Registering your car is supposed to be a routine experience. For one woman, it turned into a frustrating bureaucratic nightmare.
TikTok user Kayla (@kayvanooo) says she dealt with months of bureaucracy trying to register the vehicle.
“My dead grandfather has been driving my car around for the past three years. Now Kayla, how is that possible? Great question,” she says. She says this beyond-the-grave driving is rooted in a registration issue with her ride.
After unsuccessfully attempting to renew her application online, she headed to a Department of Motor Vehicles location. Workers there informed her that the car wasn’t legally in her possession. Rather, it belonged to the leasing company the vehicle was originally purchased from.
Kayla informed them that this couldn’t be the case because she financed her vehicle through her bank in 2023.
"The leasing company no longer owns it," she purportedly told them. The DMV informed her that, per their records, the leasing company did in fact still own the vehicle
Her post has since racked up more than 4.4 million views.
Contacting The Bank
Kayla then contacted her bank to ask where the title for her car was. She says they told her something no one who's been paying off a car for three years wants to hear: they didn't have it or know where it was.
"So I've been paying you for the past three years and you don't have the title of my car," she says she asked.
Then she reached out to the leasing company to see what happened with the title. She says they said her account was closed in 2023.
Kayla asked if they could send her the titley so she could register her vehicle. The company reassured her that she'd have it in a few days.
"I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting," she says.
Two weeks went by and she still didn’t have the title.
"Meanwhile, I'm a crisis worker for the state," she says. "I still have to go to work every day."
She contacted the leasing company again. That's when they told her that they released the title in 2023—to her grandfather.
Kayla was floored. "He's been deceased since 2020," she says.
"They said, 'Have you talked to him?'" she recalls. "Have I talked to him? Am I a poltergeist? Did I get my Ouija board? Did you talk to him? How's the afterlife? I would love to know."
She then reiterated that her grandfather passed away. Finally, it sunk in. But that didn't signal the end of her car registration woes.
"Well, we no longer own the vehicle," the leasing company reportedly told her. "He does."
Kayla says she replied, "So my dead grandfather owns the car? He's been driving a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee around in the afterlife."
She says the leasing company then told her there was nothing more they could do.
So she went back to the DMV. They told her she'd need to get two power of attorneys and the original bill of sale to get a duplicate title.
Next she went to the leasing company yet again. She says they promised to compile the documentation for her.
How Do You Get Ownership Of A Car After A Loved One Dies?
Both Trust & Will and The Law Dictionary have reported that transferring ownership of a vehicle from a deceased family member can be a daunting task. Each state has its own requirements to transfer title. But in general, drivers must obtain the following:
- Order from Probate Court to transfer the vehicle
- Certificate of the title
- Odometer disclosure statement
- Death certificate
- Transfer fee
- Any will or testament bequeathing the vehicle
Trust & Will also wrote about the importance of obtaining the title after a person has died. If the deceased individual was the vehicle’s sole owner, then getting access to this title could be a tall order, as Kayla documented in her video.
As for what happens to a car’s title after its owners death, Estate Mentors writes that the title becomes, by default, a part of the dead person’s estate. So getting access to that estate is paramount for anyone who needs to take ownership of the vehicle. Otherwise, the car cannot be legally registered to the person driving it.
Did The Leasing Company Come Through?
Eventually, she did get something in the mail from the leasing company. But it wasn’t a power of attorney as requested; rather, it was a notice that says the lien on her vehicle had been released.
She took it to the DMV and was informed that it wasn't sufficient to register the Jeep because their system still said the leasing company owned it.
After some back and forth, Kayla learned that because her grandmother was still alive, she could get power of attorney from her that would allow her to be named the rightful owner of the vehicle.
She obtained this document and took it to the DMV. Again, she was refused. Now they said this power of attorney wouldn't suffice and she needed a letter from the leasing company.
Once again, she contacted the leasing company. That's when she was told that it simply needed to get a duplicate title from the DMV. They promised to mail it to her within 14 business days. Then she'd finally be able to register her Jeep.
At the conclusion of the video, Kayla reveals that she's still waiting for the title.
In a follow-up posted on May 1, she says that she called the company on the 13th business day after they told her they'd send it within 14. They said they didn't have it, but had been reassured that it was forthcoming.
"Our projected date is to get it by May 11th," the representative purportedly told her.
Kayla was floored. "May 11th is the anniversary of my grandpa's death," she says. "At this point it's a sick joke."
She went back to the dealership and was reassured that they'd find a way to make sure she gets the title.
"I would love more than anybody to have and answer and be able to tell you that it's all fixed and I'm good but it's just not happening right now," she says. "But for now just stay tuned with me and make jokes about it in the meantime. Make me feel better."
Motor1 has reached out to Kayla via TikTok director message for further information. We'll be sure to update this if she responds.
