Kubota Titles ???

[Gordon Gould]

I bought a used 2012 M5640 early in April 2017. It was a private sale. The guy still owed Kubota Corp on it. He said he would pay off the loan and send me the title when he got it. I didn't know tractors had titles. I trusted him. He says he paid the loan off the day I took the tractor home and they told him it would take about 6 weeks for the title to come. Almost 3 months have passed and he has not received a title. Now I wonder if he ever will or is something else going on. Can anyone tell me how this all works ? Thanks

gg

 

[coldsteelva]

Tractors are property/goods and not motor vehicles and do not have VINs - no VIN generally means no title. Nothing is required to transfer ownership, but a simple bill of sale is generally beneficial to both parties. If you bought the tractor and the seller didn't pay Kubota, that's between him and them - you're in the clear (assuming they don't know how to find their collateral)

 

[radioman]

a simple call to kubota loans and s/n in hand and ask if it paid off or not will help. if not paid for then - there is still a lien on it. not a good place to be if you paid cash for yours. get this straighten out NOW before the possessors and courts gets involved.

 

[kthompson]

Not a lawyer but if lien is on the tractor and sold not sure you are in the "clear". If he does not pay it off the lender has first right to the tractor and it will hold up in court. As to them finding the tractor, more and more brands require serial number to sell you parts. Maybe not as much so in the tractor world yet but in heavy equipment and it will be I think in the major brands next few years. Then it comes to if you were to sell it and that persons has the vin number (they may call it serial number) run and it shows up or for any reason such as traffic accident things have a way to be found over time. If you were even to insure it puts you owning that serial number out there. Do as radioman man said. You have a right to ask the seller for proof the lien was satisfied.

 

[jeff9366]

When a loan through Kubota Credit Corporation is paid off by a tractor purchaser, KCC sends a letter confirming the loan is paid off and thanking the customer for the business. KCC encloses copies of the original loan agreement.

"Kubota Credit Corporation's security interest granted by the contract is released, and we have terminated evidence of your lien."

If the tractor is not paid off it is loan collateral and can be repossessed by KCC. You do not have standing because Kubota has ownership of the tractor. Your recourse is only against the seller, who is usually insolvent.



KCC Telephone: 800 794-4992 Suwannee, Georgia.

 

[Grandad4]

Kubota would also have filed a "UCC-1" form with the Secretary of State in your state that registers their security interest in the property being financed. Those filings are public records that can be searched, in many states it can be done online. If the loan was paid off, the UCC-1 records should reflect such.

It would be very important for you to have a bill of sale showing the seller transferred ownership and you made payment.

 

[oosik]

I financed my tractor thru KCC for a short period. When I paid it off, I got a letter saying the loan was satisfied. There is no title for tractors in WA

I would certainly research the status of the loan by calling KCC with the serial # and name of the person you purchased the tractor from.

 

[aczlan]

If the seller had a plate on it, it might have a title, otherwise what has been said in this thread is spot on.

Aaron Z

 

[MORRISONSTEEL]

You can tell easily enough with the s/n and the oem lending arm for their retail note stutus....however that will not help if the unit is under some form of a "blanket" loan (popular in the ag and commercial world). Pretty much all dealers anymore when trading tractors over about 3k will do this search and it cannot be completed by tractor s/n you also need the owners social security # (sometimes tax id). It is also why many times you can't trade a tractor on even a cash deal without providing social security #, they are going to look for a blanket lien. If the dealer is not performing these searches beyond a s/n search it just means they haven't been bit yet but it will happen and a banker and sheriff will show up and take the machine. Obviously this happens more with larger farm machinery but is still very possible in the private use world.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Thanks for the replies. First I have no reason to believe the tractor was not paid off by the previous owner. If he had not stated that he would send the title to me when he got it I would not even be thinking about this. We even had a statement in the bill of sale to the effect he would immediately pay off the loan and send me the title. It surprised me that a title would be involved. Now I know - it isn't. Thanks !

Anyway, just because I thought it would be good to know, I called KCC at the phone number given above and asked for confirmation that there was no lien on the tractor. (Model and S/N). They told me it was private info and would violate there privacy policy if they were to divulge it. When I started to ask how I might be able to find out they rudely and abruptly hung up on me. Oh well-more important things to do I guess.

So I guess that saga is over. Thanks again for the help.

gg

 

[fishheadbob]

I would be concerned if I were you. Here's a worst case scenario. If the seller still owes Kubota Credit money; that's a secured loan, and it's secured by the tractor, Vin or no Vin; title or no title. If the seller blows off Kubota ( "Something came up." Or "my wife got real sick and I had to pay for the treatments.") Kubota still wants what is owed them. They will get their money by repossessing the tractor and selling it as they have a lien against it, that's their security. They will then give money from the sale, if there is any money, to the original borrower since legally you are just some guy on the street who got burned.
I would get in contact with the seller to see what's up, and to get the lien release (a letter from Kubota). For all you know the repo guys have been looking everywhere for your tractor.

28 years with the Credit Union; yes we have repo'd tractors.

 

[wagne223]

The days of the handshake agreement are long gone. You can no longer trust anyone to do what they say.
This situation here is why I only buy trucks, boats, tractors or anything else that can have a lien from a dealer. New or used.
From a dealer these situations are rare and if it does happen, dealers have assets and are collectible so a lawyer will take your case.

To the OP I hope your seller did what he was soposed to do.

 

[03griz]

When I bought my truck with a lien on it I made my check out to the lien holder in the amount that was owing. Then the seller got a smaller check. Thing is when I did a lien search it showed nothing. The lien was in a different province. Weird in today's computer age that one province would not tell the next one.........

 

[mile9c1]

They told me it was private info and would violate there privacy policy if they were to divulge it.

I'd call back and ask for a manager. They certainly should tell you if there is a lien on it. They might not tell you how much, or whose name it is in. But they can give you a yes/no answer. Tell them you are looking to purchase the tractor and need to know if the lien has been cleared. That information is not private property IMO.

I bought a dirtbike a few years ago that I knew had a lien on it. The seller still hasn't paid it off! I know because I can look it up myself on the DMV website. This is why I believe liens aren't private property. I've also been given lien releases from banks, for two different items that I wasn't the legal owner of (1 dirtbike and 1 ATV).

 

[Gordon Gould]

I'd call back and ask for a manager. They certainly should tell you if there is a lien on it. They might not tell you how much, or whose name it is in. But they can give you a yes/no answer. Tell them you are looking to purchase the tractor and need to know if the lien has been cleared. That information is not private property IMO.

I bought a dirtbike a few years ago that I knew had a lien on it. The seller still hasn't paid it off! I know because I can look it up myself on the DMV website. This is why I believe liens aren't private property. I've also been given lien releases from banks, for two different items that I wasn't the legal owner of (1 dirtbike and 1 ATV).

That is exactly what I told them. When she said it was private I said I was only interested in weather the tractor had a lien or not. I didn't need any personal info. She said I can't tell you that. I said If you can't help me do you know how I can find out. She hung up on me.

I like O3griz's method. That makes a lot of sense. I will remember that.

gg

 

[Will_C]

I too will second 03grizs, and have actually went to to a local bank and paid a lien off on a used car I bought.
Will