There’s a change in the pipeline, regarding issuance of vehicle titles. Wisconsin soon joins 38 states in becoming a title-to-lien holder state. This means that any title with a lien-or loan-listed on or after July 30th, will be sent to the lien holder rather than the owner. “The lender has the choice to receive it either in paper, or electronically,” said Mitch Warren, director of the DMV Bureau of Vehicle Services. “Once the lien is paid off and cleared on our system, then we will still deliver a paper title to the owner.”
Warren said the advantage to electronic delivery is that Wisconsin does not issue a paper title to the lender or owner, until the lien is satisfied. That eliminates most of the paper handling and results in greater convenience, lower costs, and no more “lost” titles, For vehicles already sold before July 30th, with or without a lien, nothing changes.
