Retention of title: the invisible lock that stops a car from being sold
If the car was bought on finance, the lender may still legally own it. What retention of title is, how to detect it and how it gets cancelled.
Some cars get advertised, shown and sold — and cannot change owners. They carry retention of title: a clause finance companies register when they lend the purchase money, making them the legal owner until the loan is repaid in full.
How to detect it
In the DGT vehicle report and the Movable Property Registry. If it shows up, the seller can't transfer what isn't fully theirs, however long the car has sat in their garage.
How it gets cancelled
By finishing the loan and asking the lender for the settlement letter and registry cancellation. It isn't instant: the lender issues the document and the cancellation is registered. Buying on the promise that the seller will cancel it later is lending them your money to pay their debt.
The right position as a buyer
If there's retention of title, the deal happens in order: cancel first, transfer after. Or with a mechanism that holds the money until the transfer is genuinely possible — which is exactly what Autamo does: the seller isn't paid until the DGT confirms the new ownership, so a hidden lock can't cost you the money.