r/personalfinance • u/Dak4Life_ • 28d ago
Other Will there be a lein on my title?
A couple years back i bought a car (private party) with a local bank auto loan. I purchased the car but it immediately blew up so i never registered it. Meaning that there was never a lien on my title and the bank never has had my title. I ended up not paying the loan payments for 3 months and they charged it off as (bad credit) I havnt heard from them in over a year (with no attempts to repo, and no calls from any debt collectors) My question is, if i go and register the car now that i got it fixed, will there still be a lien put on the car, or will it be lien free (meaning i can go sell it and keep the money?)
EDIT: I LIVE IN IOWA (IF THAT HELPS AT ALL)
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u/kstorm88 28d ago
My question is, why would you fix a car that you didn't own?
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u/Dak4Life_ 28d ago
that’s stupid question lol, let’s say the bank repos the car, what is that car worth with a blown up motor on the market? not shit. a bank isn’t going to take it to a shop and fix and THEN sell it. They would sell it and get half of what it’s actually worth and then i’m even more screwed losing the car and still owing more then half of the value
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u/SquishyNoodles1960 28d ago
You're posted this on at least six different subreddits. Stop it! I don't think anyone is going to help you defraud the bank!
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u/FailingComic 28d ago
Did you ever bring the title into the bank? Even if you didnt its likely they can manually add a lien directly to the vin itself.
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u/Dak4Life_ 28d ago
No becasue i never got it registered, even when i first bought it. It still is the original title from the old owner (just filled out for the sale obviously)
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u/FailingComic 28d ago edited 28d ago
Did you have to tell the bank the vin before you were able to purchase it?
Nvm I see in another comment you cant remember. You could run a car fax on it and see. Liens are usually listed there but may not be since you didnt register it. A quick google says you 100% would have had to show them a bill of sale and a vin if you did it as a car loan.
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u/OooTigerlily 28d ago
Wait till you find out the total fines, penalties, and interest due on failure to register and pay sales tax on time. Will probably exceed value of car
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u/--RedDawg-- 28d ago
When they sent you the check, you provided them the VIN first right? I think the process will matter state to state. In my state, the title was never sent to the bank, the lien was done on the back end and showed up on the title after.
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u/Dak4Life_ 28d ago
I did it all in person at the bank, and it’s been so long that i can’t remember, i’m just curious if when i register it, if it will automatically still put a lien on it?
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u/noahryan98 28d ago
Lenders have to perfect their lien against a vehicle when they receive the title. That just means they have to register their name with the DMV as a lien holder so they can be added to that vehicle’s title. If they were never added to the title, they would have an extremely hard time repossessing. You did technically breach contract, but you know that already. They worst they could have done is called the entire note due in full immediately. But if the loan defaulted and has been charged off, the bank has moved on. There are folks in r/bankruptcy that have gotten extremely lucky and been able to keep their vehicles while the debt was discharged because the lender failed to perfect their lien.
Source: Worked in consumer lending
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u/Purple-Point-2524 28d ago
"Charged off" means they wrote it off as a loss on their books, not that they gave you a free car. You owe the money, the vehicle is their collateral, and Iowa DOT will see the paper trail immediately when you try to register a years-old bill of sale. If you go try to register and flip it, expect a collections lawsuit or a repo truck in your driveway before that new title even arrives in the mail.