Liens- what does it mean?

sorry for the obvious question, but i really don't know what it means. I'm looking to buy a used bike and after running a check on the title, it says that there is a lien on it. what exactly does that mean? will i not be able to get a title or register it?

thanks

 

its means there is still money owed on the bike by a previous owner

 

It means that someone else has a claim against the value of the bike.

If it is the owner's bank, that is pretty typical

If it is something else....walk away

 

i ran a check on it at the dmv and it says the lien holder is american honda finance corporation. the owner says that he doesn't have a title. he bought the bike from an insurance write off and he wasn't given a title.

should i walk away from this?

 

Unless you never want to be able to title it for the street, RUN away!

 

YES!!!! It sound like the bike was wrecked, insurance paid the person
who owned bike and he just walked away, or he borrowed money against
the bike,this does not sound good LUCY!!!!!:down:

 

I would run.

 

if it's an insurance write off, the title will have the insurance companies name on it. And yes I know because that's what my previous bike was

 

My first reaction would be to say no. Don't walk, run, but if an insurance company writes off a bike, they usually pay off the lien, at least up to the deductible amount. You may as well find out what it would take to settle the lien and deduct that from the price.

 

I would RUN AWAY... Don't Look Back...

No Title is a bad sign, and since the DMV knows there is a lien against the VIN, that means there is a title in there system.

You can contact American Honda and check to see if they will release the lien against the VIN, but I doubt they will even discuss it with you, as you are not the owner.

In other words, just run away and buy something with a clean title.

 

It means that a bank has a legal claim to the bike. That claim would be superior to your claim as a subsequet purchaser. In other words, if the bank finds out that you have the bike they can send a Repo Man to take it.

The only way I would buy such a bike is if I have a letter from the bank that waives the lien or any right to ownership.

 

walk

 

if its gonna be a race only bike.. go for it.

 

As long as you are willing to have it taken away from you after doing all the prep and maybe get charged with a crime too.

 

it will be strictly a racebike, but i don't want to break any laws- as well as encourage this kind of behavior. it is a crime to buy it and use it as a racebike?

 

I would skip merrily away, as opposed to running or walking. Perhaps whistle a tune...

 

Perhaps, but it may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

 

I'm sure you would...

 

I don't know about walking away. You could probably crawl away on this one and get away with it. The danger isn't you buying it, its when you go back and try to sell it. It just makes it that much harder to sell.