buying a car with a lein

Well, I'm finally considering purchasing a used private party car that is nice enough that it currently has a lein. How do I do the transaction? I've always done cash/cashiers check and clear titles before.

to retitle it in your name you need 2 things - title signed over to you from owner and a release of the lien from the lender in letter form or their signature on the title to release as well (which means they need to get paid off). Sort of a hassle - the only way I'd want to do it is if I can get both parts on the same day as delivery of the car. Skip it if the seller wants you to pay them - they pay the lender and will send a title in the future or a release of lien in the future. What if they're upside down and can't pay it off even with you buying it? This is why you see some newer cars for sale with no title - they're not going to pay it off and it becomes a parts car.

You will have to go to the bank that has the lein on the vehicle you are buying and pay it off before they will release the title. It is best done with cash as that is the quickest and easiest. Likely there will be a difference, Ex: You are buying the car for 5K, the owner still owes 3K on it so the bank will get 3K (duh!) and the owner pockets 2K. Never ever give the owner cash without a clear title in hand! Hopefully the bank is not located out of state as this will severely slow things down and you will have to either mail it or do an internet transfer. After you get the clear title you will take it to the Secretary of State's office and transfer ownership. That's it in a nutshell.

the only one i bought like that was a truck from a kid in the navy. he told me he owed 1200 and would take that, showed me the papers to prove, and i made out a check to the navy federal credit union for him to mail in and took the truck. a few days later he had clear title ready to transfer to me

Both times I have done it the vehicles were financed at a local bank. I met the seller at the bank. Gave the bank their money, gave the seller his money, got the title and lein release, and was out the door in 1/2 hour.

I sold my civic with a lien. We met at the bank, they gave the bank the money, title was mailed to them. In the meantime they got a temporary plate. Worked out great!

i sold my wife's '01 outback that way. the buyer gave me a check made out to my bank, i sent it in and they sent me the title, which I signed over to the buyer. looking back at it, it sounds a little shady, or at least having potential for great shadiness.

Thanks for the helpful comments. Sounds like a pain to try to do on a car in a distant location. Lots of trust and timing to make the deal happen in one step.

Yeah, pretty much needs to be local-only so you can both go into the bank and do it.