I purchased a car last January. Even though I took out a 60-month loan for this car, the IL Secretary of State sent me the title a couple of weeks later. In the past, I’ve never received the title until the loan was paid off. I thought this odd at the time, but I thought things had perhaps changed since I last purchased a new vehicle.
Fast-forward to a couple of days ago, North American Honda Finance leaves me a voice message saying that I need to return the title to them, ostensibly because it contains “incorrect information”. I haven’t been able to talk to them directly yet, but I’m curious as to what exactly is going on here. Their message implied that the title just needed to be “corrected”, but it was somewhat ambiguous as to whether it would be returned to me.
Obviously, if I’m not supposed to have the title, I don’t have a problem with returning it, but the way they were less than forthcoming about why exactly I’m supposed to be returning it is making me question whether or not this is even legit.
I have every intention of paying off my loan, but I’m curious as to what they’re so concerned about. I know that the title itself is proof of ownership, but at the sime time I signed off on all the loan paperwork agreeing to the terms. Are they concerned I’m just going to say " hey… I’ve got the title, you guys can go get stuffed!" I should think I wouldn’t be able to get away with that whether the actual title is in my possession or not.
I have not had this happen to me, but I used to work with the Illinois secretary of state, so I know about this stuff. The correction that the financing company wants to make is to have their name added to your title as a lien. The dealership must have forgotten to put their company name in the lien area of the paperwork submitted to the state. The state does not receive copies of the financing paperwork, so the one form is all they have to go on as far as whether you bought it or financed it. You should not have received the title. This policy has not changed.
At this point, you could sell your car without the lien company’s involvement and claim you owe them nothing, but you would just end up in court because they have all of the contract paperwork and you would lose and owe them anyhow.
I suggest you turn in the title as requested. The lien company was trying to be diplomatic about it without giving you any ideas. They are technically correct - they are going to submit for a correction on your title to add their names to it, so they were not lying.
LordVor, I wonder if (3) and (4) aren’t reversed. On the other hand, I don’t know what kind of “high interest” you mean.
My very first credit card – credit period that is – was a Hudon’s department store credit card. This was 1988 or so, and was for only a $100 limit (which crept up over the years), but was easy to get. It helped me later get a car loan (co-signed still needed in those early days). It may be a good way to get a credit history even now, and I would think it may be slightly easier than a non-secured, general-use credit card. They’ll know where you’re spending the money, and you can’t take out cash, so maybe there’s a little more security in their credit-granting there.
(I still keep the card because it was my first; I don’t know if it still works. I imagine that if I use it, I’ll get a Marshall Field’s card in the mail a few days later. They still report as active on my Equifax. I don’t cancel it because I think it’s good to hold onto for FICO calculations).
