[Ram Jet]

Originally Posted by MR2Aaron

It varies by state, but in Texas, the biggest problem is not dealing with the state, but rather the bank that has the lien. I've gone with a friend to look at a couple of bikes that were subject to liens, and in both cases, the reason he didn't buy them was that there was no way to do the "pay cash -> get title" thing you'd normally do with a Craigslist sale, regardless of whether we went to one of the bank's retail locations or not.

The sticking point being that the retail locations of most big chain banks don't actually have the titles, and they apparently don't have procedures in place for handling a situation like this, such that they could get them. They want the seller to pay the loan off, and then get the title in mail, at which point he can do whatever he wants with it. In order to overcome this, you'd have to trust the seller to sign the title and give it to you, weeks later, which is obviously a scary proposition, given that the seller is probably an idiot who didn't even consider this.

That said, if you can find out what bank actually has the lien, it may be worth calling them, explaining the situation, and asking if they can arrange to send the title to a specific retail location so you can do this. Some may actually be able to do it. I don't think it would be worth messing with for a Ninja 250, but if the bike were something really special, then it may be worth the hassle. You'd just have to get square with the idea of doing some of the seller's work for him, given that he's the one who should really be doing this kind of leg work.

I like Texans "old fashioned"values but their business practices need to join the new millennium. I never heard of a financial institution holding the actual title. Do they still deliver mail by horseback?

Bill