SF-97 and title issues

[Myrtleman]

Hope some of you knowledgeable folks can help me with my current issue. I purchased a HMMWV from govplanet back in August 2023. EUC cleared within 10 days and truck was delivered to my residence shortly after. I opted to get full title from them to lessen any potential problems at my local DMV. As of present time, govplanet is telling me they still don’t even have the SF-97 from the gov yet, which they should have received within 60 days. It’s now over 100 days. I spoke to a supervisor and it seems she’s doing what she can according to her, however pretty much stating that I am at the mercy of the gov and there’s nothing she or I can do. She also mentioned that it’s rare for an SF-97 to take this long. Just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and if I’m being told the truth. Is there any way I can contact the gov myself (it was an army vehicle)? Apologies if I posted this in the wrong forum or for any stupid questions. This is my first HMMWV purchase and first time posting on this forum. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[fuzzytoaster]

SF-97's are magical and wonderous in the sense that they are never consistent nor can you peek behind the curtain to see how the sausage gets made. They do owe you a full title as you paid for. They should be frequently reminded it's owed to you. The question for you is do you know if your HMMWV was USMC or Army/other as that will tell you what office is handling the SF-97s. The Army is based out of Battle Creek and to my knowledge no one has been successful reaching them directly. The USMC has their own DLA/DRMO office and processes them in batches as they can. I've seen SF-97s take 6 months due to backlog. Total hit or miss. GP has to be in frequent communication with those offices due to their arrangement.

tl:dr stay the course and pester GP for your owed title. Everyone is at the mercy of Uncle Sam. GP should be fighting for you.

 

[Lostchain]

As of present time, govplanet is telling me they still don’t even have the SF-97 from the gov yet, which they should have received within 60 days. It’s now over 100 days.

I bought my M1082 trailer on 6/1/2022 and received the SF-97 right around 5/5/2023

at the 6 month mark I called and they said it must be lost so they resubmitted and it took another 5 months to show… The SF-97 is like buying a silencer for a rifle, you pay all the big bucks and then you wait 8 to 12 months. It won’t arrive until you have abandoned all hope.

 

[Myrtleman]

SF-97's are magical and wonderous in the sense that they are never consistent nor can you peek behind the curtain to see how the sausage gets made. They do owe you a full title as you paid for. They should be frequently reminded it's owed to you. The question for you is do you know if your HMMWV was USMC or Army/other as that will tell you what office is handling the SF-97s. The Army is based out of Battle Creek and to my knowledge no one has been successful reaching them directly. The USMC has their own DLA/DRMO office and processes them in batches as they can. I've seen SF-97s take 6 months due to backlog. Total hit or miss. GP has to be in frequent communication with those offices due to their arrangement.

tl:dr stay the course and pester GP for your owed title. Everyone is at the mercy of Uncle Sam. GP should be fighting for you.

Thank you very much for the quick reply. It is indeed an army vehicle shipped to me from Alabama, if that makes a difference. The person at govplanet told me that I can file a dispute if I want to, but I told her I just want my title. Not sure what filing a dispute is going to do to help the situation. Also considered getting my attorney involved as a last resort, but not trying to ruffle uncle sam’s and govplanet’s feathers like that unless I have absolutely no other recourse. What worries me is that she said that it’s very rare for it to take this long which is concerning to me. I am always very polite when speaking to her on the phone and likewise for her, however today I could tell she was annoyed with all of my questions. I’ll sit back and wait for a while longer then decide what course to take.

 

[Guyfang]

Myrtleman, please change your location to reflect the state where you live. Thanks.

 

[flyfishtrailer]

Thank you very much for the quick reply. It is indeed an army vehicle shipped to me from Alabama, if that makes a difference. The person at govplanet told me that I can file a dispute if I want to, but I told her I just want my title. Not sure what filing a dispute is going to do to help the situation. Also considered getting my attorney involved as a last resort, but not trying to ruffle uncle sam’s and govplanet’s feathers like that unless I have absolutely no other recourse. What worries me is that she said that it’s very rare for it to take this long which is concerning to me. I am always very polite when speaking to her on the phone and likewise for her, however today I could tell she was annoyed with all of my questions. I’ll sit back and wait for a while longer then decide what course to take.

That line about it never seems to take this long......Just what they are told to say. I have bought a few trailers. One took 7 months; another took less than a month. No rhyme or reason to it and any GP employee that thinks they know when it should arrive is a liar LOL.

 

[Guyfang]

Thank you.

 

[Mogman]

I bought a HMMWV in July and still do not have my SF-97.
So last week I had my attorney contact their legal dept and they responded with the same excuse they had when I contacted them after the 60 days were up.
They said there was a mistake made with the serial number and they were going to have to re apply for the SF-97, which should have been done months ago.
Problem is they sent me the application after the sale to fill out some missing data and the serial number was correct.
This truck came from the Harris County Sheriff's Dept. (per paperwork found in the truck) so I figure that is the problem since it did not come straight out of military service.
They of course once again said they would expedite the matter, we will see.
EDIT, BTW their legal dept. did respond within 24hrs.

