Consumer complaint received 2024-03-13
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Lease
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease — Unable to receive car title or other problem after the loan is paid off
Company: HYUNDAI CAPITAL AMERICA (MI)

In XX/XX/XXXX, I leased a new Kia XXXX in Michigan through Hyundai XXXX XXXX XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX, I moved to Illinois and transferred the title & registration to Illinois. I moved back to Michigan in XX/XX/XXXX and again completed the title and registration transfer process with the state of Michigan. Several weeks after registering the vehicle, I received a letter from the Michigan Secretary of State requesting that I submit payment for my title and complete a title request form. As my understanding was that I would not receive a title for a leased vehicle, I contacted the SOS office regarding this letter. The representative informed me that I did, in fact, have to complete the form but that it was just an administrative action for Michigan to generate the title. I paid the fee and returned the form, however in XX/XX/XXXX, I received a title in the mail from Michigan with Hyundai XXXX XXXX XXXX listed as a lien holder. On XX/XX/XXXX, I purchased a new vehicle and paid off the buyout amount listed on my lease for my Kia XXXX with the intention of selling it to a family member on XX/XX/XXXX. At the time, they informed me that I would receive a title within 10 business days. I informed the representative that I already had the title, however they assured me that it was only a copy of the title and not the actual title. 

After waiting the requested 10 days and not receiving the title, I contacted Kia Finance customer service for a status update. At that time, I was informed that they did not have the title and they would need to request a duplicate from Illinois. After calling for several weeks and not receiving a resolution, I began researching the issue, and determined that if in fact I did have the original title, I would only need a letter of lien release to take to the SOS office along with the title to remove the lien holder. I requested this document from Kia, and was assured that it would be sent in 3-5 business days. After returning from vacation the following week and not receiving the letter, I again contacted Kia regarding the status of the letter. They informed me that the request was made for a letter of lien release rather than a letter of no interest, and that the request was rejected due to the fact that Kia does not have the title. I was again told that a new request would be made, and that it would be sent in 3-5 business days. 3 days later, I contacted Kia again to confirm that the letter was still on track to be sent, and was assured the letter would be sent no later than XX/XX/XXXX. After not receiving the letter, I again called Kia on XX/XX/XXXX regarding the status. I was informed again that the request had been rejected due to Kia not holding the title and, after explaining my situation, that a new request would be made and I would have an update in 3-5 business days.

During all of this, I did reach out to the Michigan SOS and discovered that I am, in fact, in possession of the current title for the vehicle. Although this appears to be a mistake made by the state of Michigan, Kia has been unwilling or unable to help resolve the issue, and I feel I am no longer making progress with their customer service team and have no other recourse than to submit this complaint. Due to not being able to sell the vehicle without a lien release, I have incurred additional insurance costs of {$110.00} as of XX/XX/XXXX, with an additional daily cost of {$3.00} for each day this remains unresolved. I request that amount be reimbursed along with any costs associated with obtaining a title from the SOS, as well as any additional maintenance or other costs that may be incurred by maintaining ownership of this vehicle.

Please resolve this by sending a title with the lien released, or a letter of lien release / letter of no interest that I can take to the SOS to obtain a title in my name only. Thank you.