders must receive the same notification.

Storage Fees Aren’t That Simple
You might say, “Well, I’m going to just put a storage bill on it.” You probably won’t be able to put a storage bill on it unless you have a signed contract from the owner of the vehicle agreeing to pay you storage. You can’t just make up storage fees out of thin air. Even if you are a licensed automotive shop with legitimate repair bills, you can’t call it abandoned—you have to call it a mechanic’s lien or storage lien, which is a different process.

Lien Process vs. Abandonment
The law states that information on handling abandoned vehicles requires towing and storage firms to notify vehicle owners and lienholders by law when a motor vehicle has been towed and impounded. Authorized businesses that want to foreclose on a lien—see what that says? It’s not an abandoned vehicle; it’s a lien sale, which is different.

Notification is Required
What are the links to do this? Notice of an abandoned vehicle—those are the notices you have to send out. Disposition of derelict vehicle. Apply for a title and tag for an abandoned vehicle after a court order.

Court Order is a Must
What does that tell you? That tells you if you want to get a title for an abandoned vehicle, you can only do it after you get a court order. So why bother with all this? Why not just do a court order title (which you see us talk about quite a bit)? Because once you declare it abandoned according to the abandoned motor vehicle act described here, you have to go through a process of all these notifications and public sales, and you’re probably not going to end up keeping the vehicle.

Don’t Jump In Without Knowing the Risks
Before you jump instinctively to saying “abandoned vehicle, I’m going to file for it,” you need to be very careful. If you start using some of these forms—for example, “Notice of an Abandoned Vehicle”—what’s going to happen is you may block yourself from ever getting a title because you’re going to have to show that you used this form.

A “Notice of an Abandoned Vehicle Request for Information” requires the company removing or storing the vehicle to complete the towing and storage information, and you have to have a license for this. You can’t just make up storage in your driveway or in your business parking lot. You have to notify all the parties.

You Swear Under Penalty of Perjury
If you see the very clear instructions, it will tell you that you have to do this under penalty of perjury: “I swear and affirm that the vehicle described was unattended, removed at the request of a police officer or private property owner in compliance with the motor vehicle act.”

You Could Lose the Title
What’s going to happen is after this vehicle has been transferred (or is in the process of being transferred), the owner of the vehicle is going to get a letter from the DMV saying, “Hey, remember that car that you used to own? It’s being transferred to somebody else. Do you think that any of these facts are not true?” If they dispute or contest any of the facts, guess what’s going to happen? They’re going to revoke your title, and they might even take action against you for doing the process the wrong way.

Final Takeaway and Alternative Options
The takeaway from this is: don’t make “abandoned vehicle” your first idea for getting a title, even though you might have read about it on web forums, chat groups, or heard about it from classic car enthusiasts. Abandoned vehicle is not the process of getting a title—it’s a process of getting rid of a vehicle, which is probably not what you’re trying to do.

If you have more questions about how to work through all this, click the link below and we can tell you more about it. If you found this helpful, be sure to check out other articles on our site to see if there’s further information that could give you more insight into resolving your particular situation.

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Titles For Impounded Vehicles

Law Enforcement Seizing Vehicles in Street Takeovers
Here’s an interesting new development from the law enforcement side regarding vehicles: they’re now wanting to seize vehicles that are involved in these street takeovers where crowds of people go to an intersection and do donuts and burnouts and all that kind of stuff. And they want to seize the cars. The problem with that is, what if you’re just an innocent bystander? What if you just pulled up and pulled over to the side because you couldn’t get through? Are they going to try to claim your car?

Challenges of Retrieving Seized or Impounded Vehicles
One of the things we run into a lot with vehicle titles is when a vehicle is seized or impounded—it’s very difficult to get that vehicle back unless you have the physical title in your hand.

Importance of Having Your Vehicle Title
If you don’t have that title because you lost it or never transferred it, sometimes the towing company can hold that car longer than you would be able to get the title that fast, and then they can sell it at auction. Then you lose your car and they keep the money. So make sure that at any given time you always have the title in hand.

Avoiding Auto Seizure Situations
If your jurisdiction where you live is looking at some of these auto seizure policies—whether it’s for a street takeover, whether it’s for parking, whether it’s for any other type of scenario—make sure you avoid the situations that could get your car caught up in some type of vehicle seizure where you can’t get it back without its title.

