Wisconsin
Lawyer
Vol. 80, No. 4, April
2007
The February article by Kelly Anderson and Steve Meili regarding changes to Wisconsin's automobile repossession law was great. However, practitioners also should be cautioned that the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will not change the owner shown on a certificate of title of a repossessed vehicle unless the repossessing creditor is named as a secured party on the debtor's certificate of title. A creditor who is not named in the debtor's certificate of title will have to get a judicial declaration of ownership or post a bond for the vehicle before DMV can re-title a motor vehicle in the creditor's name, even if the creditor already has lawfully repossessed the vehicle by self-help.
Paul E. Nilsen,
Assistant General Counsel
Wisconsin Department of
Transportation