vehicle title in WA, need advice on possible title to AZ
 

Hey.

I have a possible acquisition on a 2nd gen that is titled in WA. The vehicle is physically in AZ, with the owner who moved to AZ from WA.

The owner is a friend and coworker, so I have no reason to expect shenanigans.

WA is a title holding state. There was a lien on the title 20+ years ago. Vehicle last registered in mid 2000's. But during that time, the financial institution lienholder went out of business. He tried tracking them down for a release of lien to transfer title to AZ, but couldn't get any traction before losing patience.

I've never had to get this weird before with a title. Looking for suggestions on how to make this mine.

Thanks!

If a title search of the VIN shows
a lien then a lien release from the
lien holder is the only way to
discharge the lien.

Jim

Might depend on state laws.
Had a similar situation with an ancient New York lien and lost NY title when I lived in Montana.
The Mont. District Court had a process (20 years ago). Filled out some paperwork. Showed up before judge, I think. Later got some sort of order or something to go to DMV with.
Sorry. Light on details ... and different state ... but there can be ways.
The polebarngarage guy on YouTube has a referral for a company he uses. Can't remember it though.
I have had to stand in line once for two hours at the Tuscon DMV, so I know how long that line can be! Hard to go there just to ask a question.
Good luck.

Why should you do the work? If he wants to be able to sell the car and he's as honest as you think, then he should be happy to do it to sell the car and get the cash. If you take it on, what makes you think you have more patience than he did? Right now he has an asset that he can't sell. Seems to me, the ball is in his court.

When I went to register and title my 2011 GMC truck after a move to TN from NY a lien showed up on it at the TN DMV, I bought the truck new, paid off the loan, and either they didn't send me a release or I didn't do whatever paperwork I should have. Anyway, the lady at the TN DMV called the lien holder in CA, cleared it up in 5 mins and I was out of the DMV in 15 minutes with my new title.

First thing I would do is research the original lien holder, see if they were acquired by another company, if they were, they probably still have the records. Contact the new company and see what you can find out.

Right now the car sits in his garage, and probably is a little piece of nostalgia for him. I'd rather it be MY nostalgia. This all came to be from an impromptu conversation at work with "hey, what did you ever do with your T/A?" I won't burn excessive calories playing detective, tho. He knows I am a die hard Firebird guy, so he mentioned he would like to see it go to someone who would appreciate it. It's a similar story to how I got my 67.

This is the route I will try to go. He sent me pics of the last registration, so I did a little research on who bought who, and changed their name to what. Hopefully I will get some good customer service, which is in short supply these days. And somewhere along the way, my friend changed his last name. But I guess it will only make the experience more awesomer, right?;)

A mutual friend suggested going the abandoned car/title route. But that seems too sketchy.

It's a coupe 403 car, with a swapped in TH400. Looking to prescreen it with a few pics before I go look at it. Would I prefer a 78 Formula with T-tops? Yeah! But a 79 T/A is pretty killer too.

Thanks, all!

happened to me
 

This happened to me on one of my cars. Bank was in Oregon.
Legally when a bank goes out of business they have to transfer their assets to another bank appointed by the Fed reserve. All you need to do Is find the bank that their assets were transferred too and contact them. That is the hard part. this bank changed hands three times for me. PITA headache. They will be able to stamp off the lien if it was paid? LOL mine was not paid off and was 25 years old. They had owed 623.59. but the new bank just went ahead and signed it away when they found out the new owner (myself) had nothing to do with the loan.
Took me 3 months and some paperwork back and forth.

Make sure you get a price reduction for this headache. Could turn out that you
may not ever get is released.

Usually after 10 years the title will drop off the system nation wide if it has not been registered. Ask me how I know this. LOL. Best route would be to see if you can get a title from Classic car title.
Just got a title for my 1970 SS Chevelle. 400.00 bucks.
No funny business and took about 8 weeks. you used to be able to get one from Vermont but they shut that loop-hole down. Got two from them.
Picture of the VIN and fill out some paperwork.
Classic-Titles.com
Heath Parker is the owner. He has a used car business in his state. Will be a Tennessee title.

I recently had interaction with Washington State DMV. I called and left a message and received a call back in 20 minutes... on a friday afternoon at that. They may be able to tell you a solution. It seems like they are also apt to issue new titles without much to do. The car I was dealing with had the license plate number on the title going back to 1989, but It was no longer in the washington state system. I was told that if i coordinated with a local title company, they would help me resolve it and get a new title that would show up in the system. Fortunately I did not need to go that route.

Great suggestions, all. I will start pursuing options here in AZ, with WA mvd, and with the financial institution if it gets that far.

The lien left by my friend is apparently bigger than I thought. The car was an asset in a debt consolidation back in the mid 2000's, all around the time when banks were giving 5 home loans to people unable to pay it back. This was one of those things. So I don't know if this is even a reality I want to mess with. I'll post back with any updates or lessons learned.

79 TA hard top, broken boat anchor 403, and swapped in TH400. We'll see. I won't pay a lot for it.