This is like the worst catch-22 situation I've faced in my life! I don't have enough money to pay off the remaining loan on my car to get the title cleared from the lienholder (who has the title). So there was this buyer interested in buying the car and did not like the idea of giving me or the lien a check and wait for 7 days before they release the title. How does one sell a used car in NC when they don't have the title for the car in their hands? I felt foolish to ask the buyer to pay me now so that I can send him the title later

1/4/2007 1:36:48 PM

What my friend did was take out a loan to pay the lein holder, then put the car up for sale....and paid her loan back, and made a small profit.

1/4/2007 1:40:19 PM

ask him if putting something in writing outling the transaction will make him feel better.

^or that.

[Edited on January 4, 2007 at 1:40 PM. Reason : ]

1/4/2007 1:40:28 PM

Have your bank organize the exchange. I think it costs $10? Some banks do it for free.

You'll have to get your lienholder to agree to this. Basically the bank will act as a insured 3rd party. They hold the title and the check until the check clears and then the title goes to him when his check clears.

The only problem should be your lienholder. If the guy won't do it he's trying to scam you. And regardless you should only accept cash at this point. No cash no deal.

[Edited on January 4, 2007 at 1:44 PM. Reason : ! I suck at speaking]

1/4/2007 1:44:19 PM

^^^A loan on a loan I guess that will be the last resort..

^^ He's a retired military guy.. he wouldn't take anything but the title

[Edited on January 4, 2007 at 1:45 PM. Reason : ^]

1/4/2007 1:44:47 PM

Quote :

"So there was this buyer interested in buying the car and did not like the idea of giving me or the lien a check and wait for 7 days before they release the title."

Done that before, but I was buying a car from someone I knew and trusted.

[Edited on January 4, 2007 at 1:46 PM. Reason : Raige is right]

1/4/2007 1:45:27 PM

Quote :

"They hold the title and the check until the check clears and then the title goes to him when his check clears. "

Yes they said they can do this, but it will take 7 days before the buyer gets the title. Even if he gives a certified check / pays online. And of course, the title will still be in my name and I'll have to get it transferred.

1/4/2007 1:49:45 PM

Even if you won the lottery today its going to take 7 days. There is no way around it.

1/4/2007 1:55:46 PM

If I indeed do it this way, can the buyer get temporary permit to drive the car in NC before receiving the title? I was reading about bill of sale and I'm not entirely sure what it is..

1/4/2007 2:01:28 PM

with the bill of sale, the keys, and the car in his possession he wont have a problem. he wont legally be able to drive it all over the map (maybe just home) until he has the title transferred to him and he gets some tags though. not that i havent done that before lol.

1/4/2007 2:04:52 PM

what kind of car is this?

1/4/2007 2:05:25 PM

It's a 2006 Acura TSX; Hate to let it go..

So I asked the DMV and they say you can't drive the thing without a title transfer and getting a new tag. Why then do they have the bill of sale?

1/4/2007 2:10:22 PM

for documentation

1/4/2007 2:17:12 PM

i did it awhile back.

gave dude the car and bill of sale in exchange for the check (kept copy of bill of sale also)

sent him the title and had him turn in the tag when he went to transfer the title over

1/4/2007 2:19:34 PM

^good to hear that.. so there are people who agree to pay before getting the title in hand.

1/4/2007 2:23:34 PM

yes. see once he has the vehicle (possesion is 9/10 of the law) and the bill of sale (documented proof of the transaction) he legally dosent have anything to worry about. note that the bill of sale should detail the transaction throughly and should also be notorized. http://www.lawdepot.com has a nice system that lets you make a bill of sale where you can include clauses for this type of thing, its like $10 but worth it.

1/4/2007 2:52:52 PM

^ That link is awesome! Thanks..

1/4/2007 3:07:28 PM

last time I did this, the guy paid me, I paid off the loan, and we waited for the title to come in the mail from the lienholder. but, like optimusprimer, I was doing it with a guy I trusted (and who trusted me).


he then took the car to Louisiana and tried to register it, and they said he needed a bill of sale, so I wrote one up for $1 and had it notarized

[Edited on January 4, 2007 at 8:06 PM. Reason : ahaha]

1/4/2007 8:05:15 PM

I just did this as the seller a few weeks ago, and here's what I did...

