Car dealership won't release lien

[ragezangel]

Hello there, I live in California and I purchased a car from a dealer who shut down before transfering the tile to me, although he did register the car in my name. I went to the DMV and they said that the car had a lien on it and I would have to contact the lien holder which I did.

That lien holder is a Honda dealership and they said that no money was owed on the car. They said that they sold it to an auction house who sold it to the dealer who then sold it to me. They said that they had signed a lien release when they sold it and the auction house had done the same and that it was my dealer who failed to go to the DMV to get the lien taken off. I asked what the probem was then, if no money was owed why couldn't they sign the release to which they said that they couldn't sign the lien release without a title.

I called the DMV and was told that they don't need a title to sign a release, so I called the Honda place back and they were making a ton of excuses and ended by saying that if they signed a lien release then the dealership who sold me the car may sue them later on if it's found that I don't own the car. They said that they had already signed a lien release once acording to them so what was the deal? I told them once again that the dealership was out of business and that I had in fact paid in full in cash for the car with no finance whatsoever and had receipts, bill of sale etc. I was told to fax copies over and they would see what they could do but I am not holding my breath, I think I was just told that so they could get me off the phone!

They were also saying that I needed proof that the business had closed down, how am I supposed to get that? So what do I do if they don't help? They have a lien on a car that is paid for, isn't that illegal? Thanks.

Hi there,

What was the name of Honda Dealership. When did it close down?

The Honda dealership didn't close down, the dealership they sold it to did and I bought from that dealership which shut down last week, thanks for replying.

I would try to find out who owned the dealership that you bought the car from and see if I could track them down. Generally things can still be handled even though the actual business isnt there anymore. Beyobd that you might be able to take legal action against them as well.