Can I Register A Vehicle In My Wife's Name If She's Not On The Loan?

In order for motor vehicles to be legally endemic and driven, you'll need to file for two important pieces of documentation: the title and registration.

Although vehicle titles and registration are often confused for one another, they're actually very dissimilar. However, both are very important and necessary if you're looking to refinance your vehicle. Let's accept a look at the difference betwixt a car title, a vehicle registration, and what is the purpose of each.

Car Title vs. Registration

As mentioned, auto titles and registration are not the same matter, and they serve two very different purposes. However, both are issued by local regime agencies, and both are required in order for your vehicle to exist legally owned, driven, and refinanced.

What is a motorcar title?

Ane of the about complicated, critical, and bottom-known portions of the auto refinance procedure is titling.

Titles are legal documents declaring either a person or a lien holder as the legal owner of a vehicle. If you are purchasing your vehicle outright (without an auto loan), you are the new owner and, therefore, the title holder. However, if yous finance your vehicle purchase, the bank actually owns your car until that debt is paid off, usually making the banking concern a lien holder.

Vehicle title illustration - RateGenius

In some states, the vehicle title will be issued to your lien holder until the lien is fully paid off. In other states, auto titles are issued to the registered owner/operator regardless of the presence of a lien.

In social club to process your vehicle's championship transfer, you will ordinarily need to provide a few pieces of documentation including:

A bill of sale
Your current odometer reading
Proof of insurance
Proof of residency

You may also need to pay sales tax on your new vehicle at this time, forth with whatsoever state title fees.

When purchasing a new automobile, dealerships will typically handle the titling process for yous. When refinancing a car loan, you go a new loan with a new lender. This requires an adjustment to the vehicle title document to reverberate that change. The lien holder changes from your original lender to your new refinance lender.

What is vehicle registration?

Registrations are essentially documentation past your country's taxation role validating that your vehicle has been cataloged in their arrangement and determined as roadworthy. Every country has vehicle registration requirements of some kind, so you lot will demand to complete this process before your automobile is legally allowed to exist driven by someone with a valid commuter's license.

Though each state'due south DMV (department of motor vehicles) has different requirements, virtually crave all vehicle owners to complete the following in club to obtain a new registration:

pay a tax or other registration fees
pass a vehicle inspection, which may include an emissions exam
purchase minimum (or higher) motorcar insurance
have a licensed commuter declare buying of the vehicle (typically with a championship or nib of sale)

Registered vehicles are issued a license plate and other documentation, such equally a sticker, which may vary depending on the state.

Vehicle registration illustration - RateGenius

Does registering my vehicle hateful I own it?

Though machine registration and titling unremarkably go hand-in-mitt, they don't mean the same thing. Just because you take registered a vehicle doesn't necessarily mean yous own it — information technology just means that you take paid your country's required taxes and fees and accepted responsibility for that vehicle's performance on public roads.

A vehicle can be registered past a driver fifty-fifty if that automobile is technically endemic (and titled) to another person, a dealership (equally with a lease), or a lien holder (similar an auto loan lender). However, virtually states volition require you to show proof of buying or a contract before assuasive you to register the vehicle in that state.

Which Comes Starting time: Car Championship or Registration?

By and large, the vehicle'due south championship will need to be filed earlier registration can exist completed. This really depends on your state, though.

Since a vehicle's title demonstrates ownership, it is arguably the near important of the ii. Whether yous are buying a car in greenbacks or purchasing (or refinancing) one with the assistance of an motorcar loan, ensuring that ownership has been transferred is imperative.

As we already touched on, many states will require you to show proof of buying before you lot are able to register the vehicle as well. And if you have only recently purchased the car, y'all may be able to take care of both your title and your state's registration at the aforementioned time.

Title, Registration, and Auto Loan Refinancing

Both the vehicle title and registration are required documents to refinance your car loan, simply the championship is the only document that must exist updated. (If you refinance your car loan with RateGenius, we'll work with your state's DMV to handle the titling process for you.)

Registrations typically do not require updates unless they are about to expire, you motion out-of-state, or y'all no longer wish to have another driver connected to the vehicle.

If you need to make any changes to your car'south registration — whether you've moved to a new state or want to remove another commuter from the vehicle — you will demand to practise that separately. (If you don't need to make whatever registration changes, though, then there's nothing to worry about!)

With that said: At the time of titling, it is important that your registration is electric current, as registration issues can delay the championship process.

Earlier Refinancing, Brand Sure Your Registration is Proficient to Become

In order to complete any title procedure — whether you are buying, selling, or refinancing your car — the vehicle's registration must be in skilful standing. The most common reasons why a registration would not be in expert standing are:

Price violations
Parking tickets
Unpaid taxes

Any registration issues associated with your auto tin can severely delay the title process. In turn, this tin can delay the final completion of your auto refinance loan.

Stephanie Colestock

Stephanie Colestock is a DC-based personal finance writer with an practiced focus on credit and lending. With over ten years of industry feel, she is a regular contributor on sites such as Credit Karma, The Residuum, Quicken Loans, Dough Roller, Finance Fizz, and more. She enjoys teaching people how to optimize their finances and salve themselves money in the process.