How to sell motorhome with existing loan

smkettner wrote:
+1 to contact your lender and verify the procedure details from them.
You can then go to the buyer's bank with the buyer. His bank will send money direct to your lender and coordinate/verify the whole thing. Price paid above the loan would get paid to you on the spot. A deficiency you would need to pay on the spot.

This is the most correct answer and applicable to most all states. The one caveat is that YOU alone cannot go to the seller's bank without him and accomplish anything. You must go to the bank with the seller or his bank will not talk with you.
It is the electronics age, and in Florida, and many other states, electronic titles are being used. A bank sends an electronic message to the DMV to release THEIR lien on a vehicle or to transfer that lien from their bank to another bank. As a buyer, you can get a copy of a CLEAR title, ONLY after the lending institution has sent an electronic message to the DMV releasing all liens. On one RV that I bought in Florida, the lending institution NEVER had a paper title in their possession. It was all handled electronically and unless specifically asked for, and paid for, by the buyer, there never would have been a paper title issued to the new owner. I suspect that more and more states will be doing away with paper titles and going to all electronic titles and registrations.

tropical36 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
You NEVER pay a private party for a titled vehicle that has a Lien on it and then trust they will pay off the Lien and get you the title. Fantasy land if anyone believes that. The BUYER and the Seller will have to deal with the Lien holder regardless of where they are. The Lien holder will give the terms of how the transaction must be done so the Lien holder gets their money. They then will release the Title. Doug

Sometimes you can't even pay a dealer for a vehicle that has a lien on it and trust that they will pay off the lien. Had that happen with a Mazda Dealer once. Helped officials with putting him out of business altogether, but still it was a hassle and shaky at best for awhile. The person who traded the car in was the one having the most problems with still owing money on it and getting calls from creditors.

This is true, but with a licensed Dealer, you have a LOT more free help in getting it resolved and the odds of a dealer risking his business is extremely rare. Doug

+1 to contact your lender and verify the procedure details from them.
You can then go to the buyer's bank with the buyer. His bank will send money direct to your lender and coordinate/verify the whole thing. Price paid above the loan would get paid to you on the spot. A deficiency you would need to pay on the spot.

dougrainer wrote:
You NEVER pay a private party for a titled vehicle that has a Lien on it and then trust they will pay off the Lien and get you the title. Fantasy land if anyone believes that. The BUYER and the Seller will have to deal with the Lien holder regardless of where they are. The Lien holder will give the terms of how the transaction must be done so the Lien holder gets their money. They then will release the Title. Doug

Sometimes you can't even pay a dealer for a vehicle that has a lien on it and trust that they will pay off the lien. Had that happen with a Mazda Dealer once. Helped officials with putting him out of business altogether, but still it was a hassle and shaky at best for awhile. The person who traded the car in was the one having the most problems with still owing money on it and getting calls from creditors.

We bought ours from an individual who had it financed. He had access to a line of credit that he paid off the MH loan with in order to get the title. Once he received our payment, he paid off the line of credit.

A friend of mine just sold his coach for quite a bit less than what he owed on it because he was in some financial straights. He and the buyer met at my friend's bank. The buyer had his agreed upon purchase price funds wired from his bank to my friend's bank. My friend paid the balance of the pay off with a check from his HELOC account (funds could have also been wire transferred if necessary). The bank handed the signed off title to the buyer.

You NEVER pay a private party for a titled vehicle that has a Lien on it and then trust they will pay off the Lien and get you the title. Fantasy land if anyone believes that. The BUYER and the Seller will have to deal with the Lien holder regardless of where they are. The Lien holder will give the terms of how the transaction must be done so the Lien holder gets their money. They then will release the Title. Doug

RCtime wrote:

robsouth wrote:

Sea Dog wrote:
I backed out of the deal on a really nice fiver.
I am Canadian, this was in Florida.
The vendor had a loan at a bank in Mass.
She wanted cash paid to her, with which she would pay off the loan,
then, she said, the bank would send us the title.

Sounded iffy to me, so we backed out.
Still regret losing the trailer.

I sold a 5th wheel using those same terms. All went well and everyone was satisfied. It happens everyday. I don't see the "iffy" part.

Yes, I understand your hesitation. I bought mine the same way, however They had to show me a title clear and free, they owed 20,000 more than the selling price and no way was I going to pony up the money to pay off their mortgage and expect everything to come out OK.
they had to do whatever they did to get the title 1st and then we made a deal

In most cases that would not work. The bank would tell you to go bury your head in the sand if you were asking for a lien release before they were paid in full. Unless the seller has enough cash on hand to pay the MH off upfront then I don't see how you would get a free and clear title first. If that WERE the case then we wouldn't even be having this conversation of how to buy/sell a MH with a lien on the title would we?

Point is don't scare a potential buyer from backing out of the deal because you don't know the steps to secure a title for the buyer. This is done every day in the business world there is no reason it can not be done on a personal level between two individuals.

robsouth wrote:

Sea Dog wrote:
I backed out of the deal on a really nice fiver.
I am Canadian, this was in Florida.
The vendor had a loan at a bank in Mass.
She wanted cash paid to her, with which she would pay off the loan,
then, she said, the bank would send us the title.

Sounded iffy to me, so we backed out.
Still regret losing the trailer.

I sold a 5th wheel using those same terms. All went well and everyone was satisfied. It happens everyday. I don't see the "iffy" part.

Yes, I understand your hesitation. I bought mine the same way, however They had to show me a title clear and free, they owed 20,000 more than the selling price and no way was I going to pony up the money to pay off their mortgage and expect everything to come out OK.
they had to do whatever they did to get the title 1st and then we made a deal

Sea Dog wrote:
I backed out of the deal on a really nice fiver.
I am Canadian, this was in Florida.
The vendor had a loan at a bank in Mass.
She wanted cash paid to her, with which she would pay off the loan,
then, she said, the bank would send us the title.

Sounded iffy to me, so we backed out.
Still regret losing the trailer.

Big red flag there for sure and one must always deal directly with the lien holder, whether buying or selling.