Here’s the letter I received today about cancel the license plates…thoughts? This is different from release of liability.
Thank you for completing the paperwork for the lease assumption. This letter will serve as confirmation that lease account number 400xxxxxx is now in the name of ****** At this time, you should cancel the license plates for the referenced vehicle. Many states use plate registration as an indicator to bill tickets and/or property tax. Please contact your local Department of Motor Vehicles for the plate cancellation process. You will be responsible for the payments, charges, and fees incurred prior to 05/08/2024. Please retain the enclosed documents for your permanent records.
Based on my call this morning, BMW has changed how payment is made to start the assumption process. Now the current lessee is responsible for the payment rather than the one assuming the lease.
License plates stay with the car in California, so they do not need to be cancelled. As mentioned above, you do need to submit the Notice of Transfer/Release of Liability form.
The letter from BMW appears to be a standard letter that does not fit all situations.
Correct. Just started an assumption and had to speak to 4 different CSR’s to confirm. The $500+tax (not sure why this is even taxed, isn’t this a service/labor) had to come from me vs the person taking over the lease. I think it has to specifically come from the lease holder, I asked if we could conference call with the lease transferee and have him give his CC info and they said no. Said it changed about 2 weeks ago because of fraud, blah, blah, blah.
Yeah I’m currently in the process of transferring and had the transferee Zelle me the $100+tax for the credit app since the other $400+tax is at least refundable.
Is there anything I as the transferor need to do once the NRL is filed online with the DMV? Registration from when I was the one leasing the car is due in a few days. Does the new lessor just pay that or will CA DMV send them something new? or do they need to go to the DMV and register the car themselves and pay fees there and I don’t have to worry about anything?
BMW doesn’t seem to be backed up in the lease assumption process.
6/5/24 Credit check
6/5/24 Credit approved
6/6/24 Stage 2 docs sent to both parties
6/7/24 Stage 2 docs received, CA title requested (E file link can only be used on the same computer/phone/tablet that its first accessed with, leasee needed a new link)
6/21/24 Title received (was FedEx from one BMW corp office to the other as CA DMV sent it to the wrong one)
6/21/24 Stage 2 complete
6/24/24 Stage 3 complete (over the weekend). Transfer complete.
A little over 2 weeks but could’ve been done faster, that’s with a CA DMV title request. Had we started it earlier in the week, the leasee didn’t need to request a new link, and the title was sent to the right BMW corp office, probably would have been a good couple days less than 2 weeks. Impressed and pleasantly surprised it happened as fast as it did.
Just wanted to share my experience with BMWFS and the lease assumption process being in NJ:
On 6-10,6-13, and 7-17, I called BMW to ensure my car was ready to be transferred. All 3 agents I spoke to said yes and said no issues or outstanding things that would cause a delay.
On 7-29, I called to start the lease assumption process. A 45-minute conversation resulted in them informing me that a duplicate title was ordered for my car back in May and that they needed to wait for the physical title to be in-house to start the lease assumption process. Was their mess up since I had been leasing the car since October 2023. They projected 2 months for it to come in from May but had no way to track it. They informed me that I would have to call to see if it’s in every day.
I ended up calling NJMVC and they were able to track it using my VIN that it was sent out on 7-17 and takes approximately 2 weeks for BMW to receive it.
Ended up calling BMW on 7-30,7-31,8-2,& 8-5, with no title in.
On 8-6, they confirmed title came in and the process Stage 1 credit app was initiated. Credit application email came that confirmed it was sent and that a determination was made.
On 8-8, the transferee claimed they didn’t receive a credit determination via email or call. I called BMW for them to tell me the transferee didn’t pass the check.
On 8-9, Stage 1 started again with credit application sent out.
On 8-12, Stage 1 credit app completed/approved by the transferee. BMW also agreed to prioritize the process due to delays on their end. Stage 2 Docs sent out.
On 8-13, Stage 2 completed.
On 8-14, Stage 3 completed.
TLDR: Make sure title is in house with them before starting lease assumption. Stage 1 -Stage 3 took 8/9-8/14 completed
Wednesday afternoon, call and ask for credit app
Thursday morning, buyer submits credit app, approved within 1 hour.
Thursday afternoon, Stage 2 docs sent and signed
Thursday evening, Stage 2 completion email
Friday morning, Stage 3 complete, I can hand over the car.
Is the lease transfer deemed as an assignment or assumption? I ask because if the vehicle was already registered in NJ, under NJ Law, the lease transfer is considered an assumption if the new transferee does not enter into a new lease. I assume the docs you receive from BMW are just paperwork for a transfer and not a new lease, correct? If so, then whatever sales tax was charged gets transferred and the new transferee does not need to pay any sales tax, just tags.
