Lower your car payment in Virginia

What’s different about refinancing a car loan in Virginia

Vehicle titles in Virginia are issued by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

• Virginia is a title-holding state: the certificate of title must be delivered to the person holding the security interest having first priority and retained by that lienholder until the entire secured amount is fully paid by the owner, after which it passes to the next secured party in priority or, if none, to the owner.

  Source: Code of Virginia § 46.2-641, Who to hold certificate of title subject to security interest

• Once the loan is satisfied, a secured party holding a Virginia certificate of title must mark it satisfied and surrender it to the person legally entitled to it within ten days; refusing or failing to do so is a Class 3 misdemeanor, giving the borrower a concrete statutory deadline after a payoff.

  Source: Code of Virginia § 46.2-643, Surrender of certificate of title required when security interest paid

• When a security interest is created after the original title was issued, as happens when a new lender refinances an existing car loan, the owner files an application with the Department setting forth the security interests, the Commissioner may require the certificate of title to be delivered, and the new certificate is sent to the secured party from whom the prior certificate was obtained.

  Source: Code of Virginia § 46.2-637, Security interests subsequently created

• After default, a Virginia secured party may take possession of the vehicle either pursuant to judicial process or without judicial process, but nonjudicial self-help repossession is permitted only if the creditor proceeds without a breach of the peace, and the creditor may also require the debtor to assemble the collateral and make it available.

  Source: Code of Virginia § 8.9A-609, Secured party's right to take possession after default

• Before disposing of a repossessed vehicle, the secured party must send a reasonable signed notification of disposition to the debtor and any secondary obligor, and in a consumer-goods transaction that notification must describe any liability for a deficiency and provide a telephone number from which the amount required to redeem the collateral is available.

  Source: Code of Virginia § 8.9A-614, Contents and form of notification before disposition of collateral: consumer-goods transact

• A debtor, any secondary obligor, or any other secured party or lienholder may redeem the vehicle by tendering fulfillment of all obligations secured by the collateral plus reasonable expenses and attorney's fees, but the right to redeem ends once the secured party has disposed of the collateral, contracted for its disposition, or accepted it in satisfaction of the obligation.

  Source: Code of Virginia § 8.9A-623, Right to redeem collateral

• In a consumer-goods transaction the secured party must send an explanation stating the amount of any surplus or deficiency and how it was calculated, including the secured obligations, proceeds of disposition, expenses and applicable credits, either after disposition and before demanding payment of a deficiency or within fourteen days after receiving a request.

  Source: Code of Virginia § 8.9A-616, Explanation of calculation of surplus or deficiency

These are general procedural facts about Virginia, 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.