Buckling up before hitting the road is an ingrained practice for most drivers and their passengers.
Promptly securing vehicle titles after a sale is finalized should be no different. Lenders should always ensure that the titles and liens for every asset they have on the road are properly filed to help avoid the inevitable hazards that may appear during the life of the lease or loan.
Whether it is a mix of changing priorities in day-to-day operations, sheer title volume or a repetitive process eventually forgotten, follow through on securing titles and lien filings can fall through the cracks. Titles may get hung up between the dealer and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), they may be issued in the wrong name, or the lender may simply fail to secure the title from the DMV at the onset. Every hand it passes through in the process increases the risk of the vehicle’s legal ownership being lost in the shuffle.
The result? Lenders that do not have proof of ownership for all of their assets open themselves to needless risk and vulnerability with their bottom line and borrower satisfaction.
