I paid off the bike around the 1st of March. Been waiting on the title, figuring it would take a few weeks to get processed and mailed. Never received it. Called HD Financial services Monday of last week and inquired about it. They said it was mailed to me on March 10th. I told them I would double check at home to see if maybe I overlooked it. No title, called them back on Wednesday to let them know. They said they would send me a Lien Release and I could take that to the DMV and get a new title. I still haven't received that. Is this normal for HDFS to do something like this. I know they have my correct address since I received my monthly statement on time, every month.

 

No, it is not normal at all.

Missouri is one of the states where we get to keep our titles, so HD Financial never had it to begin with.

But there was a "lien" listed on the title until the loan is paid off.

I have paid off 3 Harley's, and got the lien release from HD in just a few weeks every time.

 

Some states allow banks to keep the titles that have a lien on them some states don't. Regardless you can't transfer a title with a lien on it. When you pay off your bank loan there are 2 different scenarios:

1. The bank will mail you the title they were holding along with a lien release letter that you provide to the DMV.
2. The bank notifies the DMV that the lien has been satisfied and the DMV sends you the new title with the lien removed.

When you pay off the loan the bank has to cycle your account before the payoff will take effect. This usually happens monthly and will cycle either from your due date or your last payment date. Worst case that could take 4 weeks. Once the bank mails the lien release letter (Scenario 1) it can take an additional 2 to 3 days for you to receive it in the mail. In scenario 2 the DMV can take 1 or 2 weeks to process the title request and then mail it to you. Worst case that could be 6 weeks total.

Also, do not assume that the loan department and the title department are linked at the bank or that things are automated. Your address could be different or just mistyped at one or the other, but remember if your account has not cycled they won't be able to generate the lien release to mail yet.

 

I'm about ready to pay mine off with HDFS, thanks for the heads up.

 

According to the title department, the loan was cycled and the title was mailed on March 10th.