Wednesday, August 28, 2013

California 2013 deadline


This is your one week warning.

Thursday, September 5 marks the last day the California DMV will accept new applications to enroll in the California Electronic Lien and Title (ELT) program before 2014. Participation in the CA ELT program has been mandatory since January 1, 2012, though the DMV has not enforced that requirement.

California only enrolls new participants once a quarter. Applications for the next enrollment period are required approximately 4 months prior to the go live date. The DMV reviews all applications and, once approved, sends a copy of the ELT contract to each participant (lender) which must be signed and returned to the state.

For additional assistance in enrolling and a copy of the ELT application form, please see www.etitlelien.com.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Customer Service


Customer Service is very important to us. We work hard to make sure Premier eTitleLien™ is a fantastic product that is a pleasure to work with. But a significant part of what makes DDI successful is the assistance we provide to resolve lien and title issues.

We've recently received a number of great comments from our customers:

From a comment on a customer support survey:
Any time I need to contact the company I always feel that I am helped above and beyond normal customer service. One reason why [this Credit Union] will remain a customer. Thank you!
An unsolicited note from one of our partners:
Hi Ann. [DDI's CIO]

I just wanted to take a minute to let you know how incredibly helpful the DDI team always is for us. Specifically Caitlin Huddle, Dillon Dorn, Taylor Page, and Jason Pfaehler. These team members definitely deserve the "Going Above and Beyond" award for all their hard work. I know that a lot of what they do every day may seem like routine processes, but they help us immensely. I extend my emphatic "Thank You!" to these and all the other team members at DDI.

Have a great day.
From a live chat support session with a customer:
Taylor (DDI): Is there anything else I can help you with today Cynthia?
Customer: You have a nice day. You folks always respond and have always help me no matter what.
Customer: No I am good.
Taylor (DDI): We like to hear that! Thank you very much. I hope you have a great day as well!
Image above is titled Young child wearing knitted cap, driving toy car by BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

ELT in New Jersey


An ELT program may be coming soon to the state of New Jersey.

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission considered an Electronic Lien and Title (ELT) program several years ago, but decided not to proceed with a program at that time. Recently the MVC has been meeting with other states that offer ELT (including Pennsylvania and Florida), conducting surveys of key stakeholders (64% of NJ lienholders already participate in an ELT program), and evaluating key requirements for a successful program.

The legislature is also considering requiring the NJ MVC to implement an ELT program and require participation. NJ SB 1853 and AB 3129 is still pending legislation.

Updated information can be found at www.NJELT.com.

Image above is cropped from a 1930s postcard entitled Scenic roadway along the Garden State Parkway of New Jersey in Cape May County posted by Boston Public Library.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Michigan Developing ELT


The Michigan Department of State (which oversees vehicle and title issues) is actively working on an ELT program. There are a number of considerations for Michigan, including changing from owner-title-holding to lienholder-title-holding. (Currently owner's keep the vehicle title even when a lien is placed. Several states handle titles in this fashion.)

DDI maintains informational sites about the Electronic Lien and Title program in each state, including states like Michigan that are still in process of implementing ELT. Our application, Premier eTitleLien, handles titles from all states and jurisdictions and works exceptionally well with states that offer ELT programs.

Image above is of Detroit, Michigan by Top Rank Auto Transport.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Alabama Requiring ETAPS


In a March 4, 2013 Memo, the Alabama Department of Revenue directed that all "entities (i.e. pawnshops, title loan/pawn lenders, etc.) involved with the filing of liens on motor vehicle certificates of titles, with places of business in Alabama" are required to file liens electronically using the Electronic Title Application Processing System (ETAPS).

It is DDI's understanding that this requirement does not apply to traditional lenders (banks and credit unions) located outside of Alabama.  All entities that qualify to be a Designated Agent are required to participate.

Image above is from Signs by Andrea in Hoover, AL.

Monday, August 5, 2013

ELT Program Recommendations


Decision Dynamics, Inc. is very interested in seeing each US State implement an Electronic Lien and Title program.  We monitor active ELT programs, states working on developing ELT (such as Iowa, Indiana, and Maryland), and changes to state laws to allow ELT (as in Colorado), implement a new program (as we mentioned about Nevada and North Carolina), or make changes to their existing ELT program (such as Texas).

We have experience in joining ELT programs, working with states as they bring on a new ELT program, and trying to meet our customers' needs in ELT states and non-ELT states through the DDI Title Center.  Whenever we can, we present details from our experiences to the states (as we did with South Dakota).

AllAboutTitles.com is designed to gather that kind of state-relevant information about Electronic Liens and Titles.  We recently updated our Best Practices for ELT Programs document which contains a number of brief suggestions and feedback (pros and cons) about existing state programs.

Image above is State Greetings (a collection of post cards from the 50 US States) by Hoch Sollst Du Leben.