Perhaps the worst situation I’ve seen was the Boyd Coddington situation. California is a 50/50 state, and best I could ascertain he became the CEO of his company, she became the CFO, and he hired his much younger babe of a wife Jo as an employee. No wonder they always seemed to be miserable on the show.
It sure fell apart at the end though.
A very sad situation for sure.
No wonder they always seemed to be miserable on the show.
Until Boyd sold the Wheel division - which included his ex-wife.
Then he died less then a year later.
Thanks again for all the comments in this discussion. You have pointed out some options that I hadn’t thought of with small claims court and even simply going into a physical bank office to get attention. It’s amazing in this age that I often don’t even consider doing something in person to be an option since so much is online or by phone. But this bank is large in the area, so it should be easy enough to talk with someone in person at one.
The lien is still showing on the electronic DOT records. The banks weren’t required to electronically release prior to July 2012, which is when the loan was paid off. Most likely my ex got the lien release papers and lost them.
DMV also didn’t require a lien to be paid off to transfer title prior to July 2012. Which is when I got title. But now they do. Which is why it can’t be transferred again without clearing the lien.
I’ll try the bank route next. Perhaps just telling them I don’t need any account information, just a stamp that the lien is clear, they will be able to do so without breaking any privacy laws.
Thanks again!
I was just about to add my comment about simply finding the right PERSON…
Then I scrolled down to the last post and dav917 has just realized that an in person visit may be the way.
SURELY these people…actual people…have encountered these same situations before ( divorce, death, taking over payments, etc ) and can see the logic of…and know the system for…following through with the solution.
Don’t stop at just one person if that one doesn’t solve it…
keep asking…
keep moving up the ladder …
In fact , involve many people together as a team.
‘‘So , YOU don’t know how to solve this ? well who does ? FIND THAT PERSON…go…shooo…go find that person…I’ll wait.’’
I will agree with the TV. The whole show was a stupid unhappy affair. Pawn Stars only bad thing is the overacting but even that is funny.
A $500 car is not worth spending a lot of time and effort on…Even though the title can not be changed, I bet you can REGISTER the car in your relatives name or just leave it in your name…Make sure they buy liability insurance in THEIR name…
OR…Park the car blocking the banks ATM machine with a note on the windshield saying you will move the car when they release the lien…You should have your paperwork in about ten minutes…
Perusing the statutes in Wisconsin shows that a title stamped “PAID” by the bank should be sufficient for a title transfer sans a lien release.
Blocking the ATM machine is my laugh of the evening… 
I blocked a drive-through at the bank one time when a discussion with the teller over shorting me cash turned volatile and I refused to budge one inch until it was sorted out.
It took half an hour and a bank manager as I sat in the car but I got the money and a half-hearted apology instead of having the cops called.
No humor in that one though…
Another reason I’ll never use an ATM machine.
“I blocked a drive-through at the bank one time when a discussion with the teller over shorting me cash turned volatile and I refused to budge one inch until it was sorted out”.
I once blocked the entrance to the service department at a Ford dealer. I had had problems with the rear brakes on my Ford Aerostar locking up on panic stops and not releasing. The dealer’s service department had tried several repairs, none of which worked. I took the Aerostar back and asked for a technician to go for a ride with me. I drove around the lot, right up to the service entrance and slammed on the brakes. The rear brakes locked up and the van wouldn’t move. The mechanic was upset that I had blocked the service entrance. I told him that I trusted that he knew how to fix it. (The problem was in the antilock brakes which were only on the rear wheels. The Ford service department never figured it out. My independent tire shop had a technician that figured it out right away–it was a component in the antilock brake system).
I think the OP should take the car to the bank that has the lien and park it at the drive-up entrance with a note on the car that it is being donated to the bank.
Speaking of ATM machines . . .
At my bank, there are parking spots clearly reserved for the walk-up ATM machines. The idea is that you don’t have to drive all the way around in a loop to use the drive-through ATM machine
Anyways, I was patiently waiting in my car to get one of those spots, because somebody had finished with the ATM, gotten in their car and started the engine. It was obvious that I was waiting for that spot, because my tires were turned towards that spot, and I had my turn signals on
Wouldn’t you know it, as soon as that guy backed out, some jerk cut me off and snagged that spot, before I could even attempt to maneuver my car into that spot
That guy promptly got out of the car and headed into the bank, not for the walk-up ATM
I got out of my car and called the guy every name imaginable. I said “Couldn’t you see that I had my wheels turned and my turn signals on? It’s obvious I was waiting for that spot.” I told him to back his POS car out, because he stole my spot. He just shrugged and walked into the bank.
I soon realized that there were no people at the walk-up atm machines. Clearly, people had parked there and walked into the bank to conduct business, because the parking spots were more convenient.
In hindsight, I’m kind of surprised the security guard didn’t come out and “ask” me to leave
LOL
"It was obvious that I was waiting for that spot, because my tires were turned towards that spot, and I had my turn signals on
Wouldn’t you know it, as soon as that guy backed out, some jerk cut me off and snagged that spot, before I could even attempt to maneuver my car into that spot".
@db4690–I have that problem in the grocery store check-out lines. I have had little old ladies pushing their grocery carts cut right in front of me while I am in line before I have a chance to move up when the cashier has checked out the person in the front of the line.
I wouldn’t yell at a little old lady, although some of them can be downright ornery
Some time back, I was at my local farmer’s market. And somebody was really laying on the horn, in the parking lot. I looked to see what was going on, and some ornery little old lady was the one doing the honking. Apparently, the person in front of her was driving too slow, because they didn’t want to run away over. You wouldn’t believe the four letter words this lady was throwing out.
She even said somebody ought to pull the other driver out of the car and beat him down, because he “didn’t know how to drive”