Call Kurtis: Truck Title Troubles

"Ford F-150, 2003... Oh it rides like a caddy."

There are only two things Russ Daverin doesn't like about his truck.

"Can you help me move?"

That and dealing with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

"You guys should run the DMV because they're complete idiots" he says with great frustration in his voice.

His truck is supposed to take him into retirement, in Florida, but without the pink slip he can't leave his home in West Sacramento. And he's been trying to do that since he paid it off more than a year ago.

But his current registration card shows that "no title has been issued" and the "vehicle is not transferable."

"I showed 'em this, and I said look, it's free and clear… It's all paid."

Sure enough, Ford Motor Credit sent him a notarized lien release, showing he owns the truck.

But that didn't satisfy the DMV.

"And I just got so fed up, and this was the fourth time I was there. And I just wanted to punch 'em!"

What more could he do?

"And finally, I'm going I should just call Kurtis, call Kurtis... get it taken care of."

We got in touch with our friends over there at the DMV, sent them his documentation and explained the situation.

DMV acted with unprecedented efficiency.

"It feels great. It feels like it's finally my truck."

DMV explained that Russ moved to Massachusetts in 2004.

At that time California held the title electronically, but Massachusetts placed a "non-negotiable title" status on the truck.

Russ could have requested a title be sent from California to Massachusetts but he didn't and no one at DMV told him he could.

So, after he tried unsuccessfully for more than a year we got him new registration and his title.

It took less than a week, and I had success… And I didn't even have to go to the DMV office."

Below is a more in-depth explanation by a manager in the DMV's Registration Operations Division of what happened with Mr. Daverin's registration and title:

• Vehicle originally purchased in California.
• The legal owner, Ford Motor Credit Company participates in DMV's Paperless Electronic Lien & Title Program. This means they are recorded on our records, but an actual paper title is not issued and held electronically.
• Mr. Daverin subsequently moved to Massachusetts (MA), and in January, 2004, was issued a Massachusetts vehicle registration certificate. Because California held the title to the vehicle, the Massachusetts DMV placed a "Memorandum Non-Negotiable Title" status on the vehicle record. In effect, that meant that a vehicle title could not be issued by Massachusetts until the California title was surrendered to that state. That did not happen.
• Mr. Daverin could have contacted Ford Motor Credit and Ford Credit could have requested (electronically) that a California paper title be issued and surrendered to Massachusetts until the loan was paid, but that never occurred.
• Three months later, Mr. Daverin then returned to California in April 2004, and because he had the vehicle registered in Massachusetts, California DMV only issued him a "Non-Transferable" California registration card; no title could be issued with that transaction because he did not own the truck outright. Ford Motor Credit did.

At the time you forwarded his information to DMV, the Broadway office was requesting a MA title or a letter stating an MA title was never issued, but was running into delays.

The manager in the Registration Operations Division contacted a rep with the Massachusetts DMV on Friday afternoon, and after faxing a letter to her explaining the situation, they have provided the required letter to us. The manager also called Mr. Daverin late Friday and explained the additional documents need to submit to California DMV, as well as an $18 transfer fee to remove Ford Motor Credit from the record and to issue a California title. He was also sent a separate email explaining exactly what the manager needed and attached the form he needed to fill out and send back to the manager, who provided him with her mailing address to return the documents/fees to her attention.

The manager received the documents today, December 13, and has forwarded the documents/fee to a processing unit for handling. Mr. Daverin was contacted to inform him the title/registration cards are being placed in the mail. He should have them in his hands in the next day or so.

Our manager also apologized that the Broadway DMV office had not been able to assist him in a more expeditious manner with this problem.