We have all received a bill from a mechanic that was higher than we expected. What if it had been too much for you to pay? You’ve taken your car to the shop and you can’t pay for the repairs. What happens next?

Unfortunately, the shop has the legal right to keep your car until the charges are paid for. No matter what your reason is for not settling the bill, you might be facing a mechanic’s lien against your vehicle if you don’t pay the mechanic.

Scammers have figured out how to use this to their advantage and steal people’s cars. Conversely, lazy owners have used this as a method for getting rid of a car which has incurred an expensive repair bill. Both of these fraud tactics are illegal.

Let’s take a closer at what mechanic’s liens are, what this means for you, and what you can do about it.

 What Does a Mechanic’s Lien Do?

The mechanic’s lien is a legal tool used by auto repair shops to collect debts for work that was completed. Eventually, the lien may give the shop full ownership of your vehicle at which point they can recuperate their losses by selling it. If you believe a mechanic’s lien was issued for the wrong reasons, contact an attorney.

If your car has an active mechanic’s lien, you cannot:

• Remove the vehicle from the shop’s possession

• Sell the vehicle

• Apply for a bonded title or replacement title

• Acquire a car loan or title loan for that vehicle

How Do You Get a Mechanic’s Lien?

If you fail or refuse to pay your repair bill, whether it’s justified or not, the shop has the legal right to put a mechanic’s lien against your vehicle. Each state requires a different process for the mechanic to place the lien on the vehicle, but it usually only requires that they file some paperwork with the local DMV.

The claim is valid for the value of the amount of repairs plus some additional costs as determined by the situation. That means you may have to pay additional amounts over the cost of your original bill to remove a mechanic’s lien from your car title – it’s best not to let it get this far if you can help it.

Here is the general process for getting a mechanic’s lien in most states:

• The auto repair shop performs work on a customer vehicle.

• For whatever reason, the customer does not pay for the repairs.

• The shop files for a mechanic’s lien with the DMV.

• The shop can now legally hold the vehicle and the customer is legally prevented from selling it.

How Does a Mechanic’s Lien Get Resolved?

What happens next is up to the customer:

• If the customer settles the bill, they receive their car, and the lien is lifted.

• If the customer doesn’t pay by a set deadline (determined by the state), the shop will move to acquire and/or sell the vehicle. They may advertise a notice of public auction to sell the car to the highest bidder.

• The shop will submit the notarized paperwork showing all communication with the customer and proving all conditions were met, and a copy of the repair bill will be attached.

• The DMV will issue a title to the new buyer, the shop will offset the bill (and might even make a profit), and the customer will have lost their vehicle.

It’s easy to see how that last point could open the door to scammers trying to get vehicles for free. It could also motivate shady sellers to offload their vehicle in a quick cash sale without disclosing the mechanic’s lien on the title. Thankfully, doing so is illegal, but it’s still best to run a quick VIN Check to uncover hidden liens on any vehicle you plan to buy.

Are Mechanic's Liens Even Legal?

Yes. Mechanic’s liens are usually upheld in court cases… assuming they’re legitimate. We hear this all the time from people who feel they have wrongfully incurred a mechanic’s lien, usually stemming from a dispute over service costs. Trouble is, most cases simply come down to a lack of understanding between the shop and the customer – established shops won’t go through the trouble of a mechanic’s lien just to extort a couple bucks from someone.

When you agree to let the mechanic work on your vehicle, they buy the parts needed to repair your car. Then, they put the work into fixing it and pay the employees who perform that service. That cost can easily escalate for myriad reasons, and not all shops are great at communicating those changes along the way. By choosing not to give the shop what they are owed, the customer is going against the agreement.

If a customer refuses to pay a bill, the shop keeps the car. That means they aren’t only out the money from the first job, they’re losing money they could have made working on other vehicles during that time. They also have to find a way to store the vehicle while the dispute unfolds and sell it if the situation gets that far along. That’s why the law protects shops by allowing them to take possession of a person’s property to offset these costs.

Okay, but I Have a Reason for Not Paying. I Was Wronged and I Can Prove It!

A mechanic’s lien eventually has to be proven, but the immediate inconvenience of not being able to move or sell your car starts as soon as the lien is filed. You may have a good reason for not paying and you might not be in a position to wait for the process to unfold. Perhaps the shop is even refusing to speak with you.

In these situations, your best bet is to contact a local attorney to see how lien laws are handled in your area. They might advise you to pay the bill, recover your car, then pursue the money in court. Rest assured that fraudulent mechanic’s liens can be thrown out by the legal system – you just have to put the time in.

