They send you a lien release, but the title is goes to you from the beginning. The title has a note that there is a lien on it, so if you buy a car with such a title you need to ensure you get the lien release with it. You cannot transfer a title with a lien notice on it without the lien release (I assume there is a way to assume the loan as well, but I've never heard of it happening. Most loans wouldn't allow that, so it is probably a technicality that the government wouldn't know how to handle if you actually did attempt that)