How to Post an Auto Lien on a Motor Vehicle

how to post an auto lien

When you’re in a good financial situation and have the ability to lend someone five dollars or even twenty bucks, you may not stress about it too much. You’re probably not going to require them to sign a contract or do anything that legally binds them to the five or twenty dollars that they owe you. 

However, when it comes to more significant amounts, the same rules typically don’t apply. When you start lending tens of thousands—or hundreds of thousands—of dollars to people, you usually want something in writing that ensures you’ll get your money back or have the opportunity to take action if you don’t. 

Of course, this scenario can play out in your personal or professional life, but it’s especially prevalent in the auto industry. It doesn’t matter if you’re a private lender or a salesperson at a dealership. If you’re providing money to help someone purchase a vehicle, you want to protect yourself in case the individual defaults on their loan, which means you need to post an auto lien

What is an auto lien? 

A lien is basically an insurance policy that protects you as the lender. Merriam-Webster dictionary explains it as “a charge upon real or personal property for the satisfaction of some debt or duty ordinarily arising by operation of law.” 

Keeping that in mind, when it comes to an auto lien, you have the right to a person’s vehicle until they pay off their debt to you. Having this ownership means you get to keep the car title in your name and possession. Additionally, if the borrower defaults on their loan, a creditor can repossess the car, taking it away from the driver completely.   

What are the different types of liens?

When you post an auto lien on a vehicle, it’s considered a voluntary lien. By falling into this category, the borrower is agreeing to the contract and giving you the right to their property if they fail to meet the obligations in the deal. 

However, one car can have multiple liens on it. These types of liens show up for various reasons and typically fall into the “involuntary” category. For example, a borrower may have these additional liens on their vehicle

  • Judgment liens: This lien occurs when a creditor thinks it’s time to take a borrower to court for failing to pay on their loan. These liens are court-ordered. 
  • Mechanics liens: If a borrower doesn’t pay for a specific service, a mechanics loan will likely appear on the car title. 
  • Tax liens: The Internal Revenue Services (IRS) will place a tax lien on a borrower’s property if the person fails to pay taxes on their car. When this happens, the IRS has the right to liquidate a borrower’s assets, including the motor vehicle, to recover what the person owes the government. 

If you’re working with a reliable borrower, these involuntary liens will most likely not show up. But it’s still good to know which liens might appear on a vehicle if your borrower isn’t making their necessary payments. 

Can someone sell a car with a lien on it? 

can you sell a car that has an auto lien on it

Even though you post a lien on a vehicle, your borrower can sell the car with your expressed permission. Providing this wiggle room will not disadvantage you since you have the first right to any money that comes from the sale. 

For example, maybe the borrower sells the car for $10,000, the exact amount they still owe you. In this case, you’ll get every penny from that transaction. The borrower will only walk away debt-free. 

However, perhaps the borrower sells the car for $20,000. In this scenario, you’ll still receive the $10,000 that they owe. But the borrower will get to keep the other half of the profits. Most likely, you’ll receive one check, and the borrower will receive another. 

Additionally, if the borrower pays off their debt by selling the car, your next step is to remove the lien. Then, you’ll need to transfer the title to the new buyer.

Should you use the DMV to post an auto lien?

When it’s time to place an auto lien on a vehicle, there are two paths that you can take. The first is the most obvious: go to the Department of Motor Vehicles Services (DMV) for help. 

You can visit the DMV’s website to find an office that’s near you. All you have to do is type in your city, state, or zip code, and the DMV will pull up its most suitable locations.

From there, you need to drive to the DMV and fill out some paperwork. A representative will give you a title application, which will ask you to provide personal information, vehicle information, and details regarding your lien. After you fill everything out, you just need to submit the application and pay a fee, which varies state by state. 

Overall, this process is nothing new, but it’s still long and time-consuming. It requires back-and-forth, physical paperwork, frustrating wait times, and multiple trips to the DMV if you need to provide more information for your auto lien. 

Of course, if you have an abundance of patience and plenty of time on your hands, this process may not seem too difficult. But if you’re someone who wants a quicker solution, you need to consider the second path to posting an auto lien. 

The best way to post an auto lien

For a more efficient way to post an auto lien, you should use a transportation agency with online services. For example, companies like Barry Risk Management do the same things as the DMV, but their representatives help customers online. 

If you want to post an auto lien through Barry Risk Management, you don’t have to drive to a specific location or fill out any physical paperwork. Instead, all you have to do is contact a representative and provide the information they need. Then, they’ll create the auto lien for you. 

It’s that simple. 

There are no long wait times or constant back-and-forth. With a transportation agency like Barry Risk Management, you can get things done quickly and efficiently. It also helps that Barry Risk Management has over 30 years of experience in the DMV industry, so you’ll be working with an experienced team of professionals who know how to help, regardless of the state that you call home. 

Call 1-888-995-TAGS(8247) to speak with a representative from Barry Risk Management to put an auto lien on a car!

