Title transfer questions

[Tleg93]

I am getting ready to purchase a car from a person that resides in Maryland. The situation is that the person owes x amount on the car and that needs to be paid off before the title is released to me. I don't want to be getting caught up in some legal bs so I need to know how to proceed. I need to know a few things about Maryland title work and was hoping someone here could help.

1. How do I go about paying off the loan?
2. How long does it take to get the title transferred to me once the debt is payed?
3. Should I contact the bank and ask them myself?

TIA

[Legacy777]

The bank or whoever loaned that individual money put a lien on the title. Typically, once the loan is paid off, the bank will sign off that the title is clear, and you can transfer it without any issues.

[Tleg93]

That is what I'm suspecting but I have to be sure that MD doesn't have any special laws.

[rallysam]

Hmmm... I've bought and sold lots of cars in MD but never had that specific issue.

It doesn't make sense to me that you should have to have someone else's lien on your car, even temporarily. That means that if they never paid their loan then the bank could take the car (theoretically).

I would call the bank and/or look around the MVA website to try to understand how it works - it should be pretty standard. Sorry I can't be of more help.

[BAC5.2]

When you pay for the car, he pays off the lein on it. The bank releases the title, and it is signed over to you. It can sometimes take a few days.

For my Forester, it took like 3 days. I took the car, and while it was being inspected, the previous owner paid off the lein and signed the title over to me.

I had a bill of sale stating that the car was mine, and that made me feel perfectly comfortable that I wasn't going to get screwed.

It's a pretty simple deal, really. It's going to be tough transporting the car (legally) back to PA. It won't be titled in your name, and you won't have tags. You need to call the PA DMV about transporting a car you haven't registered yet.

In MD, it's as simple as getting "transport tags" which cost like $10.

Once the lein is paid off, the title can just be signed and fed-ex overnighted to you.

[Bheinen74]

i have seen too many times, that the person who is suppose to pay the bank, decides to keep the cash, then the bank comes looking for the car. if it has a lien, you need to go to the bank which has the lien on it, do not automatically trust that the person will keep word on paying it off.