1.050 Electronic Lien and Title (ELT) Program

The ELT program provides an electronic ownership record on the DMV database in lieu of a paper title to the ELT lienholder and a (paper) registration card is issued to the registered owner.

ELT program lienholders are assigned specific name and address abbreviations which must be used to generate a paperless title.

Enter the ELT lienholder information exactly as shown in the latest DMV ELT listing. If the ELT information is entered incorrectly:

• A paper title will be issued when an ELT lienholder’s name and address do not exactly match.

• The paper title must be returned to DMV for correction, which delays issuance of a title record to the lienholder and may delay subsequent title transfers.

New ELT participants are added to the program quarterly. The current ELT listing is available on DMV website by clicking Vehicle Industry Services, then click on Electronic Lien and Titling Program.

Changes are transmitted electronically to DMV headquarters by the ELT lienholder and the information is processed as explained below:

When the	Then DMV
Lien is satisfied by a dealer (upon trade-in for example)	Issues and mails a paper title to the dealer showing the dealer as the “legal owner”.
Lien/contract is purchased by a nonparticipating lienholder	Issues and mails a paper title to the new lienholder.
Lien/contract is purchased by another ELT lienholder	Creates and transmits a new ELT record to the new ELT lienholder.
Lien satisfied by the registered owner or record	Issues and mails a sole-owner paper title to the registered owner.
ELT lienholder requires a paper title	Issues and mails a paper title to the ELT lienholder upon completion of an Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title  (REG 227) form.

The average time to receive a paper title from an electronic transaction is eight days. An existing record status such as a pending report of deposit of fees (RDF) or suspense transactions prevents issuance of the title in the automated process. These are processed manually by DMV.

DMV’s ELT automated system allows ELT lienholders, also known as legal owners (LO), to:

• Obtain a paper title and/or release interest when there is an RDF on a vehicle’s record.
• Change a registered owner’s (RO) address when releasing interest in a vehicle to the RO.

ELT transactions generate a title and/or registration card and update the vehicle’s record with the new information. It will not clear the pending RDF from the system.