Used Cars: Buying a used car from private indiviual, guaranteed funds, loan account


Question
QUESTION: I am looking at buying a used car from a private individual that has signed a loan from his bank as co-borrower with his son. Both of their names are on the registration as owners of the truck. I am getting a loan as well for the truck. Is there a way for the bank to pay off their bank on my behalf and have the title mailed to my bank so I don't have to go through the ordeal of having to have both of these guys sign off on the title and mail it to me themselves seeing as they are half a country apart at the moment? What is the safest way to do this?

ANSWER: Great Question James!
The answer is yes! Here is how it works. But first off here are a few of the assumption I will be making:

The seller owes less on the car than you are buying it for (if he owes more than the sales price the procedure is the same only he needs to have cash or guaranteed funds with him when you all go to the bank.

Your banks loan officer will have done this before... both you and the seller march into your bank with the car parked out front... the seller gives your banker his loan account number and name of the bank who has the title. Your banker calls his bank and gets a "10-day payoff" number calculated to the odd cent he will take the purchase price and subtract the payoff amount from this and will cut two checks ... one for the payoff and a difference check for the seller. He will ALSO have the sellers (BOTH!) sign an authorization for payoff granting your bank permission to pay off the loan along with a form instructing the sellers bank to send the title to THEM. The seller will also sign a limited Power of Attorney granting you and your bank the right to transact title business with the title on the sellers behalf.

1/2 of the sellers being a ways away is going to complicate things or slow them down temporarily because both banks will want all parties signing off and authorizing payoff. The seller should get a power of attorney signed and overnighted to him by the absent seller OR check with your bank because some banks are now allowing faxed forms or forms signed using an e-certification app. Your bank may or may not want to take a look at the car (remember it's parked out front?) to verify equipment etc. Credit unions are old pros at doing loans like this and have the lowest rates!!

Once the sellers bank gets the payoff check from your bank along with the instructions and authorization for payoff then they will immediately send the title to your bank so they can securitize the loan and dance around with glee! lol

MY goal here is to hang with you on this question until you are 110% completely satisfied and am available to answer any and all follow up questions you have until you are! :) my email address is roadloans@gmail.com ask as many follow up questions as you need until you are able to truthfully give me all perfect 10's for my answer and your experience here at allexperts.com

DONOT LET ANYONE TALK YOU INTO DOING IT ANY OTHER WAY ...the process may take a day to do it correctly but the correct way is the only way you protect yourself from potential fraud!

Thanks for your question

Roger



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: His father who is in another state is already overnighting a signed Bill of Sale and after his son signs it i am going to have it notarized. Could that replace the Power of Attorney as the bank will see the fathers and sons signatures giving consent for the sell of the vehicle? Or is the Power of Attorney still required by the bank?

Answer
8 times out of 10 when we send a payoff check to a bank to pay off a recent trade in without an authorization for payoff they will send us our check back. A Bill of Sale will not work in place of a power of attorney or an authorization for payoff (I know I know it should be easier) With out the Authorization for Payoff problems could develop where the seller has your check for the difference and still has the title to his car. I always proceed as though everyone is dishonest even though I know that 99.9%  of the people aren’t just because the .1% can really screw things up for the other 99.9% of us.

If you send me an email to my email address (roadloans@gmail.com) I can shoot you back copies of these forms for you to send over to the seller… you want to make sure you have all of your ducks lined up before you have your meeting at your bank so that when you are done you can walk out of the bank …shake hands…and drive away in your new car without having to deal with any problems after that except paying for it. The seller can send those forms to his father via fax or email them and have him use one of the online certified e-signing apps or he can tell his dad what he plans to do and then let his conscience be his guide recognizing that none of these signatures requires a notary … The other very important thing the authorization for payoff does is direct the sellers bank to send the title to your bank …and not the seller … if you go in without one already to go then your bank is going to insist on it before they move forward. Hope this helps!