Thursday, April 5, 2012

California Mandatory ELT: Really?

We received some feedback from a California credit union today regarding the mandatory California ELT program. The officer at the CU said they called the CA DMV and were told they would not be required to process ELTs when the deadline is implemented in January...they can continue to do paper.

Not wanting to provide misleading information, we double-checked with our DMV contact. Their response:

Oh wow!! This is completely not true. They will have to enroll in the ELT program in order to conduct business on California Titled Vehicles.

Please note that the enrollment process for California is staggered; new participants are brought on once a quarter. You must meet their application dates in order to be scheduled for the next live date.

One implication that worries us: if a lender does not apply to join the program before the mandatory participation period begins on January 1, 2013, the next opportunity to place a lien on a title in California will not occur until July 2013.

2012 Implementation schedule for joining California's ELT program:

Quarter Due date for applications Due date for contracts Implementation
1st December 13, 2011 December 27, 2011 March 30, 2012
2nd March 13, 2012 March 27, 2012 July 2, 2012
3rd June 12, 2012 June 26, 2012 October 1, 2012
4th September 11, 2012 September 25, 2012 December 31, 2012

Full instructions for signing up for the program are posted on our website at http://www.etitlelien.com/eltCA.aspx.

Image above is Wizardry -- Mount Diablo Summit, California (HDR) by Reno Moeller.