AUTO TITLE MANUAL - Franklin County, Ohio

FRANKLIN COUNTY CLERK OF COURTS
AUTO TITLE MANUAL
Substitution of Collateral
A substitution of collateral occurs when the owner of a vehicle or watercraft under
mortgage wants to substitute one vehicle or watercraft for another as collateral. The lien
should be canceled on the title of the original vehicle or watercraft and noted on the new
one. The security agreement and a substitution of collateral agreement or an affidavit
should be presented to the title office along with the new title.
Lien Holder Reassignment
When a lienholder sells their interest in a vehicle(s) or watercraft to another party, the
lien should not be signed off. We must have a security agreement properly assigned to
the second party. “Properly assigned” means that the first lien holder states on the
security agreement that they “assign all rights, title and interest in this agreement” to the
new lienholder. This statement should be signed by someone authorized to sign for the
first lienholder and must be notarized.
Repossession Titles
When a titled owner defaults in payment of a mortgage noted on a certificate of title, the
lienholder may obtain a repossession title in their name.
Only the application portion of the back of the title needs to be completed.
The applicant’s name and address are the name and address of the lienholder as shown on
the face of the title.
The reason for tax exemption should be stated as “Resale – Financial Institution”.
Lien information must be marked with the word “NONE”.
An authorized representative must sign the title, and must state the company name and
their position with the company. The title must be notarized.
On motor vehicle repossessions, an applicant’s odometer statement must be completed.
The second box on the odometer statement is the one that applies to repossession
(operation of law). If the vehicle has not yet been recovered, complete the odometer
statement and enter “repossession” in the space for mileage.
The security agreement or a certified copy must be surrendered with the title and
odometer statement when applying for a new title.
When a dealer is the one applying for the repossession title as lienholder, the dealer must
first get a repossession title and then apply for a resale title, if the vehicle is to be sold
from the dealer’s lot. For sample form, see exhibit "L".
10 FRANKLIN FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNTY TITLE TITLE DIVISION DIVISION CUSTOMER - CUSTOMER SERVICE LINE (614) 525-3090
462-3090