How to Remove a Lien on a Car Title

how to remove a lien on a car title if you want sell your vehicle

Selling your car doesn’t immediately sound like a difficult process. If you’ve never done it before, you may assume that you only have to find an interested buyer, get the money from them, and hand them the title and keys to your car. Sounds easy enough, right? 

Luckily, if you’ve paid off the loan for your motor vehicle, this process is, in fact, that easy. However, if you’re still making payments, there will be a lien on your car title that you need to remove before you can ever sell your vehicle. 

Research suggests that a record 107 million Americans have auto loan debt. This number is about 43% of the entire adult U.S. population, which is a drastic increase from what experts saw in 2012. 

During that time, only 80 million Americans were making car payments. But today, you can probably find multiple relatives, friends, coworkers, or even strangers with an auto loan. 

Having this type of financial support isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, a car loan may be the very reason you have your vehicle today—but it does become an issue when you want to sell your car. When that situation arises, you must remove the lien on your car title before you can take any further steps. 

What is a lien on a car title? 

Simply put, a lien protects creditors. It provides them with legal claims against pieces of property to ensure they collect the money they’re owed. 

For example, maybe you had to finance your vehicle through a bank or auto dealer. In those cases, you’d consider them as your creditors. And when you apply for a car title, you’d have to be transparent about who your lender is.

Once you apply, the lien will go and remain on your title until you finish paying your debt. Only then will your lender help remove the lien so that you can sell your vehicle. 

Who holds a lien on your vehicle? 

you must know who holds the lien on a car title if you want to remove the lien on the car title.

There are instances where your lienholder may not be an auto loan lender. For example, some states allow mechanics to put a lien on your car title if you haven’t paid them within a certain amount of time. However, more often than not, your auto loan lender will be the only one to hold the lien on your car. 

Depending on where you live, the lender will file the lien with your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. And after you’ve paid off your debt, the lender will send another document to the DMV to release the lien so that the car title can be updated and transferred to you. 

This method is a simple process. The only thing you have to do is keep up with your car payments. Then, you can pay off your loan and have the freedom to sell your vehicle whenever you want. 

The only time you’ll experience obstacles is when you aren’t paying your creditor. There are about 6 million Americans who are 90 days or more behind on their car payments. When you’re in this situation, it becomes very challenging to sell your vehicle because you’ve not only failed to pay off your loan, but you’ve also fallen behind. 

This mishap can even lead to consequences since you’re not the legal owner of your vehicle. For example, your auto lender could repossess your car if you default on the loan. And then it’ll be impossible to sell your car. 

Can a buyer pay your auto loan to remove a lien? 

If you’re unable to pay your auto loan, you may still have an opportunity to sell your car. You just might have to rely on your potential buyer. 

Sometimes, a buyer can write a check out to your lienholder to pay the loan’s remaining balance. However, you’ll need to get your creditor’s approval to take this route. 

Make sure you call your lienholder for permission. If they agree to the terms, you can sell your vehicle, and the car title will be transferred to the new buyer. 

What happens after you pay your debt? 

While paying off your debt is the first step you must take to remove a lien on a car title, it’s not the last. If you want to finish removing a lien, you need to get help from a transportation organization. 

Typically, people like to visit their local DMV office to finish this process. The DMV will have the necessary forms you need to fill out. And it’s also the place where you can take any letter from your lender indicating the lien’s release. 

However, the DMV is also the place where you have to suffer through long lines, boring waiting rooms, sometimes grumpy employees, and unhappy customers. What’s worse is that the pandemic has made the DMV even slower and more stressful than usual.

These days, it’s hard to book an appointment. The lines are out the door, and the DMV’s calendar is full for months on end. Right now, especially, the DMV isn’t a place that you want to visit for help. The organization has a backlog that would make anyone want to scream.

But if you’ve paid off your loan and want to remove the lien on your car title, who can you go to for assistance? 

Who to use to remove a lien on a car title

When you need help removing a lien on your car title, you don’t have to go to the DMV. You have other options, and one of those options is Barry Risk Management, Inc.. 

With over 30 years of experience in the DMV industry, Barry Risk Management, Inc. can help remove an auto lien quickly and without any hassle. And the best part is that Barry Risk Management, Inc. can do it all online. 

You don’t have to leave your home. You don’t have to stand in a long line. And you don’t have to sit in a boring waiting room. 

All you have to do is get in touch with a representative from Barry Risk Management, Inc., and the agent will complete everything digitally. If they need you to fill out a document or submit any information, you can complete the task online. 

Barry Risk Management, Inc. makes things easy and simple. So, if you’ve finished paying off your auto loan and want to continue removing the lien on your car title, contact Barry Risk Management, Inc. for help. They’ll make sure you have everything you need to sell your vehicle in no time. 

Reach out here to speak with a representative with Barry Risk Management, Inc. so that you can remove the lien on your car title!