How do you remove a lien from a vehicle title? If you have a vehicle and there’s a lien showing on the title record, you may have to have that removed before a new title is issued. In many cases, the actual account balance for that loan is zero. It’s been paid off, but the DMV requires an affirmation from the lender that it is actually a zero balance, so if you have records, that is a zero balance. You can present that, however, the DMV’s kind of requires a very specific form of documentation; they’re kind of requiring a lien release or a letter of non-interest, not just the account print out.

You can get that from the registered agent of the lender at the bank. If the bank or the lender is not in business, there will be a registered agent on their corporate records. That may be able to provide that. In most cases, a lender actually doesn’t close; they’re acquired by another company, which can provide the same thing. Remember, you don’t only need a lien release. If the lender can’t find the records for that loan, or if they’re too old, they can give you a letter of non-interest, which is just as good, and the lien will be removed from the public record as a result.

If the lender can’t or won’t do it, try calling us to see if we can contact that lender. In many cases, we have avenues for getting it that you may not have, but in the worst-case scenario, you can go to the magistrate or the judge in your county where you live. And they can give you a magistrate’s judgment, which will be able to be presented to the DMV to clear the lien off the vehicle title for you to get a replacement title.