Walshdaw

I found a car I am interested in and agreed on a price with seller... The car is out of state. Only issue is the car has a lien. Even if I meet with the seller at the lending institution and pay off the loan they are still going to mail the title to him, then I have to trust that he will sign over/fed ex the title to me.

Anyone out there have any experience/advice with this sort of transaction?

Thank you!

MVR 155

The seller will still need to sign the title so it will need to be sent to him/her prior to going to you. Unless his/her lending institution will allow a POA and then they could send the title directly to you? My advice would be to make a very detailed bill of sale and have it notarized (his financial institution may likely have a notary on staff). Make sure you have a documented paper trail of payment for the car. It will be pretty hard for a person to try and screw you over if you take the proper precautions. Not saying that it cannot happen but the more variables you eliminate the better.

MY03C5Z

Out of state and a lien on it? Next... Lots of cars out there, that sounds like a headache to me, I'd pass...

Dbl_D718

I bought mine out of state with lien. I paid him at his bank's office, sitting at his loan councilor's desk. The bank wrote up a bill of sale for both of us to have a copy of. They mailed him the title to sign and mail to me. It was actually a pretty smooth process.

Unless other red flags are waving that make you uneasy, it should be fine if you do it right.

goombadi99

When you purchase the car you go to the bank with the seller to pay off the loan. You will then get a lien release from the bank. YOU keep the signed title with the lien on it. When you get back to your state you go to the DMV to register it with the original title and lien release in hand. After that YOU will receive the new title in your name with no lien on it. The bank doesn't send him a new title after is paid off for him to sign over. The bank doesn't care that the lien is on the original. You always have to go through the DMV to get a new title without a lien on it.

Walshdaw

That is what I thought... However the bank is not in his state, it is in my state. Also the seller seems willing to do whatever needs to be done to sell the car, but the bank will not release the title to me. They claim they have to send the lien release to the customer that has the loan within 7-10 days and then he will get the title from the dmv in his state.

So the details of our deal involves him driving to the bank in my home state , me paying off his lien, filling out a bill of sale, me taking possession of the car and then me going to his state once he has the title to give him the remainder of the money. I know this seems like a lot hurdles/steps but this is the car I want. I just want to make sure this sounds like a legit deal and that Im not missing anything that could come back to bite me. I think since I would take possession of the car, with the bill of sale combined with the fact he will want the second payment everything should be good???

Again I appreciate the feedback. This is unlike any transaction Ive ever made.

Acid666

Yup, I looked into this when deciding to sell my motorcycle that I still had a lien on. Your options are to pay them in 2 checks (one to bank and one to seller) and then see about getting it in your name immediately, or one check to them and then they pay it off, get the title from the bank and then they transfer it to your name.

brplatz

This is what I did, paid it in two checks at his bank. Was pretty easy to be honest.

Bill Dearborn

How many states send the title to the lien holder Vs sending the title to the owner with a lien listed on the title? I know NY State provides the title to the owner with the lien notice printed on it.

Bill

charlestonSC

I am going through this process with a forum member right now for his 2002 Z06. It takes a little extra time, especially with him being in another state, but just keep a long paper trail with copies of DL, registrations, signed bills of sales etc.

imjdoggie

This is done on a daily basis, if you like the car and Banks are involved go for it.........

Sirk17

Agreed I sold my EB z06 with a lien out of state. The guy flew in we went to the bank he paid it off and gave me cash on top. Bank notorized a bill of sale. He drove it home1000 miles. I got the title about two weeks later signed it and mailed it to the new owner. As long as you can take the car upon doing the leg work it would be impossible for seller to dick you over.

Walshdaw

I appreciate everyones feedback. I did move forward with the purchase and it ended up being a very smooth transaction.

silver408z

Another option might be to get a loan from your bank to buy it. Your bank will let itself get stiffed and it will get the title. As soon as they actually have the title, just pay it off. Make them work for you. It will cost you minimal in interest or fees.

Stroker87

i was on the other side of this selling a truck that had a lien on it the way we worked it since the bank "had" to send me the title, we did all the paper work sent the check to the bank and i drove the truck to his home parked it and pulled the plates off it once it was his garage, 2 weeks later the title showed up signed it and handed it over

i tried my hardest to get the bank to send it to him but they would not do it, i did leave the insurance on it till he got the title though. if you paying off the loan he should not have a problem with you taking possession of the car once the bank gets the money

bikeriderga

Probably the best way to handle the process. Takes all of the guess work out of the equation.

Banks do this all of the time. They are familiar with everything you will need to do and will take care of it for you.