This is just a general reminder that each state has its own rules about titling cars and the requirements to do so, so for any specific questions, you’ll need to identify the state you want to title the car.
I don’t understand what this website is getting at. Who are they defining as “the lienholder” and what do they mean by “keeps”? I assumed they meant the bank who lends you money for the car, but NH is on the list of “states where a lienholder keeps the vehicle’s title” and I’ve always gotten my title once the car was paid off, so the bank definitely didn’t keep it. If they mean some other person you owe money, why would they get to keep the title once it was the debt is paid? Or why would people who still owe money get to keep the title?
In New Hampshire, if you owe money on a car (have a lien on the car), the bank gets the title until you pay off the lien. Then the bank sends you the title. In, say, New York, if you buy a car, the DMV sends you the title even if there is a lien on the car. The lienholder, though, is listed on the front of the title, so you can’t sell the car without the buyer knowing there’s a lien on it.
That’s what that website means.
The lienholder is the lender (bank). It means the lienholder has title until the loan is paid off - meaning technically the bank owns the car, subject to you paying off the loan. In other states, you own the car, subject to the bank taking ownership if you don’t.
They kept that title of yours during the time they were the lienholder. That’s the plain English point.