When are we required to release a security interest on a titled vehicle if the same vehicle is used to secure multiple loans?

We believe that you would not be required to release the certificate of title on a vehicle until all loans secured by the vehicle are fully satisfied (not just when one loan secured by the vehicle is satisfied). The Vehicle Code requires that you deliver a release of the security interest and the vehicle’s certificate of title within twenty-one days after receiving payment to satisfy the loan. 625 ILCS 5/3-205. (If the payment is made in cash, cashier’s check, or certified check, that time limit is reduced from twenty-one days to ten business days. Id.) (And, of course, you should comply with any other notice requirements in your loan agreements.) An Illinois bankruptcy court has held that, where a certificate of title secured multiple loans, the security interest could not be released because “the debt owing the Bank has not been satisfied.” In re Office Machine Exchange, Inc., 47 BR 644, 647 (Bankr. Ct. S.D. Ill. 1985).