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Can The Person At The DMV Be Wrong

Issues with Getting Answers from the DMV
We hear a lot from our customers that they’re having trouble getting good answers from their local DMV. A lot of times, we hear that they called the DMV or went in person to the DMV, and they were told something they could do—”Hey, if you do this, you’ll be able to get a title.” And they do that, and they find out later when they go back, “No, that didn’t work. You have to do something else.” Why is that? Is the DMV trying to mislead you? Well, they’re not really. It’s just that sometimes, for more difficult or complex title issues, the DMV employee you talked to initially may not know the right answer.

Lack of Training Among DMV Employees
A lot of times, the DMV employees are not necessarily trained on all the possible scenarios, so they might just give a guess or something they think is right. And then when you come back, they look it up, and it’s wrong. We deal with the DMV 80–90 times per day, and a lot of times what they tell you is incorrect. Again, not intentionally misleading—it’s just sometimes vague information.

Access to Expert Consultation
You have access to live one-on-one consultation and the 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 on your options. We want to tell you what we know about your situation and what options you have.

DMV Offices Closing Due to Non-Compliance
The offices that are actually being closed down because of non-compliance—sometimes these offices are doing things so badly that the main office for the DMV has to shut them down. This happened in Texas, where one county was closed by the DMV for non-compliance. They had to go through some training so they could learn better. And it’s not a one-off—it’s an ongoing trend of violating their rules and statutes.

The Importance of Getting Information in Writing
Don’t be surprised if you go to the DMV and might not want to take what they say at face value. Maybe get it in writing. We recommend if they tell you you can do something, have them give it to you in writing so that if you go back later and they tell you something different, you can say, “No, I have it right here.” Or look up the statute yourself to know what the rules are. Or get some third-party verification of the procedure you can use to get a vehicle title so you don’t get stuck with a car that you can’t get a title for.

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Why Is It So Hard To Get A Title From The DMV?

Waiting in Line at the DMV
So do you hate the DMV? Well, imagine these people waiting in line at 2 a.m.—over one hundred people waiting in line. This is in Broward County, Florida. This was posted on social media: pictures of these people just sitting, waiting in the dark, trying to get to the DMV to get a title, registration, or license. The caption says they only accept the first 50 people, and there are over 100 people in this line. So do anything you can to avoid waiting in line.

Alternatives to Visiting the DMV
The DMV is good at what they do. Try to handle your business by mail. Try to do it online. Try using a service. But if you’re looking to get something done at the DMV by going in person, waiting in line is the last thing you want to do.

Challenges with Contacting the DMV
And as you’ve probably already found out, you’re not going to get anybody on the phone when you call them. So don’t try calling them either, because they don’t have customer service at the DMV.

Considering Other Options
So this is just another example of why the DMV is tough to deal with and why you might want to look at alternatives to going down in person and torturing yourself with all those people at 2 a.m.

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Should You File A Lien or An Abandoned Vehicle?

How to File for a Mechanic’s Lien on an Abandoned Vehicle
Well, first of all, it’s very important to distinguish between a mechanic’s lien and an abandoned vehicle, because abandoned vehicles have a lot of limitations on what you can do. In most cases, the vehicle that you’re trying to get a title for really is not abandoned. Because if you call it abandoned, you’re probably going to lose out on what you’re trying to do with your title.

Example from Maryland
We’ll talk about that as an example. We’re going to take a look at a specific state—happens to be Maryland—and how they address mechanic’s liens and how you get titles and what you can and can’t do. Remember, we do have a service where if you want assistance with this mechanic’s lien vehicle title process, you can access that on our website. And we can give you more information either as instructions, or we could do it for you, or we can even do consultation.

Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration
First, we’re going to look at Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s process for entitling a vehicle with a mechanic’s lien.

Federal Guidelines for Mechanic’s Liens
Remember, this is just one state, but most states have about the same rules. And the reason we selected this one to give you as an example, even if you’re not in Maryland—the chances of you being in Maryland are very slim because it’s the smallest state in the country and there are 50 states, so you’re probably not in Maryland—but the rules here are probably very similar or the same as your state. Why is that? Most states use the federal guidelines for mechanic’s liens and abandoned vehicles.

What is a Mechanic’s Lien?
So what is a mechanic’s lien? You can put it against a vehicle by a repair or storage facility if the owner fails to pay the repair bill and leaves the vehicle in the custody of the facility. Now, think about that. This is not abandoned. They intentionally gave it to you in your custody for an extended period of time.

Selling the Vehicle
After taking the action required to establish a lien, the facility can then sell the vehicle to recoup the money owed to you. That sounds like what you want to do. Don’t be scared by what it says here about selling the vehicle at a public auction. It’s not like you have to bring it to some auction and let them auction it off. You hold the vehicle on your premises. You just give the public notice that they can come offer you a bid. You don’t have to take their bids. You could put your own bid in and beat everybody. It’s not like you have to pay anybody money. The money’s going right to you. You just have to at least let the public offer you something for it.

