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Electronic Lien and Title program

Electronic Lien and Title (ELT) introduction

The Electronic Lien and Title (ELT) program allows financial institutions to issue an electronic version of a vehicle title and lienholder information in place of a paper certificate of title (Public Acts 290-292 of 2014). All financial institutions and those entities engaged in the business of financing vehicles or watercraft are required to enroll in ELT.

Secured party, security interest, and lienholder are terms that refer to an individual, bank, credit union, or other organization that has provided financing for the purchase of a vehicle. Companies and financial institutions participating in the ELT program are know as an ELT lienholder. Under the ELT program, vehicle titles are held electronically by the Michigan Department of State (MDOS). Paper titles held by financial institutions and companies prior to their enrollment in ELT are not converted to an electronic format.

The following vehicles are eligible for an electronic title:

  • Passenger car
  • Trucks
  • Motorcycle
  • Bus
  • Trailers
  • Trailer coach
  • Pickup campers
  • Off-Road Vehicles
  • Watercraft

Access to ELT (Choose tab)

ELT enrollment

Financial institutions can sign up for ELT through one of two ways:

  • Online: Fill out the ELT-20 (account manager application) and the ELT-45 (access request form). Save the completed ELT-20 and ELT-45 forms as PDFs and submit them with an application through e-Services. Once the forms and application have been reviewed and approved, the financial institution will be sent information explaining how to access their e-Services account.
  • Approved service provider: Contact a third-party service provider for information and enrollment in ELT. The state has approved the following ELT service providers: DDI TechnologiesDealertrack, PDP Group, and Secure Title Administration. Approved service providers may charge additional fees for enrollment.

Go to e-Services

Lienholder designation

After enrolling in the ELT program, financial institutions will be assigned a designated ID number that must be provided whenever a title is issued by the lienholder. This number must be included when the following documents are submitted:

Electronic files

Financial institutions participating in ELT must process and store vehicle titles electronically.

Once the loan for the vehicle has been paid and terminated, the financial institution (lienholder) will release the electronic lien and notify the Michigan Department of State to mail a paper title to the vehicle owner. Secretary of State offices don’t have the authority to release electronic liens.

Duplicate and instant titles cannot be processed for titles held electronically. Aside from when a lien is terminated, paper titles are only produced for electronically stored titles in certain situations, such as when a vehicle owner is moving and plans to register in another state.

Like paper titles, corrections to electronic titles can be made at a Secretary of State office, including:

  • Correcting a name or address
  • Adding a second lien
  • Correcting vehicle information (year, make, or VIN)
  • Adding or releasing non-electronic liens

Schedule an office visit

Paper title exceptions

Lienholders in the ELT program may choose to receive a paper title under the following circumstances:

  • Owner is moving out of state.
  • Owner trading vehicle out-of-state
  • Owner deceased, new owner transferring ownership into their name
  • Dealers selling at an auction
  • Buyer is from another state (Intransit)
  • Adding/removing a named owner

Dealers (Choose tab)

Dealer options and benefits

Dealers are not required to enroll in ELT. However, if a dealership offers financing (buy here, pay here), or if a dealer is frequently listed as a secured interest on title applications, they must enroll in the ELT program and obtain an electronic lienholder (LH) number. The dealer’s LH number must be included on the application for title correction when the dealer is listed as the lienholder.

Dealers with a lienholder account will be able to perform the following activities:

  • Release Lien
  • Change Electronic Lien Filing Date (refinance)
  • Print Electronic Title
  • Search for an ELT Title
  • View a list of currently held electronic titles

Dealer e-Services allows dealers to perform the following activities (without enrollment in ELT):

  • Receive a vehicle with an electronic title from another dealer
  • Transfer a vehicle with an electronic title to another dealer
  • Assume responsibility for a vehicle lien
  • View pending vehicle transfers
  • Search for a title
  • View a list of currently-held electronic titles

Lien assumptions

When a dealer purchases a vehicle from a retail customer and accepts the financial responsibility for paying off the remaining balance on the vehicle lien or loan, this is known as a "lien assumption."

Documents required when processing a lien assumption

Dealers are required to upload an RD-108 (or ownership document such as a purchase order), odometer statement, and driver's license information as part of the dealer assumption process. This transfers ownership into the purchasing dealer’s name but does not generate a paper resale title unless selected by the dealer during the assumption process. As paperwork is submitted electronically for dealer assumptions, the only hard copy involved in this transaction is the hand-signed odometer statement, which must be retained by the dealer in the deal jacket. For dealer assumptions that occur for vehicles traded with a paper title, nothing changes, and all paper will continue to be submitted for deals processed through CVR.

Purchasing a vehicle with an electronic title

If the vehicle, a dealer is purchasing, has an electronic title, the lien assumption process should be used.
The only exception would be if the vehicle owner is in the process of paying off the vehicle loan. In this case, the dealer should not use the lien assumption process but should wait until the lien is terminated and the paper title is issued to the vehicle owner.

