Dealer Penalties for Not Providing Vehicle Titles

So how much can it cost a dealer if they mess up your title or don’t get you the right kind of vehicle title? Well, in this case, $36,000 for a dealer in Wichita, where they were accused of deceptive practices. First Family Auto received a judgment against them for almost $36,000 in restitution to customers plus court costs and fees. Consumers filed a complaint accusing the dealership of failing to provide the title to the vehicles within 60 days, and failure to provide eight separate consumers the title to the vehicle they purchased within 60 days. That’s a big deal.

Look every state has laws on the books that say that a dealer has to provide buyers of a vehicle with the valid title within a certain period of time, 30 days to 60 days, or in a few states, it’s within 90 days. And if they don’t provide that they’re actually violating their dealer agreement and it can cost them their license. Many states have restitution funds for victims of delayed titles or no titles where the state can actually take money from the dealer and provide it to the victim for restitution. They can force the dealer to get a title, they can even give a court order for the DMV to issue a title even in absence of documents. 

So if you’re a victim, and you bought a car from a dealer, gave them good money in good faith, and they have not provided the valid title. Check into your state’s process for the dealership restitution complaint process. Every state’s a little different and every state has a different licensing board for dealers. Some go through the same division that issues titles like the Department of Motor Vehicles, while some have a separate licensing board. But you want to start this process early, that way you’re not at the back of the line behind everybody else that has the same problem as you.