I had a call from a customer looking for assistance with an Ohio title. This particular customer was not yet participating in the Ohio ELT program, but just needed some help in getting a title from another lender for their customer who was moving to Michigan.
We chatted briefly about some of the good things with the Ohio program.
- Electronic Notation: There are three states that offer electronic lien notation through the ELT program: Ohio, New York, and Wisconsin. New York and Wisconsin are owner-title-holding states, making electronic notation fairly simple, legally and logistically. Ohio offers the same type of service. This becomes an excellent tool to speed up title processing (*much* more convenient for owners) and helps reduce fraud.
- Free Public Title History: Ohio allows anyone to check on the current status of a title. This becomes a great tool for lenders to verify that a title is current and owners to verify that a lien has been released. One nice side effect for the state is a reduction in calls to their helpdesk.
- Electronic Release of Lien on Paper Title: Lenders can release liens electronically even for paper titles. This allows lenders to be more responsive when loans are paid off.
More information:
- Information on pros and cons of each state's ELT program is kept on our AllAboutTitles.com site.
- Ohio calls their title inquiry the Online Vehicle/Watercraft Title Inquiry. Full title history is provided and confidentiality is maintained by not disclosing non-business owner's names. Premier eTitleLien™ integrates this and many other state's title checks into our ELT application.
Image above is a little rock that "totally sorta looks like a map of Ohio" by Andy Woodruff. Ohio rocks!