 

[Myrtleman]

I bought a HMMWV in July and still do not have my SF-97.
So last week I had my attorney contact their legal dept and they responded with the same excuse they had when I contacted them after the 60 day were up.
They said there was a mistake made with the serial number and they were going to have to re apply for the SF-97, which should have been done months ago.
Problem is they sent me the application after the sale to fill out some missing data and the serial number was correct.
This truck came from the Harris County Sheriff's Dept. (per paperwork found in the truck) so I figure that is the problem since it did not come straight out of military service.
They of course once again said they would expedite the matter, we will see.
EDIT, BTW their legal dept. did respond within 24hrs.

Mogman keep me posted please. I’m on the verge of having my attorney contact them but I don’t want to slow things up anymore. The girl in charge seems sincere and says that she’s doing her best but she’s blaming it on the army. At this point I don’t know who’s telling me the truth but I’m going to give it a little bit more time and give her the benefit of the doubt. I’m curious how your situation turns out now that you have your attorney involved.

 

[Mogman]

Mogman keep me posted please. I’m on the verge of having my attorney contact them but I don’t want to slow things up anymore. The girl in charge seems sincere and says that she’s doing her best but she’s blaming it on the army. At this point I don’t know who’s telling me the truth but I’m going to give it a little bit more time and give her the benefit of the doubt. I’m curious how your situation turns out now that you have your attorney involved.

I received this response from their legal dept. today, we will see....

"Just to keep you up to date, we have been notified that they are sending us a stack of SF97s including the SF97 for item xxxx4243. I will provide further updates once I have them."



Thank you for your patience.

 

[Myrtleman]

I received this response from their legal dept. today, we will see....

"Just to keep you up to date, we have been notified that they are sending us a stack of SF97s including the SF97 for item xxxx4243. I will provide further updates once I have them."



Thank you for your patience.

Coincidentally when I texted my contact today, she said she would get back to me in a few minutes because they just received a big batch of them today. Haven’t heard from her since that message. Maybe things are looking up for us both? On another note, how would I go about getting the contact info for their legal department in case I have to go that route? Thanks for your help and the update

 

[Mogman]

Coincidentally when I texted my contact today, she said she would get back to me in a few minutes because they just received a big batch of them today. Haven’t heard from her since that message. Maybe things are looking up for us both? On another note, how would I go about getting the contact info for their legal department in case I have to go that route? Thanks for your help and the update

legal@ritchiebros.com

 

[Myrtleman]

legal@ritchiebros.com

Mogman any status updates regarding your SF-97?

 

[Mogman]

Mogman any status updates regarding your SF-97?

I received this yesterday.

"The Title certificate for your recently purchased 1994 AM General M1097A1 HMMWV 2 Door Hard Top w/Helmet Top has been sent out by Fed-Ex Ground."

It almost funny they think 8 months is "recent"

 

[Mogman]

I received my SF-97 today, I have no idea if getting my attorney involved helped but it did not take long after she got involved.

 

[Myrtleman]

I received my SF-97 today, I have no idea if getting my attorney involved helped but it did not take long after she got involved.

Excellent. I already mentioned something to my attorney about it but don’t know what to instruct her to do. Did your attorney pretty much just send a letter of inquiry? You can PM me if you’d rather discuss it that way. Thank you

 

[Mogman]

Excellent. I already mentioned something to my attorney about it but don’t know what to instruct her to do. Did your attorney pretty much just send a letter of inquiry? You can PM me if you’d rather discuss it that way. Thank you

PM sent

 

[Mogman]

The main reason I got the legal dept. involved was I was afraid this has slipped through the cracks and was at a dead end, they kept promising to "escalate" the paperwork and that they would call me back but that call NEVER came.

 

[Mogman]

The process keeps getting better and better at the Tax office, the first few HMMWVs I purchased I ended up paying the taxes twice and of course the late fee.
The last truck I bought I managed to get credit for the taxes being payed but still had to pay the late fee.
This time I found out that evidently the law that is stated as you must get the title transferred within 30 days which is completely impossible with GP is actually you must pay the taxes within 30 days, SO because the taxes were charged at the time of the sale I did not even have to pay the late fee even though it took 8 months to get the SF-97.
It cost me a total of $28 to get the title transferred, I should receive my blue TX title in about two weeks!!

 

[Myrtleman]

The process keeps getting better and better at the Tax office, the first few HMMWVs I purchased I ended up paying the taxes twice and of course the late fee.
The last truck I bought I managed to get credit for the taxes being payed but still had to pay the late fee.
This time I found out that evidently the law that is stated as you must get the title transferred within 30 days which is completely impossible with GP is actually you must pay the taxes within 30 days, SO because the taxes were charged at the time of the sale I did not even have to pay the late fee even though it took 8 months to get the SF-97.
It cost me a total of $28 to get the title transferred, I should receive my blue TX title in about two weeks!!

Mogman I finally got the SF-97 today. It appears when threatened with legal action they can actually print out one of these things on the fly that’s how they are able to produce when lawyers get involved. Good to know for future purchases.