Lower your car payment in Pennsylvania

What’s different about refinancing a car loan in Pennsylvania

Vehicle titles in Pennsylvania are issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Bureau of Motor Vehicles / Driver and Vehicle Services.

• When the loan secured by a Pennsylvania vehicle is satisfied, the lienholder must immediately mail or deliver the outstanding certificate of title to the owner together with proper evidence of satisfaction and release, or alternatively apply for a corrected certificate of title to be issued in the owner's name.

  Source: 75 Pa.C.S. § 1135 (Satisfaction of security interest), Pennsylvania General Assembly

• Pennsylvania's Electronic Lien and Title program is mandatory: PennDOT states that all lienholders except individuals and lienholders not normally engaged in the business of financing vehicles must enroll, that a lienholder must immediately perform an electronic transaction to release the lien when a loan is paid off, and that PennDOT then automatically prints and mails a paper title to the owner the next business day.

  Source: PennDOT Driver and Vehicle Services, Mandatory Electronic Lien and Titling Program FAQs

• Under Pennsylvania's motor vehicle sales finance law, a buyer may prepay all or part of the unpaid time balance of an installment sale contract at any time, and if the entire balance is liquidated before maturity by prepayment or by refinancing, the holder must immediately rebate the unearned portion of the finance charge, either in cash or as a credit against what the buyer owes.

  Source: 12 Pa.C.S. § 6246 (Refund for prepayment of contract), Pennsylvania General Assembly

• Under Pennsylvania's motor vehicle sales finance chapter, which governs motor vehicle installment sale contracts, the holder may retake the vehicle when the buyer is in default or has committed another breach the contract specifically makes a ground for retaking; unless the vehicle can be retaken without breach of the peace it must be retaken by legal process, and the repossessor must notify the local police department having jurisdiction within twenty-four hours after the repossession.

  Source: 12 Pa.C.S. §§ 6251, 6252 and 6257 (Repossession), Pennsylvania General Assembly

• After a repossession carried out without legal process, the holder must immediately furnish the buyer a written notice of repossession stating reinstatement rights, an itemized statement of the amount needed to redeem, where the vehicle is stored and that it may be resold after fifteen days; the holder must retain the vehicle for fifteen days after that notice is mailed so the buyer can redeem the contract or have it reinstated, and must return a redeemed vehicle within ten business days of receiving the funds.

  Source: 12 Pa.C.S. §§ 6254, 6258 and 6259 (Notice, reinstatement, redemption), Pennsylvania General Assembly

• A holder may not pursue the buyer for a deficiency unless the repossessed vehicle has actually been sold at a public or private sale, and within thirty days after that sale the holder must deliver a written deficiency notice itemizing the sale price and the repossession and sale costs; the resale price is prima facie, but not conclusive, evidence of the vehicle's reasonable value at the time of resale.

  Source: 12 Pa.C.S. §§ 6260 and 6261 (Sale after repossession; deficiency judgment), Pennsylvania General Assembly

These are general procedural facts about Pennsylvania, not advice about your loan. Rules change, and your lender’s own process may add steps — a licensed specialist can tell you what applies to your situation.