Title Nazi

[legion]

I went to get the title, plates, and taxes taken care of for the new truck on Friday afternoon.

Considering that I bought three vehicles in 2004 and one in 2005, I've come to understand the temperament of some of the employees at the DMV. I must say that I cringed when the lady I refer to affectionately as the "Title Nazi" called my number.

You see, the Title Nazi likes to interpret laws and rules in such a way that it is impossible to issue you a title. ("No title for you!")

This time, she insists that the dealership in Florida must send the title to me, personally, and that is the only way that I can have the title transferred. The problem is, Florida has a law that dealerships must send titles to lien holders (that's what the dealership told me). Guess who I think is full of $h!t?

She also refuses to do any other paperwork (tax, plates) unless I have the title paperwork done.

Anyway, now I'm stuck in title limbo.

Previously, the Title Nazi has also refused to issue me a title because my wife wasn't at the DMV in person with me and didn't sign the paperwork in her presence.

[Superman]

I've been thinking that perhaps you are an adult, Legion. If so, then you'd have known what to say to Title Nazi. It's a question that contains the term "supervisor."

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Sucks, but if you really don't like dealing with this stuff, you can always pay a title service to handle it for you. IIRC their fees range between $400 and $700.

[Rick Lee]

Better yet, I think FL titles have a water mark that runs all across the paper, so that if it's photocopied, the copy will read "VOID" all over. Other states' DMV's really like that.

[techweenie]

I use AAA for simple transfers, and for the more complex one, I use a DMV service that charges $75 to stand in line and jump through hoops for me.

Saved my butt last year when the DMV had a bad record on file from some Southern state where they entered the VIN of a '72 911 as part of the VIN of a stolen motorcycle. That cost more like $225, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime screwup.

[legion]

Supe, I've been through that song and dance before. The supervisor is on break. (The supervisor is ALWAYS on break.) After waiting 2-3 hours before being allowed to speak to the supervisor, the only thing that happens is that the supervisor backs her up.

[Dantilla]

We don't have this problem anymore, because of capitalism.

Washington State now allows private businesses to handle title and license renewals, for a slight fee increase over what the state charges.

I now go right around the corner, where the friendly people are glad to help. And I gladly pay a higher fee.

It's called competition. If they are not nice to me, I will not return.

The government monopoly has no reason to care about you. You are simply bothering the "title nazi" as she waits for her next coffee break. Her paycheck is guarenteed wheather she serves you or not. With an attitude like that, she would not last long at the privately owned license places.

But don't worry about her. She can always get a job taking care of your health care if Hillary gets her way.

[Superman]

I'm, frankly, not buying this caricaturized representation. I don't doubt that Title Nazi behaves as Legion describes, but I'm just not at all convinced that her attitude is as poor as the guy that sold me salmon at the local Safeway meat counter this weekend. He was neither smart nor happy.

And this current story sounds like a bunch of bunk, but I suspect there may be a "rest of the story."

And still, my advice is that if the supervisor seems to you to be backing up an interpretation that is contrary to law, then the supervisor's supervisor, or perhaps someone with "manager" in their title needs to be brought into the dialogue. If there is some requirement that Title Nazi and her supervisor are trying to communicate, then just talk to as many DMV folks as it takes for you to understand the requirement. If the requirement is bogus, then eventually someone will outline the "real" requirement.

People don't buffalo me twice. Public or private. Yes, private businesses do deliberately misdirect people. I keep asking questions. Pretty soon, if someone was fibbing to me, they learn that I will find the truth.

Like Dan, I use one of the very many small private licensing stores. Frankly, it's not easy finding a state office that does that. But there are state offices that do this, and I have used them as well. Frankly, the service at both places is equivalent. At least, there is no difference in attitude. Overall, my preference would be a state office. If there is a serious complexity regarding a title, the private offices point their palms at the sky and shrug their shoulders. The state office folks can't blame it on anyone else. They have to provide answers and explain requirements.

I recently had a situation somewhat like the one you described here. I had to ask for the supervisor, and then the supervisor's manager, and ultimately I had to take the matter to a person who reported to the head of the entire organization. The problem should have been fixed three levels below her, but it wasn't. And frankly, the people below her were lying to me. Guess what? This was Ohio Savings Bank!

[legion]

The DMV is closed on Mondays across the fine state of Illinois. I do plan on making calls to Springfield tomorrow, but that wasn't an option Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. (I didn't have the time to wait on hold on Friday, and Saturday and Sunday they are closed.)