I Believe Someone Placed a Fraudulent Mechanic’s Lien on My Car’s Title. What Can I Do?

A mechanic’s lien is only effective if the shop is acting with integrity and you aren’t paying them when you should be. There are, of course, bad apples out there that will take advantage of the mechanic’s lien to try and get something for free.

If you believe you are the victim of a fraudulent mechanic’s lien, contact an attorney to see how lien laws are handled in your local area. You can use evidence gathered from a simple VIN Check to prove the existence of an active mechanic’s lien.

Should You Buy a Car With a Mechanic’s Lien?

From a Person

First off, you should never buy a car from a private person with an active mechanic’s lien! That person is probably trying to get away from a heap of legal trouble. You don’t want to find yourself tracked down by a shop claiming to own your new car. If your VIN Check shows an active mechanic’s lien on a car you intend to buy, especially if the owner didn’t mention it, walk away.

From an Auction or a Shop

This is a valid question as you search to find low-cost cars to buy. Sure, you can attend a public auction and probably get one hell of a deal, but is it worth it? That’s something you have to ask yourself.

There are two concerns to keep in mind. First, it’s possible the car is a piece of junk which is why the owner intentionally abandoned it in the first place. Think about it; the owner knows exactly what was wrong with the car – in many cases of mechanic’s liens the owner realized that the vehicle wasn’t worth the cost of repairs. Do you really want that headache?

The other concern is the shop selling the car. If they are getting mechanic’s liens on reliable vehicles, did they use poor business practices to get it done? Do you want to get involved in a transaction with someone like that?

Car Title Replacement: Mechanic’s Lien Scams

In our world of car title recovery, we have seen our share of companies that participate in some shady business dealings. One of these is to use a mechanic’s lien to replace a title. The mechanic’s lien was never intended to obtain a title for someone taking possession of a car, but that doesn’t stop shady companies from using this to make life “easier” on themselves when obtaining a new title for a customer.

What you need to know is that misusing the process is subject to civil and criminal liability. You may even lose your title in the process. In fact, in Indianapolis recently, two people were charged for using mechanic’s liens to strong-arm more than 270 cars away from their owners and then resell them. (The story has since been removed by the local news site that posted it.)

This just further proves the corruption that exists and why you want to stay far away from any mechanic’s lien, whether you’re buying a car from an auto repair shop or using a title recovery service that says they can give you a shortcut.

How Do You Get a Mechanic’s Lien Release?

Once the lien is placed against your title, you need to get a release of lien, otherwise known as a cancellation of lien, before you can do anything with the vehicle. This document is provided by the claimant in exchange for your payment. The tricky part about this is that many claimants don’t want to draw this up until you actually pay them. This leaves you with no guarantee that you’ll get the car once you release the payment.

What you should do is request the release of lien first, if possible. Especially if you need to make partial payments on the vehicle, this gives you some additional protection in the end. Then, once your final payment is made, the mechanic needs to take the steps to release you from the lien as promised in the paperwork.

In no circumstance should you sell your car with an active mechanic’s lien – doing so is against the law. Not to mention, the buyer could easily see the lien on a VIN Check and walk away. If a seller fails to disclose a lien during the sale of a motor vehicle, they have broken yet another law.

Do Your Best to Avoid Mechanic’s Liens

The best way to avoid a mechanic’s lien is to pay your bill, but it isn’t always as simple as that. Some shops give the customer a bill that wasn’t agreed on or is much higher than expected. Then what do you do?

Unfortunately, you don’t have much to argue about. While your car is sitting in their shop, they hold the upper hand. Your best bet may be to pay the bill, keep copies of everything, and fight them in court later to get your money back. Of course, only an attorney can guide you through this process.

With that said, it’s vital that you know the reputation of the auto repair shop you use. To avoid any mechanic’s lien scams, you want to give your business to someone that has proven themselves to be trustworthy and reliable. Saving a few bucks isn’t worth risking your car to a shady, unreliable service shop. Thankfully, most established shops have built their business on good customer service and mechanic’s lien scams are rare – but they do happen. Equip yourself with the facts in this guide and consult an attorney if you need legal advice.

Want your title replaced the right way? Dirt Legal offers VIN Checks and transparent title replacement services for cars, motorcycles, and almost anything with wheels. Click the links to learn more about our services.

We are not attorneys. This article is not legal advice. Cover image source