Motorcycle Title with Lien in TX (Howe: credit report, loan, transfer) - Houston - Texas - City-Data Forum

mdh1 · 09-01-2010, 09:21 PM

Hi,

I went to the DMV to transfer the NY title for my bike to TX. It has a lien on the title that was paid off two owners ago but the DMV here said that if I submitted it, they would not send a title back to me but would send it to the lien company - in effect leaving me with no title. Now I have to hunt down this company to get a release letter. Is it true that they will not send the title to me (simply notating that it has a lien)? It was not like this in NY (which was why I actually have a title).

Just as a side note: The DMV in TX doesn't seem to respect any NY documentation. I had trouble with transferring my car title (w/ no lien) and drivers license. I needed additional documentation above and beyond NY documentation stating that I was who I was on my license and that I was the owner of my car despite my NY title. I've never seen anything like this before. It's like I'm presenting documentation from a 3rd world country that they've never heard of or something... Very irritating.

Anyway, is this true regarding the tltle? Will they not send it to me?

RCH99 · 09-01-2010, 09:38 PM

Are you sure you don't have a " non-negotiable " title? The lender typically holds the actual title if there is still a lien in place. If the bike has been sold several times, surely the original lien has been satisfied.

You might try a different DMV office...there are in fact quite a few less than helpful asshats working in those offices.

TVC15 · 09-01-2010, 09:53 PM

It's just as bad in California! Here they took my paid off motorcycle title (I had no lien on it) and sent a new title to me for the State of California. It is state by state thing.

I thought the same things about the California DMV that you are thinking about the Texas DPS. It all worked out for me though. Just follow the rules and you should be fine even though it is frustrating. I have a lien on my car and thus the bank has the title but the DMV said I could not reigister my car here unless I contacted the bank and had the title sent to them. It is what I had to do to register my Texas car here.

I bought a new motorcycle here and that went as smooth as silk. It was all taken care of at the motorcycle dealership...not one trip to the DMV!

Once you get past the registering of out of state vehicles and get your driver license things will go much more smoothly for you there. It was a little strange for me coming from Texas and dealing with the California DMV but after all of that was said and done things just started falling into place.

Dealing with the DPS even for a Texas resident is not a pleasant experience on most occasions!

mdh1 · 09-03-2010, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCH99

Are you sure you don't have a " non-negotiable " title? The lender typically holds the actual title if there is still a lien in place. If the bike has been sold several times, surely the original lien has been satisfied.

You might try a different DMV office...there are in fact quite a few less than helpful asshats working in those offices.

This was a non-issue in NY because we would simply get the title mailed to us from the DMV instead of them mailing it to the lien company but TX is appearently a different story. They said they will take my NY title, and send the TX title to the lien company who has never heard of me and I will have no title in my posseision. So I thought it would be best to get the release letter first so that they would mail me the title.

I contacted the company and they asked me to fax a request for a lien release letter. But then I got to thinking...if it turns out that there is still a lien on this bike, will the company now say that the lien is my legal responsibilty because I own the bike now? I did call and check years ago and they said no lien was on it but stories always change.... I probably shouldn't have bought it without the title cleared anyway but I was much younger back then and that is the past. What I want to know is where I stand today. Could the company make me officially and legally liable for the lien (affect my credit report, etc...) if one exists?

TVC15 · 09-03-2010, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdh1

This was a non-issue in NY because we would simply get the title mailed to us from the DMV instead of them mailing it to the lien company but TX is appearently a different story. They said they will take my NY title, and send the TX title to the lien company who has never heard of me and I will have no title in my posseision. So I thought it would be best to get the release letter first so that they would mail me the title.

I contacted the company and they asked me to fax a request for a lien release letter. But then I got to thinking...if it turns out that there is still a lien on this bike, will the company now say that the lien is my legal responsibilty because I own the bike now? I did call and check years ago and they said no lien was on it but stories always change.... I probably shouldn't have bought it without the title cleared anyway but I was much younger back then and that is the past. What I want to know is where I stand today. Could the company make me officially and legally liable for the lien (affect my credit report, etc...) if one exists?

It is not just in Texas. If there is a lien on that title the finance company will hang onto the title until it is paid off. I encountered that with the DMV here in California. I have a lien on my car and upon registering it I was told to call the bank and have the Texas title mailed to me and bring it to the DMV and then they would then issue a title from the State of California to the bank. I will receive that title once I pay off the lien. It sounds to me that upon trying to register your motorcycle the Texas DMV found that your title was not clean. If you own the bike and there is a lien on that title I wonder how did you get the title to begin with? If it were me I would contact the company to find out the status of the title and if there is a balance remaining on that bike. It is better to know where you stand then to wonder.

However upon registering my motorcycle with a Texas title and no lien on the title...the California DMV took my Texas title and within a few weeks mail me a new title from the Sate of California. They issued it to me since there is no lien on my bike.

Good Luck!

wstaffor · 09-03-2010, 12:26 PM

If the lien on the bike was satisfied, the bank should have signed it and marked it as such before they sent it back to the original owner. If the title you have is marked as liened without a signed release, you will absolutely have to get it released (either by the bank or by getting a clean NY title) before you can register it. Another option is, once you confirm with the bank that there is no lien, have Texas send the title to the bank, and then they can immediately sign it to release the lien and send back to you.

mdh1 · 09-03-2010, 01:49 PM

The bank told me to send them the request for release letter but at the same time did not explicitly say (at least on my last call) that there was no lien remaining and ofcourse I have no account info on a loan to provide nor would they share it with me because it is not my info. I just don't want to send them all my contact info for them to mail me a release letter and in turn I get a bill!!! So what I want to know is can they make me financially liable to pay the lien if one exists because I now own the bike?

RCH99 · 09-03-2010, 02:05 PM

It sounds like that "fast and easy" New York title transfer policy isn't all it's cracked up to be.......If there is indeed a lien still attached to the bike, you don't technically own it. You do own the resulting mess, however. Good Luck!

If it's an FJ1300, I'll give you 50 bucks for it

Cash!

mdh1 · 09-03-2010, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCH99

It sounds like that "fast and easy" New York title transfer policy isn't all it's cracked up to be.......If there is indeed a lien still attached to the bike, you don't technically own it. You do own the resulting mess, however. Good Luck!

If it's an FJ1300, I'll give you 50 bucks for it

Cash!

Works fine in NY. Only a problem now. Wonder why? Go figure...

RCH99 · 09-03-2010, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdh1

Works fine in NY. Only a problem now. Wonder why? Go figure...

How can you possibly state that it works fine in New York? The fact that you claim that it's possible for hard earned money to change hands while everybody just passes around a "title" with no confirmation that any and all previous liens are retired is absurd.