How to buy used car from person who needs proceeds to pay off loan

"Valley Girl" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@y27g2000pre.googlegroups.com...

(1)As AP has already said, go with owner to lender and conclude transaction, face-to-face w/all 3 parties present. Buyer gets to see all necessary transactions occur. There will still be a delay in buyer getting title, as lender waits for checks to clear, as even a cashier's check from a bank directly across the street is still "uncollected funds". (2) Make your check payable to OWNER AND LENDER and be sure to write on front lower left AND on both rear signature areas of your check "TITLE MUST BE ATTACHED, CLEAR OF ANY LIEN(S)" and include the serial # as read from the vehicle--not any registration card, ins. paper, etc. The word "ALL" cannot be over-emphasized, as owner could feasibly owe a 2nd (or 3rd, or more) lien to other lenders. Of course in either case you be sure to get a bill of sale--notarization is not necessary in SOME states; yet more important, notar'n IS necessary in some other states. The 1st way is self-explanatory. The 2nd protects the buyer, as his check cannot be cashed w/o it being "sent for collection"--the title-holding lender puts check AND lien-free title in the same envelope and sends all to buyer's bank. Buyer's bank then calls for buyer to come in and physically inspect title and give permission to his bank to release funds to the lending bank. The 2 procedures above that I called safe are both based on 49 years of buying (and selling) cars from numerous, yet not all, states. HTH, sdlomi2