A car’s title contains all of the pertinent information like the make, model, and owner of record. When you sell your car or give it to someone you have to sign the title over to the new owner. The following steps will show you how to sign over a car’s title when ownership changes hands.
Your car’s title should be easy to find. Hopefully, you keep it in a safe place somewhere in the car itself or filed at home with other important documents. If, for whatever reason, you cannot find the car’s title you can request a new title from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). You will need to get the new title from the county in which the original was issued. There is a fee to pay if you need a new title issued, which should be incentive to keep the original in a place you’ll be able to find it.
In some states the title itself serves as the bill of sale and has space for the necessary information. Other states require a separate bill of sale be filled out when the title is signed over to a new owner. The bill of sale includes the details of the sale. Information required on a bill of sale vary from state to state but include the names of those involved in the sale, price paid, mode of payment and the car’s mileage at the time of the sale.
Once the bill of sale is properly filled out the title can be signed by the previous and new owners. If there more than one owner on record for the car being transferred, all parties need to sign the title to make the new ownership legal. In some states the title needs to be signed in the presence of a licensed notary, so check online or at the DMV before signing the title over to the new owner. Never sign the title until you have received payment or have a signed promissory note.
When you sell your car the title has to be signed over to the new owner in order to complete the sale. Follow the steps carefully to transfer ownership to the person buying your car.