LIENS

An Auto Lien sale arises when a vehicle or vessel is in your possession due to impound, unpaid auto storage, unpaid repairs or unpaid towing.

We process the paper work here in Bakersfield, CA which gives our clients the opportunity to conduct a lien sale which gives the interested parties the opportunity to pay the fees due and recuperate their auto. The fees must be paid within the time given in the lien sale papers.

If the fees are not paid then the vehicle that has a lien sale and is auctioned to the highest bidder so that the fees due can be paid with the proceeds from the vehicle or vessel sale.

Towing companies, auto parking’s and auto repair shops are companies that mainly do most of the liens due to the type of operations they run. Also private individuals may do a lien if a vehicle is abandoned on their private property.

Auto repair shops must provide their Bureau of Automotive Repair number to be able to charge for any repair done to the vehicle.

There are 3 types of liens for vehicles:

1.) Lien Sale for vehicles valued $500 or less.

This type of lien sale are for vehicles that are JUNK and can only be sold to dismantlers or junk yards. This auto cannot be registered with the DMV to be driven in California.

2.) Lien sale for vehicles valued $4000 or less.

This type of lien sale is where most of the cars are being processed. The main reason is because autos that are valued over $4000 are better vehicles and usually the owner will pay the fees and retrieve their vehicle from the storage yard or repair shop. This lien sale gives the interested parties at least 31 days to pay the fees that are due, and get their vehicle back, this process is also called the short lien sale. After the 31 days the vehicle is auctioned to the highest bidder and the vehicle can be registered at the DMV. Note that a lien sale does not erase any fees that are due to the DMV whoever buys the vehicle will have to pay the fees that are due to the DMV.

3). Lien Sale for vehicles valued more than $4000

This lien sale is for vehicles that are valued over $4000, and this lien sale is also known as a long lien sale due to the long time for processing. The DMV has to give authorization to conduct a lien sale on vehicles valued over $4000 and it can take 60 days or more to get the authorization from the DMV. This is why is called the long lien sale. Also the sale of the vehicle needs to be published in a newspaper distributed in the county where the vehicle is being sold.

Vessel Lien Sale

Lien Sales can also be processed for vessels which includes boats, jet ski and others water crafts. With this type of lien sale there are two options vessels valued under $1500 and vessels valued over $1500. In order to process a lien sale on a boat valued under $1500 you must obtain a fair market value statement from a licensed yacht and ship broker and it must be submitted when applying for the lien sale. Note the cost for the fair market value statement may vary. For a vessel lien sale valued over $1500 the application is submitted to DMV.  The DMV has to authorize the lien in order to finalize the process. Also similar to the vehicles valued over $4000 the vessel lien sale must be published in a newspaper that is distributed in the county where the vessel is being auctioned.