How to Get Your Car Title After Lien Release in Kansas

To get your car title after a lien release in Kansas, your lender first has to file the release with the Division of Vehicles, and then the state prints and mails the paper title to the address on the release. If your lender uses the Kansas E-Lien system, that filing happens electronically and you don’t have to do anything. If your lender isn’t in E-Lien, they hand you a paper release and you submit it to the state yourself.

Kansas holds every titled vehicle with an active lien in electronic form only, so no paper title exists until the lien is cleared from the record.¹

Confirm Your Mailing Address Before You Pay Off the Loan

The state mails the title to whatever address your lender puts on the release. If you’ve moved since you took out the loan, call your lender before you send the final payment and update your address on file. This is the single most common way titles end up in the wrong hands or lost in the mail.²

If Your Lender Uses Kansas E-Lien

Most lenders in Kansas participate in E-Lien. Once you pay off the loan, the lender files the release through the state’s electronic system, the Division of Vehicles clears the lien from its records, and the state prints and mails the paper title to the address the lender entered.¹ No form to submit, no county office to visit. You just wait for the envelope.

Under K.S.A. 8-1,157, the lender has three business days to execute the release if you paid by cash, wire, or intra-bank transfer, and ten business days for other payment methods like a personal check or online bill pay. The clock starts when the lender has both your payment and a release request (Form TR-155).³

If Your Lender Gives You a Paper Release

Lenders not enrolled in E-Lien have to give you a physical lien release. Kansas prefers Form TR-150, but a release on the lender’s own letterhead is accepted if it includes the name and address where the title should go, along with the vehicle and lienholder information needed to match state records. The document has to be notarized or signed by an authorized representative of the lender.⁴

You can submit the release four ways:

In person or by fax at any county treasurer’s motor vehicle office in Kansas. It doesn’t have to be the county where the vehicle is registered.
By email to KDOR_LienRelease@ks.gov.
By fax to the state office at 785-296-2383.
By mail to Titles and Registrations, P.O. Box 2505, Topeka, KS 66601-2505.⁵

Once the state processes the release, the paper title is printed and mailed to the address on the release document.²

How Long the Title Takes

Titles for vehicles without a lien on record are typically issued within 10 to 40 days, depending on the state’s current workload and whether more documentation is needed. Delivery is by regular U.S. mail.⁶

If six weeks have gone by since the release was filed and nothing has arrived, contact the Titles and Registrations Bureau in Topeka.⁵

If You Need the Title Right Away

Kansas does not offer an expedited title through its own offices. You can’t walk into the Topeka state office and pick up a printed title the same day.⁶

The state’s own FAQ points owners with urgent needs to Kansas Vehicle Title Services Company (KVTSC), a private company at 2127 SW 37th Street in Topeka that offers same-day and 24-hour title processing for a fee.²

Selling the Vehicle Before the Title Arrives

If you need to sell before the paper title shows up, Kansas offers the Electronic Title Sales Agreement, Form TR-39A. Signing it commits you to deliver the properly assigned paper title to the buyer within 60 days of the sale. The buyer can take the signed agreement and proof of insurance to any county treasurer’s motor vehicle office for a 60-day temporary permit, or use your existing plate for up to 60 days while waiting for the title. If the buyer doesn’t apply for title and registration within that window, penalties and interest start accruing.⁷

If Your Lender Misses the Release Deadline

A lender that fails to release the lien within the three or ten business days set by K.S.A. 8-1,157 is in violation of Kansas law. You have two ways to push back.

File a complaint with the Kansas Department of Revenue using the Lienholder Complaint Form. It asks for the vehicle, the lienholder, the date of your final payment, and what you’ve done to try to get the release. Filing triggers a state review of whether the lender violated K.S.A. 8-1,157(a).⁸

The statute also gives you a private right of action. A lender who fails to provide a timely release is liable to you for any losses the delay causes.³

If the Title Never Arrives or Gets Lost

If the state mailed the title but it never reached you, or if you received it and later lost it, apply for a duplicate. Use Form TR-720B, which asks for the vehicle year, make, VIN, owner name, and current odometer reading. You can file it at any county treasurer’s motor vehicle office or by mail to the Titles and Registrations Bureau. The duplicate title fee is $10.⁶

One catch: the Division of Vehicles won’t issue a duplicate as long as the record still shows a lienholder. If you paid off the loan but the release was never processed, you have to get the release filed first. If the state made an error that caused the title to go to the wrong address, you can request a corrected title at your county treasurer’s office at no charge.⁶

1
Kansas Department of Revenue. E-Lien
2
Kansas Department of Revenue Division of Vehicles. Frequently Asked Questions About Liens
3
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Statutes 8-1,157 – Satisfaction of Lien on Vehicle
4
Kansas Department of Revenue. Titling a Used Vehicle
5
Kansas Department of Revenue. Contact Titles and Registration
6
Kansas Department of Revenue Division of Vehicles. Frequently Asked Questions – Titling a Vehicle
7
Kansas Department of Revenue. Electronic Title Sales Agreement (Form TR-39a)
8
Kansas Department of Revenue Motor Vehicle. Lienholder Complaint Form