How to Avoid and Prevent Vehicle Title Problems
A vehicle title is a legal government document issued only by a government agency. You can’t buy one from a company. You can’t download one from the internet. You have to get it from the government. Now, if you have a car that’s titled in your name, the government has your name in their records as the owner. So if you lose that title certificate or it gets misplaced or damaged, you can actually go to the government and say, “Hey, this car is in my name. I lost my title. Give me another one.”
Replacing a Lost Vehicle Title
They’ll look it up in the system to make sure your name is on the record. They’ll check your ID to make sure you’re really the person asking for it, and they’ll give you another one. There may be a nominal fee—$20, $30, something like that. But if the vehicle is not in your name, now it’s a bigger problem. Let’s say you buy a vehicle from Craigslist or Facebook or somewhere, and the seller doesn’t give you a title. Or maybe they give you a title, but you lose it before you switch it to your name.
The Problem with an Unregistered Vehicle
Now you have a problem because the title record with the government agency that gives out titles doesn’t have your name on it. They don’t know you’re the owner. They have no way of knowing you’re supposed to have that car. You might have a receipt showing you bought it—maybe a bill of sale, maybe some text messages saying, “Hey, I bought this car.” But you got to remember, the DMV or the title organization in your state is not allowed to grant you a title just based on a text message or even a bill of sale, which is just a receipt that you gave somebody some money. It doesn’t prove that they were the owner.
How to Obtain a Title Without Proper Paperwork
So what do you do? Well, there are a few processes you can use to get a title in a scenario where you don’t have the right paperwork. In many states, you can do a bonded title, where you sign an affidavit saying, “Look, I swear I bought this car. This is my car. I’m supposed to get it. I’m supposed to have it.” And if you sign an affidavit saying, “Yep, I bought this car fair and square,” they’ll say, “We’ll take your word for it, but you’re going to need a surety bond.”
Using a Surety Bond for a Vehicle Title
A surety bond is a backup document from a company that backs up your story. The website below, cartitles.com, will tell you more about that. You can also do what’s called a magistrate title. If you want to bypass the DMV—because look, we’ve all dealt with the DMV. We know what kind of bureaucracy it is. We know what kind of rules they have. And if you don’t have everything 100% right when you go to the DMV—when I say DMV, I mean the state agency that gives out titles in your state.
Different Agencies Handling Titles
Most states call it the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Some states call it the Department of Transportation. Some states handle it through the Secretary of State. Some states do it through their County Sheriff’s office or their Tax Collector’s office. Either way, whatever state agency does titles, they have very specific rules. They can’t just hand out a title based on your say-so. If you don’t have all the right paperwork, they are not allowed to give you a title.
Using the Court System for a Vehicle Title
So you can go over their head. You can bypass them by going to the local court and having them give you a judgment—a petition of ownership—that you are the owner. Now, that’s a little tricky because you have to prepare some documents to file, but sometimes it’s better to do that than deal with the DMV. Again, our website, cartitles.com, will give you instructions on how to do that.
Seeking Expert Consultation
We also have consultation if you have a very tricky situation—maybe a lien holder, maybe a deceased owner, maybe a mechanic’s lien. There are many complicated situations, and if you want to talk directly to a certified title agent, you can do that as well. You can either go to cartitles.com or even this website, actualhuman.com, and talk to an actual human.
Keeping Track of Your Car Titles
Maybe you’re having problems with a duplicate title because you moved from one state to another. There are a lot of things that could come up, but you want to make sure that you are tracking the location and validity of all your car titles for any vehicles you own. Check on them every year or two to make sure they’re still in the file cabinet, they’re still in the safe, wherever you keep them. Because if they get lost, the sooner you replace it, the better.
Transferring a Title to Your Name Immediately
And if you have a vehicle you’ve purchased and not yet transferred to your name, do that as soon as you can. Because if you lose that title that’s in somebody else’s name, it’s very difficult to solve that problem later.
