Private Car Sale

[isis297]

What is the name of your state? NY

Apparently my area of NY doesn't have the option of giving you a copy of your title in person. You have to order it online which I did and paid the rush fee to get it quickly. It came in and now that I look at it, it still shows the lien holder from ages ago. The car has been paid off for about 12 years now. Any suggestions on how to quickly fix this? I will obviously call DMV tomorrow, but what if the guy coming today wants to take the car? Is there some transfer of ownership form I can use?

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state? NY

Apparently my area of NY doesn't have the option of giving you a copy of your title in person. You have to order it online which I did and paid the rush fee to get it quickly. It came in and now that I look at it, it still shows the lien holder from ages ago. The car has been paid off for about 12 years now. Any suggestions on how to quickly fix this? I will obviously call DMV tomorrow, but what if the guy coming today wants to take the car? Is there some transfer of ownership form I can use?

It doesn't matter what form you fill out because the lienholder will still be listed. You're going to need to explain the situation to any potential buyer so they know that you are NOT able to transfer title at this time and they will need to wait. Do NOT let them drive off with the car.

 

[adjusterjack]

You will need to get back with the lienholder and get a lien release that you can take to the DMV to get the lien removed from the title. You should have done that when you paid off the loan.

After 12 years, however, if the lender no longer has records, you might not be able to get a lien release. You may have to post a bond to get the lien removed from the title by the DMV.

See 2105(d) of NY's Vehicle and Traffic Law:

https://law.justia.com/codes/new-york/2017/vat/title-10/article-46/2105/

 

[HighwayMan]

Apparently my area of NY doesn't have the option of giving you a copy of your title in person.

What does that mean? You should have your title. No one walks into DMV and gets a title right then and there. Are you talking about a duplicate title??

Is there some transfer of ownership form I can use?

Yeah, your title along with the lien release that the lienholder gave you when you paid them off.