How old do you have to be to obtain a car title?

Car title, how to obtain it?

• About 6 years ago after my divorce I had to file chapter 13 bankruptcy. Along with many other items I had a personal loan on the bankruptcy. I paid everything off except the personal loan, which was "secured" with the title to a vehicle I had purchased with part of the money out of the loan. At some point during payment on the bankruptcy, the company I had the loan from "sold" the loan to another agency. After discharging the bankruptcy, that agency immediatly turned it over to a collection place. At some point, all the details about the car title had been lost. The car i junk (thanks to my ex-wife). I know there are many charities out there who will take the car away for free and I would like to be able to take advantage of that but I have to have the title to be able to find give it to them. I live in Ohio, is there a way to check to see who the vehicle is titled to??

• Answer:

  Hi Jimmy, I'm an Ohio resident myself, so my first inclination was to give the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles a call: Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles 1970 West Broad Street Columbus, Ohio 43223-1101 Mailing Address: Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles P.O. Box 16520 Columbus, Ohio 43216-6520 614-752-7500 I spoke to Tricia in the Title department, who referred me to Jason in the Franklin County Title department: 614-462-3091 To initiate a title search in the state of Ohio, you need only go to a Title Bureau in your area with your state issued identification or driver's license, any paperwork you have that is associated with the car (insurance papers, registration, whatever you have) and the car's Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). You can locate the VIN easily by looking through the car's windshield at the lower portion of the driver's side. There is usually a small metal plate with the 17 digit VIN, occasionally the number is etched into the glass. If you don't have any paperwork associated with the car, don't worry. Jason said that as long as you have the VIN and your ID, you have the most important information. Cost of a duplicate title application is just $6. Since someone else holds a lien on the car, you'll be issued a "temporary title", which will list the lienholder's name and address. From there, you can contact the lienholder to gain "clear title" to the car, which would then allow you to donate it to the charity of your choice. The state of Ohio usually offers online title inquiry as well, but the server is misbehaving today. When it becomes available again, you might want to try the Online Title Inquiry here: Ohio BMV http://www.state.oh.us/odps/division/bmv/bmv.html Hope this helps! --Missy Search terms: None. Pulled up the OH BMV and called them.