I will get this resolved. To be honest, I don't trust a private title company on this one either. I'd fear they would be inclined to declare the problem "solved", and I would later discover a problem when I had to renew the registration or sell the vehicle.

Still, the root of the problem is an entire government agency that gets joy out of antogonizing the the public, rather than serving them.

[lendaddy]

There is no motivation toward good customer service in Government. No one at that facility has an interest in making you a happy customer. Hit another office or two, waste several hours of your time and you'll eventually get what you need, that's how it works..been there.

[Rick Lee]

When I bought my Carrera, I got for well under KBB price. In VA if you put a price on the back of the title which is suspiciously too far below KBB value, the DMV assigns KBB value to it and charges you sales tax accordingly. I was pretty steamed about that. I had a bill of sale, but it wasn't on the official DMV BoS stationary. The nice lady at DMV handed me a form and quietly told me to go have someone fill it out for me outside the bldg. and come back to her booth and she would pull me to the front of the line. I figured, if they're gonna accuse me lying anyway, I might as well. So I put a ridiculously low price on it, had my friend sign it and went back to DMV. Worked like a charm. Since I knew the seller, I told him about it and he was cool with it. Sometimes DMV folks can be cool. It's probably refreshing for them to see a polite person who speaks English too.

[lendaddy]

Yep, there are good people everywhere even if in spite of a system designed to crush their souls.

[legion]

I am nothing but polite with the Title Nazi. She will not hesitate to threaten to have the geriatric policeman who is stationed at the DMV come and arrest you. Yes, Illinois has created a special criminal offense for disparaging DMV employees. They have signs posted all over the facility explaining the law. I find the need for such a law pretty revealing.

[David]

When I went to get my 79 930 title in 2003, the lady told me I needed to get a smog check since the vehicle wasn't 25 years old. I kindly told her the law is 24 years. We went back and forth a few times until I calmly asked her to check the law for my amusment. Low and behold the law was 24 years. Who'd of thought a lowly customer would know the law better than a state employee?

[Dantilla]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
In VA if you put a price on the back of the title which is suspiciously too far below KBB value, the DMV assigns KBB value to it and charges you sales tax accordingly.

Washington does this too. With so many people cheating over the years, I can see why.

When I went to change the title of the 944 that is now my race car, I had a Bill of Sale that specifically stated: "Car does not run. Engine seized. Wheels and tires missing." That was enough for them to accept the low price.

[legion]

Just to clarify...most of the other people at our local DMV are pleasant. My problem is just with the Title Nazi. I don't think the other people who work there like her either, but I suspect that she has seniority over everyone else. If I go back, and she is there, she will tell whoever gets my number that she was working with me...

[Dixie]

Don't feel alone. When I moved from Florida back to South Carolina, I had to elicit the help of my State Representative to get the titles to my vehicles transferred. The S.C. DMV lost them...

[Tobra]

My buddy found a lady who let him keep the original title on his classic car. He wants to keep it, for documentation purposes. He is asking what about this old title, she says, if you lost the title, I would not be able to confiscate it now would I? She had to tell him twice

[on2wheels52]

No such problems with my small town Revenue Department (same as DMV elsewhere). There's always been a saucy woman or two there to keep things fun for me. One changed the amount on a motorcycle bill of sale herself to get me under the taxable amount.
Rarely a line. It's actually a bright spot in my day to go there.
Jim

[Superman]

I dunno what dreams you guys are confusion with reality. Several of you, even Legion, have reported reasonably pleasant attitudes held by public servants. Even helpful suggestions from them. Clearly, you guys must be confused. There is no way this could happen. Public servants have no motivation to be helpful. Indeed, their sole purpose is to ruin everyone's day.

Legion, if I were in your shoes I would continue to approach this woman very professionally and respectfully, but I would pursue her imaginative interpretations as far as necessary to get a Department policy ruling if necessary. Ultimately, that agency has a Director or Secretary, and a team of Assistant Directors who are responsible to see that interpretations of the law are consistent. The Governor oversees all this, and should be included in the correspondence. A letter directly to the Governor usually gets "tracked" by the Governor's administrative staff, and there are usually timelines to obey and copies of responses are required to be filed with the Governor's office. They will insist that the agency deal with you quickly and accurately and respectfully. Gratefully.

I would use this mechanism to teach Title Nazi and her supervisor if necessary, that making up incorrect intrepretations of law on the fly will ultimately lead to embarrassment.