I found this insightful, If you bought a car with cash and it's yours the dealer still can claim that he has this on his books and the books themselves are part of a larger string of ownership. In essence you might have the title but without a hearing the owners of the debt can confiscate that property.

David Webb points out that is not about cars but that anything you "own" may already be in someone else's portfolio that reaches all the way to the top.