Rules for Obtaining a Mechanic’s Lien
What are the rules for obtaining a mechanic’s lien? Remember, this is a brief overview, but it does give you some insight into how it works. All of the following must be true before you can establish a mechanic’s lien. Notice the first word “all.” You have to have all of these true.

Charges and Repair Authorization
Charges for the vehicle or vehicle repairs must go unpaid for at least 30 days. Meaning that you can’t just jump the gun and file it 2 days after the guy dropped off the car. You have to wait a month. Charges must be supported by a repair authorization. What does that mean? You have to have a completed repair order authorized by the vehicle owner, including a detailed description of the work performed. So you can’t just make stuff up. You have to have it in writing and the owner has to sign it before you do the work.

Other Options
If you don’t have that or don’t meet any of these other criteria, there are other ways you can get a title. Our website will give you what’s called a civil lien or a court order title or a bonded title. There are other things you can do. So if you don’t meet these criteria, don’t worry. You can do other things. And sometimes the other things are actually easier.

Storage Fees
If you want to charge storage fees, you have to have a storage contract. You can’t just make up storage fees out of the blue and say “I’m charging you $20 a day.” Can’t do it. You have to have it in writing and signed.

Abandoned Vehicles
A vehicle that has been abandoned does not qualify for a mechanic’s lien. So don’t start calling these vehicles abandoned.

Contacting the Police
What happens if the vehicle’s abandoned? The local police department should be contacted.

Steps to Establish a Mechanic’s Lien
How do I establish a mechanic’s lien? At least 10 days prior to the planned auction date, you have to send a notification letter by registered mail to all the persons listed below.

Notification Details
The owner of the vehicle. The person who left the vehicle if it’s different than the owner. So if the vehicle’s owned by Joe Smith and Sally Smith dropped it off, you have to send a letter to each of those people.

Security Interest Holders
You have to send a letter to all holders of a security interest. What does that mean? That means lienholders. So if the vehicle has a lienholder, you have to send them a notice. And you have to send a notice to basically the DMV, the government authority.

Content of the Notification Letter
What has to be in that letter? The VIN number, year and make. A list of all the charges owed to you. So you have to have a breakdown of what the fees are that you’re claiming. Letting people know it’s going to be auctioned and the date and time of that auction.

Newspaper Advertisement
What you also have to do is you must also place a notice in the newspaper. And it’s very specific how you have to do it.

Correcting Errors in Advertisement
If the newspaper advertisement is incorrect, meaning you don’t wait the number of days, you do it too soon, too late, you must re-advertise and again send the certified letters out again.

Auction and Title
Then you hold your auction and you get your title.

Downsides and Limitations
What are the downsides? The downsides are, first of all, if you’re not a licensed repair facility, you can’t do this. You can’t just fix cars in your backyard and do a mechanic’s lien because you’re an illegal mechanic to begin with. You can’t make up storage fees out of the blue. You also can’t wait too long. Most states have a rule that says you have to do this within six or eight or ten months. If you’ve been sitting on a car for 10 years, you can’t do a mechanic’s lien.

Alternative Titles
Most of the time if you’ve been sitting on a car more than two or three years, you’re out of luck for a mechanic’s lien. But there are other things you could do that still get you a title. And a lot of times those other things are better than a mechanic’s lien. Like a civil lien or court order title or bonded title or VT transfer.

Importance of Legitimacy
A mechanic’s lien is a powerful tool to get a title for a vehicle that has other problems. However, don’t do a fake mechanic’s lien if a person really did not bring their car in for repairs. You don’t have a signed repair order. Don’t start making stuff up because what’ll happen is that the owner of the vehicle after you get your title is going to get a letter saying “Hey, we noticed that your vehicle was transferred away from you using a mechanic’s lien.”

Consequences of Fraud
Did you sign a repair order? Did you bring your car in for work? They’re going to audit the mechanic’s lien. If they find out that you filed a fake mechanic’s lien, they’re going to revoke your title and they’re going to do enforcement action against you. You may not think it’s a big deal but the state licensing authority—they do know that people use this improperly to get titles when they’re not supposed to.

Consultation and Assistance
So make sure you’re doing it the right way. Make sure you’re all legit, i’s dotted, t’s crossed. If there’s any question that the mechanic’s lien might not be the way to go, then do a civil lien. Do a court order title. Do a bonded title. It’s way better in terms of how it works out for you. If you do have more questions about how to run one of these, how to do the paperwork, or you just want us to do it for you, click the link below.

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