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PrintHelp Me Hank: Title Troubles
When daughter Amy was just a kid, dad braved hordes of shoppers just to get her a cabbage patch doll. It wasn't easy, but he did it.
"Got to the store at like 5:00 and the store didn’t open until 10," Russell Randell said.
He's such a good Dad that when grown up Amy had a baby of her own, he moved all the way from sunny warm Georgia to be with her. It wasn't easy but he did it.
"After being away from the family for six years my wife and I decided to come back home to Massachusetts," Randell said.
Then when working mother Amy needed transportation, he even offered to give her his own truck.
"I thought it would be an easy transaction," Randell said.
But it wasn't, and this one time this good dad couldn't do good for his daughter. It turns out this was the only title he had to his truck, one that could not be used to transfer ownership.
"Why would they issue a title that was no good?" Randell said.
Good question: because he had this paperwork proving he'd paid off his car loan. When he took it to the registry to get a full title, there were problems.
"I couldn’t get past the lady at the desk," Randell said. "They would say well there is nothing we can do for you."
Then he called the loan company, but no help either. It was under new management with no old files.
"Anything that was over two years old, it was all stored away and they couldn’t get to it," Randell said.
So with his daughters truck tangled in paperwork, this determined dad picked up the phone.
"A friend of mine said why don’t you call Help me Hank and see if she can help you out," Randell said.
We knew the registry could solve this one, so we sent them a flurry of faxes and overnights including the interim title and the letter proving the loan was paid off. We also explained the loan company no longer existed.
Soon after the official proof that Russells truck is truly all his, and the power to hand it over to Amy. It wasn’t easy, but he did it.
"Now I know I actually own this vehicle and now I can actually give it to my daughter," Randell said.
Title, daughter, granddaughter and new home in the north. Now Russells’ life is just as it should be.
"Except for this weather, yeah," Randell said.
As Russell learned, it’s critical to have the just the right title for your car.