Help me get my car title!

Reverend_Chaos

I live in WA state.

I took out an auto loan in 2010 for a $4k car. Made my payments on time and in 2012 I took my tax return and paid the rest of it off to save myself $TEXAS in interest. I paid cash at their office and got a receipt (that I now cannot find...) and they told me that they did not have the title on hand, and that they would mail it to me. I went about my merry way and completely forgot about it. When registering my car this spring I noticed that the title company is still listed as a lienholder for the vehicle. I assume that I can just give them a call or write them a letter and get this all cleared up, BUT before I initiate contact with them and possibly open up a can of worms, is there anything that absolutely should/should not do? They have never contacted me (I still live at the same adress) so I assume that someone just dropped the ball, but when I was googling them to get their phone number and addresss I was reading reviews about this company completely screwing people, so I just want to get all my ducks in a row as a precautionary measure.

TL/DR - I paid my car off in 2012 - Never got my title. Anything I should be wary of?

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have!

Raekreu

If you go to the office where you registered your car and give them the VIN number, they can tell you who holds the title. If it's listed as owned by anyone but you, that's where them being at all helpful will stop. If by some lucky twist of fate it's in your name, then you should be able to pay them some money to get a replacement. It shouldn't be expensive...probably a $25-$50 service charge, but keep in mind that they'll only do it for the actual title holder or someone that has power of attorney for the title holder.

If the dealer does still hold the title, and it sounds like they probably do, then it'll be up to them to find or replace it and get it to you for signing and registration. If they refuse to help you out, it's time to calmly walk away and contact an attorney.

Djeet

Contact the lienholder on the title and ask them to send you a release of lien or some other document that shows that the loan has been satisfied. When you have that you can talk to tax assessor or DMV or whichever state agency handles title transfers/registration about issuing you a new title with no lien on it. This office may or may not be helpful in helping you obtain the lien release from the lender, so maybe call them first to see if they can help you out.

olanmills

I don't think you should have a problem unless this is some kind of super shady company. Is the listed lien holder a back or the dealership?

Reverend_Chaos

The lienholder is a local loan company who lends to people with less than desirable credit at insanely high interest rates. They have a very aggressive repossession policy, which made me a bit wary. I ended up just giving them a call and talked to someone in the office that deals with titles. She was very nice and told me that she would get me a release of interest on the vehicle so that I can get a clean title. Thanks for the help!!