Title Policy

1. Title designations

Every listing carries one of two designations, fixed when the Sale forms:

• Title With Deal — the seller has the Negotiable Title in hand and must deliver it on the Section 3 schedule. Listings without a contrary statement are Title With Deal.
• Title Absent — the seller disclosed on the listing that the title is not in hand (for example, lien payoff in process or duplicate applied for). The buyer accepts the longer Section 3 schedule by bidding.

A listing may also carry brand or no-title disclosures under Section 7, which modify the buyer's remedies as stated there.

2. "Negotiable Title" checklist

A title is a Negotiable Title only if all of the following are true:

• It is the original certificate of title (or a state-issued duplicate marked as such), not a photocopy;
• It is properly executed: every required field completed in ink, no unexplained alterations, erasures, or white-out that would cause a titling authority to reject it;
• It is free of liens, or every recorded lien is accompanied by an original, properly executed lien release;
• The VIN on the title exactly matches the vehicle;
• Mileage is accurately stated and consistent with the federal odometer disclosure for the Sale;
• The chain of assignments is complete and unbroken from the last titled owner to the seller (using dealer reassignment forms where state law requires), with no skipped owners;
• Every signature requiring notarization under the titling state's law is notarized;
• Where the seller signs on behalf of a consumer or another owner, a properly executed power of attorney (and secure POA where federally required) accompanies the title.

A document failing any item is not a Negotiable Title, and delivery of it does not satisfy a deadline in this policy until cured.

3. Seller delivery deadlines

• Title With Deal: the seller must deliver the Negotiable Title (to Apex Auto Group Inc. for verification, or as directed at checkout) within 7 calendar days after the Sale Date.
• Title Absent: within 30 calendar days after the Sale Date.
• Final deadline (all designations): in no event later than 45 calendar days after the Sale Date, extended day-for-day for documented force majeure affecting a titling authority (office closure, declared emergency) — never for the seller's own bank, floor-plan, or administrative delay.

Delivery means received, not mailed. The Platform's title tracker records each leg (seller to Apex — verified on receipt — then Apex or seller to buyer) and its timestamps; those records are authoritative.

Title before payout. On every Sale where the title is not handed over with the vehicle at pickup, the seller's payout is released only when both conditions are met: the vehicle has been released to the buyer (pickup-code confirmation), and the Negotiable Title has been received by Apex Auto Group Inc.. Payouts held for title delivery release automatically upon receipt.

4. Powers of attorney

Where Apex Auto Group Inc. prepares title, registration, or odometer paperwork, the member grants Apex a limited power of attorney solely to complete and submit those documents consistent with the transaction record. Apex will not use a POA to alter price, parties, or odometer figures, and either party may revoke prospectively in writing (which may make some services unavailable). Members signing under POA for their own customers are responsible for the validity of that POA (Section 2).

5. Late title: buyer notice and one-time cancellation right

If the applicable Section 3 deadline passes without delivery of a Negotiable Title, the buyer may file a late-title notice in-app. The seller then has 5 Business Days to cure. If the seller does not cure, the buyer may elect, once per Sale, to cancel the Sale — or to keep waiting, which preserves the Section 8 remedies but consumes nothing.

A cancellation election is valid only if the buyer submits, with the election:

• Photographs of all four corners, roofline, and interior of the vehicle taken that day;
• A timestamped video showing the VIN plate and the current odometer reading;
• A written attestation that the vehicle's condition is materially unchanged since the Release Event, that it has been driven no more than 100 miles since release, and that it is free of new liens and available for return pickup.

On a valid election, the Sale unwinds under Terms of Service §12 at the seller's cost (including return transport), and the buyer is refunded in full.

The cancellation right is void if the buyer: retailed, wholesaled, exported, registered, or transferred the vehicle; altered or disassembled it; drove it more than 100 miles after release; allowed a lien or impound to attach; damaged it beyond the attested condition; or materially caused the title delay. A buyer whose right is void keeps only Section 8 remedies.

6. Tolls and citations

Tolls, citations, parking penalties, and camera violations incurred before the Release Event are the seller's responsibility; from the Release Event forward they are the buyer's, even while the title is pending. Each party must pay or transfer these promptly and indemnifies the other for its period of responsibility. Apex Auto Group Inc. may charge either party's account under the setoff right for amounts it is billed on that party's behalf, plus the administrative fee in the Fee Schedule.

7. Branded, grey-market, and no-title disclosures

Where a listing disclosed a brand (salvage, rebuilt, flood, lemon/manufacturer buyback, and similar), a grey-market or non-US-market status, mileage discrepancy, or that the vehicle is sold without a title (bill-of-sale only, where lawful), the buyer accepted that status by bidding: the disclosed status is not arbitrable, and the Section 5 cancellation right does not apply to the disclosed condition (it survives only for failure to deliver whatever title document the listing did promise). Sellers must make these disclosures conspicuously on the listing; an undisclosed brand or missing-title condition is seller non-compliance under Section 8 and may be arbitrated under the Vehicle Condition Arbitration Policy.

8. Seller non-compliance: remedies and fees

For each missed title deadline, Apex Auto Group Inc. may charge the seller the late-title fee in the Fee Schedule, hold the seller's payout (or reverse it under the setoff right), restrict new listings until cure, and — after a valid buyer cancellation — charge the seller the buyer's documented out-of-pocket costs, return transportation, and storage. Delivering a title that fails the Section 2 checklist and rejecting a titling authority's cure requirements are non-compliance. Repeated title non-compliance is grounds for termination.

9. Outer finality deadline

If the buyer has not filed a late-title notice or cancellation election by 60 calendar days after the Sale Date, the Sale is deemed final as to title timing: the buyer keeps every right to eventually receive the promised title document and the Section 8 fee remedies, but the cancellation right lapses. Nothing in this Section extinguishes claims arising from fraud or from an undisclosed brand.