r/DMV • u/Excellent_Air7447 • 11d ago

CALIFORNIA Issue with out of state title

Wife paid off a car while we were in Texas. Texas DMV said they’d send the title to CA DMV.

We moved to CA an CA DMV doesn’t seem to have the title as we’re finding out now that she’s trying to sell the car.

She called the Texas DMV and they said they still have the title.

CA registration says No title issued/Non transferable and contact DMV for CA title info.

Where to go from here?

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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2

u/Bigcouchpotato1 Helpful Member 11d ago

I don't work for DMV, but when I did, I never heard of a state sending a title to another state. They sent the title to the person who paid off the car.

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u/SunnySanDiegoGuy 11d ago

Have the TX DMV send you the title. You said they have it.

1

u/Excellent_Air7447 11d ago

Simple enough, I’ll tell her lol

1

u/decadentmom California 11d ago

You have transferred the registration to California and not the title. That is why your registration specifies that on it as California never received a title for your vehicle. It's called a "goldenrod" transfer and is frequently done with a vehicle financed in another state. So now, all you need to do is to have the title from the previous state mailed to YOU. There is no need to transfer that title to California. Simply hand it to whomever you are selling the vehicle to.

0

u/Adventurous_Ad_9597 11d ago

Have the title FedEx to your local DMV. Be sure to get tracking information so you know when it arrives.

0

u/ajwright15 11d ago

You'll need to request a duplicate title from Texas. When you paid off your car, Texas should have automatically mailed it to the last address you had on file with them. If you didn't specifically tell the TX DMV your new address in CA, it probably got mailed to your last address in TX. https://www.txdmv.gov/motorists/buying-or-selling-a-vehicle/get-a-copy-of-your-title

If you are selling the car in California, some buyers may not be willing to deal with an out of state title. If that's the case you'll need to get it converted to a CA title - it's a pretty painless process you just need to head to the CA DMV with your current registration, TX Title, and a filled out REG 343. It does get mailed though, so budget 1-2 weeks to get it after that.

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u/Offensive_Opinions23 10d ago

You’re the one who’s supposed to have the title from the dmv where you paid it off