Duplicate title?

[xanis]

Paid cash for my car, which I bought in May 2012 in Pennsylvania. I've had the title since day one.

I moved to NJ in May 2013 and transferred my title. I recently moved back to PA, and when I went to get a new PA title, PennDOT's system told me that it was a duplicate title. We checked the NJ title against the VIN plate on the car and it was a match.

What could cause this? The tag place mailed the paperwork in, so while I'm waiting for PennDOT to figure it out, I'm curious as to what could cause this...

 

[cabri]

PA was probably not informed by NJ of the title transfer.

There should be no need to transfer a title between states.
Title should indicate that you either own the car outright or that you own the vehicle with some lien (finance) against it.
New title is wanted when a lien is cleared.

 

[xanis]

PA was probably not informed by NJ of the title transfer.

There should be no need to transfer a title between states.
Title should indicate that you either own the car outright or that you own the vehicle with some lien (finance) against it.
New title is wanted when a lien is cleared.

That's how it SHOULD be, but why would there be general titles when states can make money by issuing new ones? :\