DMV

Liens

What is a lienholder?

A lienholder is an individual, business, or financial institution who has a legal interest in your vehicle. Most commonly it’s due to the institution lending you the money to purchase your vehicle. The lienholder maintains legal rights to your vehicle until the loan is paid in full.

Lienholder rights

If the loan is unpaid the lienholder has the right to repossess the vehicle. Lienholders are also able to retrieve vehicles from impound.

E-Liens

Utah offers lienholders the opportunity to participate in the Utah e-lien program.  For more information on how to participate in the e-lien program, please contact the DMV at:

Salt Lake City Area: 801-297-7780
Toll Free: 1-800-DMV-UTAH (800-368-8824)
Telephone Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday
Send us an email at [email protected]

Paying off a lien

When you pay off your loan you will want to have the lienholder removed from your title.

If your financial institution is an E-Lienholder, they will remove their interest from your title automatically. No action will be required by you.

If you have a paper title that the lienholder has signed off on. You will need to apply to have a corrected title to remove the lienholder. This can be done at your local DMV office.

In-Person Appointments

Available at the following locations Ogden, Farmington, Taylorsville,  South Valley (Draper), Provo, and Hurricane DMV offices.

The following documentation is required to remove the lien:

Certificate of Utah Title, Certificate of Out of State Title, or Form TC-123, Application for Duplicate Utah Title (only applicable for lost Utah titles).
Lien release: This can take place directly on the title, duplicate title application, or a separate letter.
Application for Utah Title: Form TC-656, Application for Utah Title