Policy on stating 'Clear Title'

eBAY should consider changing their requirements for sellers listing vehicles with statements of 'Clear Title'. Over the last several weeks of engaging in bids for used RV's and ensuing dialogue with some sellers, I have found that in fact they DO NOT actually have 'clear and conveyable titles' due to outstanding liens for these vehicles due to using the title as collateral to secure a loan of some type(i.e.; auto title loans, personal loans, etc.). The legal definition of a clear title is one that is free of any and all debtor liens or encumbrances and would be immediately conveyable by the seller to a new owner. This should be the case when stating a clear title at the time of listing an auction as opposed to selller waiting on a buyers money to satisfy any liens or encumbrances to make said title 'Clear and Conveyable'. A simple solution would be to make sellers aware that if stating 'Clear Title' they must in fact have possession of the legal title for said vehicle, clear of any and all encumbrances. On the other hand, if they have used the title as collateral to secure financing for said vehicle or for any other loan purposes where a bank or lending institution holds title ownership until said lien is paid in full then sellers should be given the choice to state a 'Clean and Conveyable' title. This way buyers will know in advance that at the time of winning an auction and preparing to take delivery, they will need to work with the seller and/or any current lien holder to ensure a speedy and uneventful transfer of said title to the new owner. I for one would be very upset to have traveled several hundreds of miles after winning an auction with CASH IN HAND, expecting a clear title transfer between only seller and buyer, to discover that I would now have to wait for the seller to use MY money to clear all liens in order to convey that so-called 'Clear Title'. This also becomes evident when running an AutoChek or CarFax report on listed VIN's which is another issue in itself as I have also found a number of listings with either no VIN shown or an incorrect one. This clear title issue should also extend to the numerous wholesalers listing on eBay who in fact many times use the titles of vehicles they have purchased at auto auctions to secure financing from their lending institutions. While many of these wholesalers do state in their listings that title conveyance can take up to 30-days (which is a clear sign they do not actually own these titles free and clear) it can be misleading to actually state clear title in their listings.

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