Protect Your Dealership When Financing Falls Through
MDOS Forms TR-210 and TR-209
Dealerships close vehicle sales with the expectation that financing will go through without a hitch. But there is always a chance that financing will be withdrawn – even after the customer drives off your lot with the vehicle. It could be due to misrepresented income, a stolen identity, or some other reason. When that happens, your dealership could be left in a costly and complicated position.
Dealers are urged to become familiar with two MDOS forms:
- TR-210 | Notice of Assignment of Secured Interest in a Vehicle
- TR-209 | Notice of Rejection of Vehicle Financing
Start with TR-210. Add this form to the standard paperwork your customers sign at the time of purchase. By signing, the purchaser authorizes your dealership to be identified as a secured party on the vehicle title if the lender listed on the original RD-108 ultimately declines to finance the deal.
Form TR-209 is a later step in the process. This form will be signed by the original secured party if they withdraw financing, certifying they no longer hold a financial interest in the vehicle. This allows the dealer to be named as the new secured interest.
If the customer fails to make payments, forms TR-210 and TR-209 now provide the dealership a legal avenue to begin the process of recovering the vehicle.
Without these forms, your short-term options are limited. You can file a costly and time-consuming lawsuit to recover the vehicle, but without a legal claim on the vehicle – and no named secured interest – a customer could obtain a clean title and sell it to a third party.
