Found a bike *Sigh*, guy has a loan on bike.....
 

There are about a billion post on this to found. It seems at the end of the day, is comes down to either:

A) Tell the guy tough luck, pay it off then we do business

B) Make out a cashiers check to his finance company, pay him the rest, and get a bill of sale spelling out what has to do at his end.

Ugh. I want this bike hard. Guy lives only a couple blocks away. Seems trustworthy (don't they all?). I'm going to have the bike in possesion.

Dunno, what do you say?

EDIT: No, I'm no telling you what the bike is :P

Finance company local?

JR

No. If it was local I would just go to the bank with him.

I had a loan on my GS when I sold it and the selle of my S had a loan on it when I bought it. No problem at all on either end in either deal.

I had a loan on a truck. Guy paid me, I wired in the loan payoff, bank overnighted me title, I signed, overnighted it to buyer. He accepted a bill of sale in the interim. No biggie.

Call the company and ask them their procedures. I'd probably suggest sending a check directly to the finance company/bank, or wiring them the funds. Pay the guy with a cashier's check, make him endorse the title to you in front of a notary and get it notarized. Have a bill of sale made out the same way. You might consider holding out a portion of the proceeds to the owner until he delivers a lien release, unless the finance company is willing to send it directly to you, or unless your state is able to do them electronically, like we do here in Oklahoma.

JR

Have bought as well as sold several cars with loans still on them.

Never had an issue.

Seems more common than not.

You should be able to work with this. Bottom line, you should be safe with a Bill of Sale, possession of the bike, and proof you paid for it.

See if you can get in a conference call with the seller and the lender or have him give his permission to the lender to discuss paying off the account with you.
- see if they have the title in hand. Sometimes it has to be ordered and that takes time.
- see if they can be instructed to send the title directly to you. Some lenders will do that, but you'll need an acceptable Power of Attorney from the seller to put in your name once you receive the title. Ask your DMV what form they accept and if anything needs to be notarized.
- most lenders will only send the title to the their borrower, who needs to sign it and give it to you after he receives it. I don't see this being a problem, as the seller has to commit a crime to claim the bike is still his.

I agree and strongly encourage you to pay off the lender and not give the funds to the seller, except his equity. Some lenders will hold the title for 10 days or more if paid with a cashier's check, but not with cash or a wire transfer.