 

Paper titles

When a dealer assume a lien, they have the option of either retaining the title in its electronic format or converting it to paper. The decision as to which to choose is up to the dealer. If it is anticipated that the vehicle will be resold to a retail customer who may require financing to purchase the vehicle, there are numerous advantages to having the title remain its electronic format. However, if it is anticipated that the purchased vehicle will be sold at auction, or to an out-of-state purchaser, then obtaining a paper title may be necessary.

Dealers who request a paper title may have it issued in the dealer's name or in the customer's name. If there is no lien on the vehicle, and the dealer is requesting a duplicate title, the title will be reissued in the vehicle owner’s name. If there is a lien on the vehicle, and the dealer assumed the lien, the dealer assumption process moves vehicle ownership into the dealer’s name, and a requested paper title will be issued in the dealer's name. If the dealer is requesting a paper title for a vehicle with an electronic title and the vehicle has not been paid off by the owner, a paper title will not be generated until the lienholder indicates the loan has been satisfied.

Dealers that have an electronic title can convert it to paper once the title is in the dealer's name (assumed by the dealer) by applying for an instant title at a Secretary of State office. The title will be subject to the additional $5 instant title fee.

Paper titles can be converted to electronic titles if the vehicle is resold and a lien is placed.

Resale paper titles cannot be converted to an electronic format.

 

 

Fees

Fees for vehicle trades depend in part on whether the title is paper or electronic. Paper vehicle titles result in no fees because there is no title transaction. With electronic dealer assumptions, a title fee is due because a new title record is generated to show the change of ownership into the dealer's name.

When a dealer "wholesales" a vehicle, meaning that the vehicle is moved from the property of one licensed dealer to another dealer for the purpose of resale, a title fee will be due as a new title will be generated to reflect the change in ownership. If the vehicle ownership is not changing, the dealer may want to obtain a paper title when relocating a vehicle to another property.

Title fees are collected in real-time as the transaction is processed on system and not batched at the end of the day. A dealer may use an established EFT account to process a payment.

Convenience fees

A convenience fee is charged when using a credit card to pay for a Michigan Department of State transaction. The convenience fee is calculated as 1.45% of the total transaction amount.



ELT and auctions, CVR, leases, and out-of-state transactions

  • Auctions do not currently have access to the ELT program. A paper title is required for a vehicle auction. Auctions cannot accept vehicles with electronic titles because they cannot process them.

  • CVR provides dealers with an integrated, electronic interface for processing vehicle title applications and registrations with the Michigan Department of State. Only transactions involving dealer assumptions or dealer-to-dealer transfers cannot be processed using CVR. These exceptions must be processed through the dealer's online Michigan Department of State (MDOS) e-Services account. All other transactions must be processed with CVR.

    Transactions involving electronically held titles (ELT) must first have the lien assumed online through their MDOS e-Services account and then the title can be processed or transferred through CVR. All of the usual paperwork, with the exception of the title, should be submitted. Dealers are advised to make a note in the remarks section of the RD-108 that the title is electronic. Dealers will still need to mail their CVR bundle reports daily. The only difference is that the submitted paperwork would not include the previously issued title if it is held electronically.

    After processing a vehicle transaction on CVR, if it involves an ELT lienholder, the paper title will be converted to an electronic format. If no lienholder is placed, the title will remain as a paper title.

  • Lease buy backs:  If the lessor is also a lienholder and participates in ELT, then the process for transferring a title becomes easier for the dealer. The dealer can work with the lessor to keep the title in its electronic format. If the dealer then assumes the lien, they can immediately transfer the vehicle ownership into the retail customer's name.

    Lease titles will be in an electronic format if the lessor is an ELT lienholder.

  • If a dealer is selling a vehicle to a customer who is not a Michigan resident, the transaction will require a paper title. The ELT program is only for vehicles titled in Michigan. Michigan does not have the capability to view electronic titles kept in other states.

    Vehicles that are electronically titled in Michigan will be eligible to have a paper title generated at a lienholder’s request when the vehicle owner is moving out-of-state. There is no mechanism to transfer an electronic title to another state. If a new vehicle is being titled out-of-state, Michigan will issue an in-transit permit, with the lienholders listed so they may be added to the new title in the titling state.

    Titles held in an electronic format that are in the dealer's name can be produced in a printed format at the request of the dealer. To obtain a paper title, dealers can pay a $5 fee for an instant title duplicate at a Secretary of State office. Paper title duplicates may also be mailed to the dealer at no additional cost. Dealers are advised that delivery times through the USPS may vary, so if time is of the essence, an instant title request is the quickest route. The Michigan Department of State processes title requests received by mail within five business days.

Still have more questions?

ELT FAQs