I recently got my license after taking the MSF course. My future father in law has 3 bikes and said I could have his 1990 Sportster to start out on. He was given it as partial payment for a job he did. He's a carpenter. He gave me the title and said I just needed to clear it since there's a lien on it, however the original owner said it already has been paid.

So here is the snafu, the bank that is listed on the title for the lien no longer exists to contact about the lien. Anyone know how I could get this cleared up and transfer the title into my name? The original owner whose name is on the title is a family friend, so if signatures are needed that shouldn't be a problem.

 

I would go to your DMV and submit a lost title, let them sort it out.

 

Check with your local DMV. Something similar happened to a friend of mine. It's got something to with sending a letter to the bank who has the lien, when the letter is returned to you unopened and marked "undeliverable" or whatever, don't open it. That somehow is your proof to the DMV that they are closed. This happened in Michigan.

 

If you have the title then lien has been cleared. Somewhere on the title it states who the legal (the lender) owner was. There should be a signature or rubber stamp on the line below. The line will state something to the effect, "signature releases interest in the vehicle".

 

^^^Title in hand = lean cleared^^^

Definitely go to local DMV before signing anything on title...one mistake will void everything out and then you'll be in a deeper mess. I bought my daughter's car in NE and it was a PA title...has to be notarized and witnessed, but previous owner said it should pass OK. I should've known better and we eventually got it correct...on the 3rd title.

 

I agree. You get no title in your hands until full payment is made.

 

not always so
its a 1990 that's 23 years ago I have had Fl titles in my hand way back then that had the lein holder info printed on them.
Even with the title they could not be sold until the lien info had been sighed off and notarized.

 

The lein holder info is printed onto the title. I was under the impression that once the lein was cleared a letter from the bank was sent to the owner, who then had to go to the DMV with both the title and letter, then the DMV sent a new title but I'm not 100% sure and since the bank is closed I can't prove it. I guess I' going to have to go to the dreaded DMV and wait awhile to figure this out.

 

Not true in every state. For many years Wisconsin issued titles for vehicles with liens, indicating the name and address of the lienholder on the title. They've since stopped doing that, to save money. So it's plausible that title was issued while a lien existed.

 

NJ was the same way. In fact I couldn't find my lien release letter from Chemical Bank for my Suzuki when living in PA so I kept my bike registered to a NJ address ( bike was originally purchased in 1990 in NJ and paid off in 92, Chemical bank is long gone, they have no records).

I'm not sure of the process in such cases. Presumably a state records check of business entities could show the lienholder no longer exists but how to prove they were not aquired or merged? Common sense dictates no one loans money on 20 year old non classic bikes but common sense and state motor vehicle agencies don't hang tight together.