The Title That Never Came
ORC 4505.181 — forty days for the dealer to put the title in your name, and the unconditional right to undo the sale
A car bought from a dealer comes with a promise about the title that is not invariably kept. The chapter's rule is that a dealer holds a certificate of title in its own name before offering a used vehicle for sale, and it then writes exceptions for the ordinary case where the dealer's own title has not yet arrived. The forty days are what happen inside those exceptions.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio Attorney General, Consumer Protection Section and Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
Forty days, or the buyer may demand the sale be undone. Where a retail purchaser buys a used motor vehicle for which the dealer does not have a certificate of title in the dealer's name at the time of the sale, the purchaser has an unconditional right to demand that the dealer rescind the transaction if the dealer fails, on or before the fortieth day following the date of the sale, to obtain a title in the name of the retail purchaser.
Two more grounds, whatever the date. The same unconditional right arises where the title shows the vehicle is a rebuilt salvage vehicle and that was not disclosed to the purchaser in writing before the purchase agreement was signed, or where the title shows the dealer made an inaccurate odometer disclosure.
On those two grounds, the dealer is told within sixty days of the title issuing. Where the ground is the rebuilt salvage brand or the odometer, the purchaser notifies the dealer no later than sixty days from the date the vehicle is titled in the purchaser's name and gives the dealer the opportunity to rescind. A purchaser who does not deliver that notice in time has no recovery under the section.
Unconditional is the operative word. The right does not turn on why the title is late, on whether the dealer was at fault, or on the buyer showing harm. On a demand the dealer's obligation is to rescind and refund the full purchase price, and the title defect recision fund the chapter maintains stands behind a dealer that does not.
| The ground | The right | The clock |
|---|---|---|
| The groundNo title in the buyer's name | The rightUnconditional right to demand rescission | The clockForty days from the date of the sale for the dealer to obtain it |
| The groundRebuilt salvage not disclosed in writing before the agreement | The rightThe same right | The clockNotice to the dealer within sixty days of the title issuing in the buyer's name |
| The groundInaccurate odometer disclosure shown by the title | The rightThe same right | The clockThe same sixty days |
New vehicles, private sales between individuals, the fund's own claim procedure, and what a buyer owes for use of the vehicle in the meantime are not on this page. The registrar's office and the attorney general take complaints about dealers, and whether a particular sale was rescindable on a particular day is a question for a licensed Ohio attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- ORC 4505.181 — A dealer selling without title in its name, the forty days, and the right to rescind
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.