[austinjsb8]

Hey Guys,

Thinking of buying a used car in CA from the original buyer. He had a loan with BMW which was paid off, but BMW only issued him a release of the lein and a paperless title? He doesn't have a hard title in hand. You guys experienced this? Is this normal?

[techwhiz]

I live in Ca.
There is a such thing. He needs to file a form for a duplicate title.
The finance company never issued a real title because they never had the hard copy.
He needs to take his registration and the release of lien to get a real paper title.

It's not uncommon for a finance company to not have a hard copy.

[bimmer31]

Originally Posted by techwhiz

I live in Ca.
There is a such thing. He needs to file a form for a duplicate title.
The finance company never issued a real title because they never had the hard copy.
He needs to take his registration and the release of lien to get a real paper title.

It's not uncommon for a finance company to not have a hard copy.

Yup, it needs to be done in person at the DMV and takes a week or two (from what I remember years ago).

[HTran]

^^ all true. My title took me almost a month for my old motorcycle, so it can also take a while too.