I live in Illinois. My daughter is a college student in Phoenix. On Dec. 28, 2015, I purchased a used Chevy Sonic from Midway Chevrolet in Phoenix for my daughter to drive. I asked the dealership to register and title the vehicle in Illinois. This allowed me to add the vehicle to my insurance, and we are planning to bring the vehicle back to Illinois after she graduates.
On January 15, 2016, I registered the car at an Illinois Secretary of State office. In December 2016, I visited the same office to renew the sticker. They denied my request, saying the car is no longer titled in Illinois, but is now titled in Arizona.
I’ve spoken with the Illinois Secretary of State, Arizona Secretary of State, Midway Chevrolet and TD Auto Finance (my lender). All four blame each other for the problem. The only help I’ve received so far is from [license and title clerk] Kelsie Finken at Midway Chevrolet. She gave me a temporary “license applied for” plate so we don’t get a ticket for a sticker that expires in early February.
TD Auto faxed me the Illinois title dated Jan. 1, 2016. I’ve been told there is an Arizona title dated Jan. 28, 2016, but no one will fax me a copy. I estimate I’ve spent 14 hours dealing with this. All I want to do is renew my license sticker!
Michael, Aurora
As I had an expert source for this one, I turned to Michelle Meneghini, license and title clerk at Joe Rizza Ford Porsche and Lincoln in Orland Park. Meneghini went above and beyond to help me out. After providing her a description of Michael’s situation and emailing her his complaint, she went to work on his behalf. Meneghini personally contacted both the Arizona and Illinois secretary of state’s offices.
According to an Arizona Secretary of State representative, both Michael and his daughter visited an Arizona Secretary of State facility and applied for an Arizona title for their Sonic; photos of their driver’s licenses and copies of their signed title application are saved in the Arizona database.
After that, per an Illinois Secretary of State representative, Michael applied for transfer of the Sonic’s title to Illinois and was issued an Illinois title and registration.
What happened next, as well as Michelle can determine, is Arizona took longer than Illinois to issue its title. While the Illinois title was issued on Jan. 15, the Arizona title didn’t get issued until Jan. 28. “So once Arizona issued their title, it voided Illinois,'” Meneghini explained.
Michael adamantly responded, “My daughter and I NEVER went to an Arizona Secretary of State. The only way they could have gotten paperwork is from Midway. TD never had an Arizona title.”
The only conclusion Meneghini could draw from this was that Midway must have applied for the Arizona title with a signed power of attorney on Michael and his daughter’s behalf. “Otherwise I don’t see it being possible.”
So I called Midway’s Finken. She told me that due to customer privacy rules, she couldn’t provide me details, but she did say she was in the process of correcting the error, and to her knowledge, Michael would not have to pay any fees for the correction.
Michael and Finken then spoke again. “Kelsie said something definitely went wrong at Midway because in 2015 Midway was still not set up to do other states’ titles,” Michael said.
As things currently stand, Michael’s Arizona title has been submitted to the Illinois Secretary of State by TD Auto. He should have his new title by Jan. 19. Michael will keep me posted on whether this actually happens. He additionally told me, “I’m in Phoenix regularly, so if I do wind up getting charged [for the title transfer], I will walk into Midway and demand reimbursement. I won’t do that over the phone.” (Though Help Squad might …)
Per Meneghini, this entire mess could have been avoided had Midway simply provided Michael with the Sonic’s bill of sale, odometer reading and title. This was all he needed to properly register and title his car with the Illinois Secretary of State.
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Cathy Cunningham is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.
