DMV (title transfer) question

[AnalBumCover]

Okay, how badly did I eff up?

I paid off my car back in 2004, and received the Certificate of Ownership, with the signature on the bottom, signed by the lienholder (my credit union) releasing interest in the vehicle.

I didn't do anything with it when I first received it. The certificate came in the mail without any further instructions... I just assumed it was a document I keep in my files. Was I supposed to submit this to the DMV when I received it?

Now, I wanted to put another lien on my car to raise funds for my upcoming wedding, and they - a different credit union - are asking for my documents (registration, proof of insurance, proof of title). This is when I noticed the original credit union is listed as lienholder on my car registration.

Is this going to be a problem?

[Butter]

I think you just give them the title, and they record their lien on it somehow.

[Grammaticus]

Generally you are supposed to have the car re-titled when you get the paperwork from the bank and you get a fresh title showing no lien.

But, you should be able to just give it to the bank that you are working with now and they would be able to process. The new bank may make you re-title first. Either way, it should work fine, it may just take longer than if you had re-titled when you paid off the car.

You have to pay in time now, for what you avoided before.

[SnDvls]

you don't have to do anything until you sell the car or add the new lein holder.

basically you have a lein release that says the C.U.'s interest in the car is paid off. If you tried to retitle it without it you would have problems. You don't need to retitle it just because you paid it off. Keep the lein release with your title in the even you do get a new lein on it or sell it because then you will need it.

[Crim]

This is my favorite Primus song. That is all.

Crim

[Coder]

Hmm.. I'm not entirely sure, but since we sell a lot of cars to US Tourists, I'll just toss this out.. not even sure if this is the same document, but whatever.. we have a document called MSO, which is a certificate of origin.. on this document, the owner is written..

However, there's only one original, so if the first "owner" is a lienholder, this should always be written on the MSO, but the next owner, in the case of someone who pays off the car, should be written on the back of the MSO.. each time the car changes hands, the new owner should be written on the back of the MSO...