Finish Title Lease For Free

Buying out your vehicle lease can be a lucrative way to save on a lightly-used vehicle in today's market. You'll also avoid the low inventory and markups on new cars.

If your car's market value is less than the buyout price, it typically isn't a good idea to buy it. However, you might consider buying it if the leasing company offers to lower the buyout price and you want to keep the car. A lender may do this to eliminate its own shipping and auction fees.

The dealership will then handle your registration with the DMV and terminate your lease. Since the dealership sells the car for the same price at which it bought it, it nets no profit. In fact, because of accounting rules at some dealerships, a lease buyout may even look like a loss of profit.

There are only nine title-holding states: Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, Wisconsin. In the other 41 states, titles are issued to the lien holder of your vehicle until the loan is fully paid off.

You might have equity in your leased vehicle. Soaring prices for used cars mean the buyout price could be lower than its market value. If you're nearing the end of your lease, it might make sense in the current market to purchase the vehicle from your leasing company.

The state of New York requires all residents to obtain a title for their vehicle. If your vehicle's title was lost, stolen, or damaged, you need to apply for a duplicate NY vehicle title (Form MV-902).

In most cases, the lease company is the registered keeper of a leased vehicle. If, however, you have a finance lease, which typically means you have a van rather than a car, then although the legal owner of the leased vehicle is the finance funder, you would be the registered keeper.