Bought, sold, gifted or inherited. We do the paperwork.
A title transfer has more ways to go wrong than any other DMV errand. Bring what you have, and we'll tell you exactly what's missing before you're standing in a field office finding out the hard way.
Bring the paperwork. We do the rest.
Bring what you have
The signed title if you have it. If it's lost or the seller filled it in wrong, come in anyway.
We check it over
Signatures, odometer, lienholder, smog. We catch the problems at the counter, not three weeks later.
Processed same day
New title ordered, registration put in your name, and you walk out with the paperwork.
What a transfer usually needs.
It depends on how the car changed hands. This covers most private party sales. Call us if yours is unusual and we'll tell you what applies.
Inherited a vehicle, or the owner has passed away? That is a different set of forms and we handle those too. Call us before you gather anything.
- The title, signed by the seller in the right place
- A bill of sale with the price and date
- The odometer reading at the time of sale
- A smog certificate, usually the seller's responsibility
- Your photo ID and proof of insurance
- Lien release if the car was ever financed
Questions we get every day.
The seller signed in the wrong box.
I lost the title.
Do I have to transfer it right away?
Was it a gift or a Family Transfer?
Can you do it while I wait?
Where Title Transfers Usually Go Wrong
California gives a buyer 10 days to file after a sale, and penalties start after that. Most people who get it wrong get it wrong once and repeat the trip.
A standard private party Title Transfer needs the title signed by the registered owner in the right place, the odometer reading, a bill of sale, and usually a smog certificate. If the car was ever financed, the lien has to be released first.
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The most common problem we see is a signature in the wrong box. Sometimes that is fixable with a statement of facts and sometimes the seller has to sign again. We can tell you which at the counter. Gifts and Family Transfers follow a different path with different forms, so mention the relationship.
Inherited vehicles are their own category, and the route depends on whether the estate went through probate. Call before gathering paperwork for one of those, because the order you do things in matters more than usual.
One note for sellers rather than buyers: California expects a notice of transfer and release of liability after a sale. It protects you from citations the new owner collects before they file. People skip it constantly and hear about it months later.
Not sure what your transfer needs?
Call and describe the situation. It takes two minutes and saves you a wasted trip.