Kentucky lawmakers demand answers on delays with car titles

MARK VANDERHOFF WAS IN FRANKFORT TODAY. HE HAS THE ANSWERS. HERE’S THE PROBLEM. THE OLD COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR STORING KENTUCKY’S CAR TITLE RECORDS WAS SO OLD THAT THE COMPUTER PROGRAMING LANGUAGE ISN’T EVEN IN USE ANYMORE, BUT IMPLEMENTING THE NEW SYSTEM CALLED CANVAS HAS NOT BEEN EASY. THERE IS DEFINITELY STILL FRUSTRATION. HEATHER STOUT WITH KENTUCKY’S TRANSPORTATION CABINET, TOLD STATE LAWMAKERS SOME CAR BUYERS ARE WAITING UP TO SIX WEEKS TO GET CAR TITLES FROM THEIR COUNTY CLERKS. MANY OF THEM ARE SEEING VAST IMPROVEMENTS, AND THERE IS NO COMPARISON TO WHERE WE WERE JANUARY 30TH TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY. BUT THERE’S STILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. TITLES FOR REBUILT CARS ARE SEEING THE WORST DELAYS, SHE SAID. SOME STATE LAWMAKERS SAY THE PROBLEM IS SO BAD THAT SOME FRUSTRATED BUYERS ARE RETURNING CARS TO DEALERS. THERE’S PEOPLE’S LIVELIHOODS AT STAKE HERE WHEN SOMEONE HAS TO WAIT SIX WEEKS, TWO MONTHS ON A VEHICLE AND HAVE TO BUY 50 SOMETHING THOUSAND DOLLAR PICKUP TRUCK BACK. STOUT SAYS KENTUCKY TRANSFERRED 250 MILLION RECORDS TO THE NEW CANVAS SYSTEM, AND HER DEPARTMENT IS ALSO INSTALLING ANOTHER NEW COMPUTER PROGRAM TO ALLOW CAR DEALERS TO ELECTRONICALLY SUBMIT PAPERWORK. I WOULD NEVER SUGGEST DOING TWO SYSTEM TWO THINGS OF THIS MAGNITUDE AT THE SAME TIME. UM, BUT THAT’S WHERE WE ARE. SO NOW, SHE SAYS HER TEAM IS WORKING HARD TO ERASE THE BACKLOG AND IMPROVE TRAINING AT THE COUNTY CLERK OFFICES ACROSS THE STATE, CONVERTING FROM THAT VEHICLE CENTRIC MODEL TO THE CUSTOMER CENTRIC MODEL. DEFINITELY CONTINUES TO BE A CHALLENGE. IT’S A COMPLETE MINDSET CHANGE. NOW, I TALKED TO THE JEFFERSON COUNTY CLERK’S OFFICE AND THEY TOLD ME THEY’RE STILL HAVING PROBLEMS IN LOUISVILLE. THE STATE IMPLEMENTATION TEAM ACTUALLY VISITED JEFFERSON COUNTY IN MAY, AND THEY’RE COMING BACK