Title Bonding in Wisconsin – Big New Changes Soon

[MVRegistrationRights]

We recently completed our work with DMV to rehabilitate the Title Bonding process. We believe it will make this process easier and clearer, both for you and for DMV. Importantly, we were able to accomplish this without legislation, and a lot of credit for that goes to the current DMV administration personnel. There will be an upcoming article about the changes in the next issue of Old Car’s Weekly , and it will be available at the Iola Old Car Show July 9-11.

Important Details You’ll Want to Know about Title Bonding:

If you own or buy a vehicle that does not have a title, there is now a clearly defined method to go through in order to obtain a Title. Remember, this process can only be used to generate a title for a car you own that does not have a title. If you’ve just lost the title, there is a different process you use.

You should know that getting a title only signifies that you own the vehicle. It does not authorize you to operate legally on the road. You must also register the vehicle and get a license plate to drive. Your vehicle must also meet applicable Wisconsin Equipment Requirement laws [Ch. 347 and Trans-305].

To apply for a Bonded Title:
You’ll need to fill out DMV’s application.
Your car must meet the minimum requirement: a section of the frame or cowl which includes the VIN plus at least some other parts.
You’ll need to provide photos of the 4 sides, plus a legible photo or rubbing of the VIN. (A VIN inspection by a State Patrol is an option if you cannot get legible proof of the VIN for DMV.)
If you can provide any of the following to DMV, you should: Bill of Sale, Seller’s info, description of how you have the vehicle w/o a title, previous info about the vehicle, etc.

DMV will then:
Check the VIN for records of theft, lien, prior ownership (titling & registration), approve it or deny it and tell you why.
Determine a value for your vehicle, based on Bill of Sale and corroborated by the Old Car’s Weekly Price Guide. They will advise you of this valuation, and if you don’t accept their value, then you can pay an independent vehicle appraiser to value it instead.
Set a Surety Bond amount for 1&1/2 times the value of the vehicle. This is the amount of coverage you need to purchase. It’s relatively inexpensive. Typically, a bond for less than $6,000 will cost $100.

You then:
Shop around aind a Surety Bond company that issues bonds in Wisconsin and purchase a bond.
A hold is then placed on your credit, just like when you borrow for a house, in the amount of the bond, for 5 years.
Return the paperwork to DMV and receive a bonded Title.
The car can then be restored or sold, provided the bond stays in effect.

That’s the highlights, but DMV has also prepared a good FAQ sheet, with some other really important information on the Title Bonding process. DMV’s new info should go online shortly.

Enjoy your summer!!

Topic

[GTO Man]

Sounds like a big improvement. Thanks for all the hard work you put in on it. On many older cars that have been sitting for years it is probably fairly common to not have a title.

[moparkid25]

MVRegistrationRights wrote:

To apply for a Bonded Title:
You’ll need to fill out DMV’s application.
Your car must meet the minimum requirement: a section of the frame or cowl which includes the VIN plus at least some other parts.
You’ll need to provide photos of the 4 sides, plus a legible photo or rubbing of the VIN. (A VIN inspection by a State Patrol is an option if you cannot get legible proof of the VIN for DMV.)
If you can provide any of the following to DMV, you should: Bill of Sale, Seller’s info, description of how you have the vehicle w/o a title, previous info about the vehicle, etc.

DMV will then:
Check the VIN for records of theft, lien, prior ownership (titling & registration), approve it or deny it and tell you why.
Determine a value for your vehicle, based on Bill of Sale and corroborated by the Old Car’s Weekly Price Guide. They will advise you of this valuation, and if you don’t accept their value, then you can pay an independent vehicle appraiser to value it instead.
Set a Surety Bond amount for 1&1/2 times the value of the vehicle. This is the amount of coverage you need to purchase. It’s relatively inexpensive. Typically, a bond for less than $6,000 will cost $100.

Enjoy your summer!!

Thanks for doing this. I have a question regarding what I highlighted though, does the purchaser determine the value of the vehicle without a title, or is the State going to determine the value based on the condition of the vehicle per the photos? If the consumer determines the value, and the State says its worth more (I have a hard time seeing them tell someone a vehicle is worth less) than a stated purchase price. Or am I confused, and the bill of sale signed by a seller and a purchaser will give you the value without basing it against the OCPG scale?

I understand both sides, as someone may ‘forget’ to write the correct purchase amount on a title, and the state not wanting to lose tax on a purchase. I’ve never bought a vehicle without a title, so I’ll admit I’m in the dark on this subject.

[MVRegistrationRights]

Good questions. Short answer, yes you are correct: DMV will honor a Bill of Sale price so long as it’s within the OCW Price Guide range.

By law, DMV has to determine the value of a vehicle in order to set the bond amount. The question becomes How?

We believe that a public, advertised sale (EBay, Hemmings, etc.) selling price as reflected on a Bill of Sale is the actual “value”. If it was actually worth more, someone would have paid more. So a Bill of Sale ought to be recognized as the “value”. But we all know that people can [strike]forget[/strike] lie on a Bill of Sale. We also know that some people privately sell their car at a ridiculously low price, like a guy selling to his brother. Even if DMV calls the seller and buyer and verifies their prices, it may not reflect the actual “value” of the vehicle. So DMV needs a way to verify that the price on a Bill of Sale is within reason, in order to get a true “value” of the vehicle.

Another way to value a car is with a price guide, such as NADA or Hagarty’s. But only one price guide which we found listed Conditions including “Poor” or “Parts Car”, and that was the Old Cars Weekly Price Guide. The other guides only included drivable cars, and many times a vehicle without a title will be in far worse shape than that. Remember that the minimum vehicle that you can bond for title must only consist of the cowl or frame with the VIN and some other part/s.

So IF you have a Bill of Sale, DMV will look at the photos to determine the condition, compare the sales price with the OCW guide, and honor the sales price so long as it’s within the guide’s range. If it’s out of the range, they will make a judgement and notify you of their valuation. If you disagree, you always have the option of getting an independent appraisal.

This all has to do with setting the Surety Bond amount, which must equal 1&1/2 times the value of the vehicle, by law.

However, the Sales Tax you pay will be based solely on the Bill of Sale purchase price.

If you have no Bill of Sale (let’s say you bought some land, and later discovered a car in a ditch there), then DMV will simply value it based on the OCW guide. Again, you have the option of an appraisal.

There were lots of concerns that had to be addressed to make this process work for both owners and DMV. Most people will likely never need to bond for title. But since state law allows citizens to do so, there had to be a workable process. Now there is.

[Author]

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