1. He said he was interested in buying car.
2. I told him I still owed money and would have to research exactly how to get him the car.
3. We agreed on a selling price
4. Buyer wrote me 2 certified checks, one made out to me and the rest made out to the lien holder for the payoff amount.
5. I delivered the car to his house took tag, registration off/out of car
6. He gave me my check, I gave him bill of sale found on about any website, damage disclosure statement, and power of attorney (notorized)
http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/forms/vehicleregistration/download/mvr181.pdf
http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/forms/vehicleregistration/download/mvr63.pdf
7. WE put the payoff check in overnight mail along with a letter that I wrote to the lien holder autorizing them to send the title to the buyer
8. They CANNOT drive car until they have the title in their name.

Also, tell the buyer in anice way they they are paying much less than retail for a newer car so they should expect to wait for the title when they buy from a private seller. The guy that bought mine paid straight out of his savings account for the car. If they are going to finance the car as well then ignore almost everything above, both of you go to the bank (his bank) and get everything transfered and notorized there, his bank wil get the title from the leinholder and you'll be dine with it.

1/4/2007 8:58:48 PM

I did this a couple weeks ago, also.

1) call bank. you, "my car is for sale, please have the title transferred to your branch so when i sell it, its ready."

2) find buyer

3) meet at bank. buyer w/ a certified check for the amount.

4) deposit the check, pay off loan. get title. sign over title (notorize at bank)

5) go to DMV and be done

1/4/2007 9:02:23 PM

Quote :

"1) call bank. you, "my car is for sale, please have the title transferred to your branch so when i sell it, its ready.""

Try that route first buy my leinholder would NOT do that.

Also, sometimes you can go to athe dealer if you used dealer financing, and pay the amount off there and get a "lein release" and the buyer doesn't need the title.

1/4/2007 9:10:35 PM

Thanks cornbread.. what u said accurately summarizes what I need to do. Do u think just a notarized bill of sale would do the job or do I need to get the damage disclosure and power of attorney notarized too?

^^ My lienholder is in Charlotte and they don't have a local bank here. Even if I decided to go to Charlotte, they said after payoff, they need ~7 days to process and send me the title. Pretty lame

[Edited on January 4, 2007 at 9:37 PM. Reason : what's a lien release?]

1/4/2007 9:36:12 PM

SECU ftw

1/4/2007 10:15:32 PM

you need to notorize power of attorney only, not bill of sale or damage disclosure. If they can't give you the title right away in Charlotte, ask if they can generate a lein release letter first, because they probably don't actually have the title anymore anyway. The new owner would obviously get their own new title after the DMV processes anyway.

A lein release is equivalent to a title to transfer ownership, it shows there is no lein on the vehicle and with a power of attorney, the new owner doesn't need the old title and can get the car registered in their name via a instant duplicate title.

I talked to a lady at the DMV in charlotte who was very nice and explained everything to me for almost 30 minutes because it took her several time of explaining it all before I got it...some of it I'm still not too sure about. Selling a car with a lein was a pain in the ass that I wil never do again.

1/4/2007 11:02:16 PM

^ Couldn't agree more.. I will never EVER try to sell something with a lienholder again..

I just called the bank and they said they actually don't have a physical bank location in Charlotte.. they only accept payments online / via a P.O box no. So I really can't go to the bank and get a release of lein form.

The dealer told me that he can oversee the transaction, but the release letter / title will come from the bank and will take the same amount of time. Plus they charge the buyer a documentation fee... (I've already paid that when I bought the vehicle). So dealer is out of the question.

I guess I just have to play the waiting game.

[Edited on January 5, 2007 at 11:47 AM. Reason : .]

1/5/2007 11:46:44 AM

Quote :

"SECU ftw"

1/5/2007 1:34:15 PM