Texas DMV has indicated that at some point in the future they will compel participation in their ELT program. The legislation enabling this future mandatory ELT program was signed into law on 6/17/2011. This has resulted in renewed interest in the Texas ELT program. Some common questions:
Are lenders required to participate in the Texas ELT program?
DDI is following the progress of the ELT program in Texas carefully. Texas has provided clarification to us about requiring participation in their ELT program. One such conversation included these comments: "Although the department fully supports the ELT program we do not anticipate implementing mandatory ELT in the near future. I anticipate it will be quite some time before we even begin discussing this project. When we do begin the process we intend on meeting with industry partners to identify any entities and/or transactions that should be considered for exemption." They have not yet set a date for mandatory participation.
Can a title be released and sent to an address other than the owner's address?
Yes, in Premier eTitleLien™ an address can be changed so that when the title is requested to be printed, it will be mailed to the correct payoff address, such as a dealer, lender or insurance company.
How long with title information be available through the ELT system?
The completed title application will be able to be viewed/edited in your system perpetually or as long as your license agreement with DDI is in effect. All information about a title including information received from the Texas DMV and entered by your company's users will be retained for your future reference.
How long does it take for us to receive ELT information? For example, our customer books a loan here and a few days later we receive a payoff check from a dealership. Now the dealership is requesting the title that we just processed. The TX DMV is not showing our lien has been perfected yet because the process has not completed through the state yet. When should we expect to receive the title so that it can be released?
The county courthouse offices are working as agents of the DMV, so they are using the Texas DMV system to process title paperwork, and thus there is no communications lag. The electronic title, therefore, will appear in your Premier eTitleLien™ system the day after the courthouse processes the paperwork. If you book a loan on 3/1, and the courthouse processes the paperwork on 3/2, you will receive the ELT in your system on 3/3. If you receive certified funds from a dealer on 3/3, you can log into to your ELT system on 3/3 and direct the DMV to release your lien and have the clear title mailed to the dealer. The dealer should receive the clear title in the US mail in 3-5 business days.
Image above is "The afternoon in Austin Texas after some rain" by Jeffrey Spencer.
