Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Pennsylvania: You must use ELT




At DDI we are pleased to be working with a great program like ELT. I've worked with projects (and products) that I was less-than-excited about but ELT is not like that. The program really does benefit everyone involved (lenders, vehicle owners, and states).

So if you are a state like Pennsylvania and you've got this great program (ELT) but participation is low - what options do you have? You can work on your processes to make participating easy, low-cost, and beneficial. Florida has worked to reduce the need for a paper title when transferring ownership or applying for a lien. Wisconsin has a free online program lenders can participate in.

Or you can require it. Pennsylvania is the trailblazing state taking this route. If you are in the regular business of providing auto loans, in state or out, you are required to use ELT when applying for a lien and removing a lien from a title.

They are not the only state taking this approach. Both Louisiana (by January 1, 2010) and California (by January 1, 2012) have passed legislation making participation mandatory. Arizona's mandatory legislation (by May 31, 2010) has resulted in the department revising their processes to make participation easier.

While we'd love to see all states work on simplifying the lien process, ELT programs are beneficial to everyone.