HELP! Financed Vehicles and Vehicle Permits?

When we financed the RV and the toad, we had the vehicle registration it had the wife's name and my name, then under lien holder it had the credit union when we finished paying the RV we received the official DMV paper that only has both our names and no lien holder.

Unless the vehicle is completely paid for the lending institution has control of the title, that is why I say that when I purchase a vehicle and finance it, I rent it from the bank until I finish paying for it.

When it is completely paid for free and clear then I am the sole owner, I normally try not to complicate my life, I practice the KISS principle.

Keep it simple stupid.

navegator

Years ago I attempted to get a permit at K21 south of Nogales, Son with a computer generated copy, from my computer, of my current registration from Arizona DMV online site. They would not accept it and I had to return to the AZ DMV office in Nogales, AZ and get a copy from the office with their stamp/seal. AND I have always had to provide a letter from the lien holder. If I owned the vehicle outright I had to have the title & registration with me.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

The bank has the title. And if you owned it outright, your name would be in both places. The only legal proof of ownership is the title. Simple registration is never considered ownership, only the title.

My Registration is Washington state Registration. It has my name and address, as well as the banks name and address, but nothing saying who is who. At the bottom of the registration it says THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT PROOF OF OWNERSHIP. All very confusing. I do not have the title or even a copy of the title.

darbone85737, thank you for the information, I am not a lawyer nor a banker, we did finance one vehicle with a credit union and we could not take it any further than the border towns, Tijuana, Rosarito and Ensenada until we had paid six months, after that we could travel further into Mexico with a permit from the lien holder, the credit union with full U.S. insurance and Mexican insurance.

navegator

I spent 30 years in a field involving creditor's rights and dealing with security interests. Not to belabor the point but in most States in the US a lender is not an "owner". They are a secured interest holder who's security interest is recorded as an encumbrance on the legal title in the records of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Under most circumstances the lien holder is not indicated on the vehicle registration carried in the vehicle. Depending upon the State the vehicle owner may hold the paper title showing the lenders security interest in their possession or the paper title may be retained by the lending institution. The security interest encumbers the vehicle and prevents conveyance to a third party until the loan is paid and that lien released.

But now I'm curious as to whether anyone has ever failed to declare having a loan on a vehicle and gotten in trouble because of it. We don't need to buy Mexican insurance other than liability as our company in the US covers us for collision, fire, theft and comprehensive while there. Our credit union is indicated as a security holder on the policy so regardless of our location in the event of a loss the claim check would be written to both of us.

Navigator! Yes, very clearly stated. Thank you. And look, Talleyho69...he didn't even have to be a jerk!!

Clearly, perfectly stated. Well done.

A financed vehicle is technically property of the institution financing the unit, the person purchasing the unit is renting it until fully paid and ownership is transferred from the financier to the person(s) that financed it.

The Banjercito wants to know who the legal owner is, and who is authorized to drive it, I have read as much as I could from Banjercito, insurance companies and all state that a financed vehicle(s) have to be permitted to go outside the United States, there is a form that one signs when you apply for the TIP that states that you told the truth, if they want they can use that to really mess your life, there is a fine, incarceration, forfeiture of the vehicle(s), and Mexican jails are not a place that you want to be in, you are going to need a lawyer, a Mexican lawyer U.S. lawyers do not have jurisdiction in Mexico and a lot of money.

If the finance company finds out that you took the vehicle(s) to Mexico without authorization from them you might be in hot water when you return to the U.S. they might report the vehicle(s) as stolen, that shows up when the license plate is scanned at the border, you will be taken into custody and the vehicle confiscated, now you will need a lawyer and again a lot of money.

For a simple document it is not worth the hassle, if the financier that you have does not authorize the vehicles going to Mexico, transfer the loan to a lender that does let you travel to Mexico.

navegator

the really funny part is that last time I imported a car , ( dec 2014 ) it did not even need to be in my name ... go figure that one ..