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I have been reading this forum for almost a year and have really appreciated all of the information I have learned from it. My husband and I finally moved here in August and I experienced the extreme frustration of trying to register a leased vehicle. The problem is that SC requires the original title, which lease companies will not provide. After 4 months of trying to solve this, three trips to the DMV, and many calls to my lease company including trying to get all of the paperwork sent together to Blythewood, SC from them (which got lost in the mail!), I went to a dealer in Charlotte and asked for help. They said to do the following which solved my problem in 10 minutes!
They said to take a copy of the power of attorney, which you can get from your lease company and ask for a "Title in Suspense". This means the DMV deals with the leased company in changing over the title. We get to stay out of the aggravation!
I had been dealing with the DMV office on Heckle Blvd in Rock Hill (and long distance with the main DMV office in Blythewood, SC) and decided
to go to the one on Hands Mill Road in Rock Hill. We walked in, told the clerk what we needed, she asked to see the power of attorney and my application. All was in order and within 10 minutes we were done! Three separate people in that office knew what we were talking about and not one person in the Heckle Road office (or the main DMV) ever suggested this process.
I can't tell you the amount of frustration that could have been avoided had someone in the Heckle Road office told us of this process. I have read many posts here about this frustration. I was considering getting rid of my car but it would have costs thousands of dollars.
If this post can save even one newcomer the frustration of registering a leased vehicle, I will be thrilled. Unfortunately, this whole experience turned what was to be a happy move into a very frustrating one. We were beginning to think we made a big mistake! All is well now!
I had some trouble with this too but not as much, thankfully. The Pageland DMV office told me that I had to contact my lien holder and give them the DMV's fax number. Within 48 hours GMAC would fax the POA paperwork to the DMV so I could get my registration.
When it comes time to pay taxes on a leased car in SC, the county treasurer (at least in Lancaster) doesn't have the driver's name in the computer. It's listed under the lien holder's name.
Movingdown, your saga sounds exactly like mine - I'm so sorry about that. I also abandoned the Heckle office, and dealt with the Newport office. They had a little trouble with Columbia, since there is a $75 fine for not registering within however many days, but I refused to pay the fine since it was the DMV who lost the paperwork and delayed the entire transaction. So it took me a few hours in Newport, but they solved it and let me move on with my life
Although, last month the Newport office did at first refuse to transfer my plate to another car without the bill of sale. I fought them on that since it wasn't on the list at the top of the form. I brought everything the form said to bring, and they eventually gave in. Sheesh.
I had a feeling that I would hear from more people who had a problem registering a leased car. What I really hope, though, is that some people who haven't gone through this yet will be able to register their vehicle more quickly than we did.
Isn't it a shame that the Heckle Road DMV in Rock Hill didn't give us the information that obviously solved the problem quickly? I wonder why one office is so different in their rules from the others?
Also, the Heckle office told me they couldn't accept a fax from the lease company since they needed originals! Oh well, it is over now, but it really made life very upsetting for quite awhile because I was caught between the DMV and the lease company.
Well, I thought I had this problem solved! After getting the car registered locally in December and stopping the check I sent to the Bythewood, SC main DMV that got lost somewhere... I got ANOTHER plate and registration in the mail two days ago! It seems that the lost paperwork was found after 4 months and they processed it even though the car was already registered!!
We went to the local DMV to return the new plates and found out that the main DMV canceled our December registration when they issued the new plates! The really bad part is my check will bounce and they will probably decide to cancel the new one!
The lovely ladies at the Hands Mill Rd DMV are trying to solve this and will call me when they have a solution. I am so glad they are really trying to help us.
I can't believe this saga continues on! The somewhat funny part is that the lease on the car is up in July and we are moving again locally probably in June, so we will have to deal with all of this all over again!
Meanwhile, if you lease a car and ask locally for the "title in suspense" as I mentioned in the first post, you won't have to deal with the Blythewood, SC DMV!
Geez... what a welcome to SC!!
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