Common Questions About Vehicle Titles
So one of the most common questions that we get in our sales department in getting a title for a vehicle is using a mechanic’s lien or a storage lien or slapping storage fees on a vehicle or calling a vehicle abandoned. In most cases, those ideas come from online internet advice that’s probably not good advice, and here’s why. In most states, almost every state, if you call something an abandoned vehicle, it’s not Finders Keepers—you don’t get to keep it.
The Law Around Abandoned Vehicles and Liens
We’re going to take a look at a couple of examples, and this one here happens to be from the state of Oregon about what the law says if you call something abandoned and what the law says if you want to do a mechanic’s lien. That’s another backup, where if somebody runs into problems getting a title, they say, “Well, I’ll just put a mechanic’s lien on it and say that I fixed it, and I’ll get a title.” It doesn’t work that way, and there’s a lot of restrictions. Because of the fact that there’s a lot of fraud involved with abandoned vehicles and mechanic’s liens, the states’ DMV and titling authorities audit all of these mechanic’s liens to make sure they’re correct, and they’re usually not.
Oregon’s Vehicle Titling Guidelines
So here’s what they talk about in Oregon. First of all, this is going to be the same in most states because, even though it’s only one state, the states use federal guidelines for their titling processes. So just because this is one state, you’ll see the same exact language in many other states. This is their packet. The packet contains information for possessory liens, mechanic’s liens, or abandoned vehicles. If you notice right at the top, even before they talk about it, it says, “In order to title a vehicle, one must have acquired a legal interest through some legal process.” That’s in italics.
The Importance of a Legal Process
That is the first line of this entire 40-page document. The first line says that you must obtain legal interest through a legal process. You can’t just say, “Finders Keepers, my car,” right? You can’t say, “I called it.” You have to do a legal process. The other thing it says underneath is, “A towing company claiming a possessory lien must have a valid licensed business certificate issued under ORS 822.205.” So in order to claim a mechanic’s lien or a towing lien, you have to have a valid business license for that type of business. You can’t have a business license for a daycare; you have to have a business license for automotive.
Easier Methods To Get a Title
Now, that’s the bad news. The good news is if you have a vehicle with a title problem, there’s much better ways of doing it than an abandoned vehicle or mechanic’s lien. So don’t give up hope; don’t despair. Actually, the other ways are easier and faster. Some of these possessory liens and abandoned vehicle processes require waiting 90 days, 120 days, or in some states, 6 months to get a title. The other methods that are legal and legitimate sometimes take only 20 or 30 days.
Challenges With Getting DMV Help
Advice from the DMV: The DMV cannot advise you on any laws referenced in the packet. There may be other laws or procedures. If you have questions, you may wish to seek legal counsel. That doesn’t seem like it applies to you, but here’s the thing: the way it does apply to you is don’t try to get answers out of the DMV if you haven’t already. Good luck with that. The DMV does not have tech support, phone support, or customer support. You can’t call them up and say, “Hey, how do I do this? What’s the form? What do I do?”
Transferring Vehicle Ownership Through Liens
We get several thousand calls a day in our title company. Most of them are from people who tried to call the DMV to get basic answers, but the DMV doesn’t provide customer service. So they say, “I’ll just call this title company and get information.” Here’s what they say are situations where ownership of a vehicle may be transferable through the possessory lien process or mechanic’s lien process: Number one, vehicles owned by a tenant responsible for rent. The landlord may have a claim of lien. If you have a signed lease agreement for renting an apartment that matches the name on the registration, you might be able to do a mechanic’s lien.
Restrictions on Mechanic’s Liens
Even then, there are some hiccups. You can’t just say, “Well, somebody left it on my property,” or “I was charging storage, and they never paid.” That’s different. Vehicles owned by a tenant occupying rent for leased premises is not the same as renting space for a car. Vehicles abandoned on private property—this might seem like a solution, but it’s not. They have to be removed at the request of the owner. You can’t just do it yourself; you have to have it towed away by a licensed towing facility. The towing company may have a claim to a lien under ORS 98.835.
Licensed Towing Companies and Legal Claims
The private property owner doesn’t have a claim; the towing company may have a claim. And remember, the first thing it said was that, in order to tow a vehicle, you have to have a license. Vehicles repaired, stored, or towed at the request of the owner—this could be me, but the person who repaired, stored, or towed the vehicle may have a claim of lien. However, you have to have a business license to be a repair shop. You have to have an automotive license for repair, a body shop, or an automotive dealer.
Required Documentation for Vehicle Repairs
You might say, “Well, wait a minute. I got my buddy; he’s got a repair shop. I’ll do it.” But you have to notice what it says: it has to be repaired at the request of the owner. The first thing they’re going to ask for is your signed repair order. The owner of the vehicle had to sign an authorization for you to do work on the vehicle. If you don’t have that, you can’t do it.
Towing and Lien Authority
Number four is vehicles abandoned by a tenant, which we already talked about. Vehicles towed at the request of an appropriate authority—police, county, city—can be claimed by a towing company. Vehicles left or parked in violation of ORS 98.10 and removed either by a prescribed property or a parking facility at the request of the owner—same thing. The towing company, not the owner, has the claim.
Legal Process for Titling Abandoned Vehicles
Once again, abandoned vehicles’ first sentence—bold, italic, and underlined—states that “in order to title any vehicle, including abandoned vehicles, one must have acquired a legal interest through some legal process.” Generally, it will not be the property owner but whoever purchases the vehicle at a subsequent sale, meaning an auction. That applies for the title.
Legal Ownership Transfer
Let me say that again: “In order to title a vehicle, including abandoned vehicles, one must have acquired a legal interest through some legal process.” How many times do they have to say that? They have to say it because people think they can just grab a vehicle and say, “Finders Keepers.” In most cases, people do this through some form of purchase or financial agreement. That change of interest is accomplished through the voluntary existing title of the vehicle.
Conclusion: The Right Way to Get a Title
If that’s the case, there are much better ways of getting a title. Remember, the government says, “One cannot simply obtain title because the vehicle was left on one’s property.” You have to go through what they call “operation of law”—a legal interest, legal process. The good news is there’s a way you can do that without all this.
Avoiding Complex Processes
This process has 32 pages of instructions, forms, affidavits, waiting periods—60 days, 90 days, notifications, and all kinds of laws. I won’t bore you with all the details, but here’s the takeaway: if you want to go through all this, even when you’re not entitled to, it’s not going to work. There are easier ways, like bonded titles or court-ordered titles.
