{"id":14074,"date":"2020-04-15T15:28:14","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T22:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/evidence-of-ownership\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T12:52:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:52:51","slug":"evidence-of-ownership","status":"publish","type":"dmv_handbook","link":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/evidence-of-ownership\/","title":{"rendered":"12.055 Evidence of Ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Nonresident Title<\/strong>\u2014The original nonresident title is required to register and title a nonresident vehicle in California. A replacement title showing the current license number and the registered owner\u2019s name may be used in applications for nontitle (goldenrod) registration only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Non-Title State<\/strong>\u2014In general, other states issue titles on most motor vehicles and trailers. However, titles may not be issued for some older vehicles and\/or certain trailers. <strong>Example: <\/strong>Connecticut does not require issuance of a Connecticut title on vehicles manufactured prior to 1981. Ownership is transferred using a Connecticut Supplemental Assignment of Ownership (CT DMV form Q-1) form and a copy of the Connecticut registration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Notarization Requirements<\/strong>\u2014The signatures on a nonresident title or a nonresident certificate of origin are <strong>not<\/strong> required to be notarized, even if the nonresident title contains provisions for notarization upon transfer. Accept the nonresident owner\u2019s signature on the title or a bill of sale to the new owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Title State<\/strong>\u2014Evidence of ownership <strong>must<\/strong> be the title, endorsed by the owner to the purchaser, if the vehicle is being transferred. Otherwise, bills of sale <strong>must<\/strong> be submitted in lieu of the signature(s) on the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span role=\"region\" class=\"format-label--note\"><span class=\"format-label__text\">Note<\/span> The surviving owner of a nonresident vehicle registered to co-owners as Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship may obtain California registration in their name by submitting a death certificate for the deceased owner in addition to the usual nonresident clearance requirements. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any legal owner\/lienholder shown on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/file\/application-for-title-or-registration-reg-343-pdf\/\">REG 343 (PDF)<\/a> <strong>must<\/strong> be the same as is shown on the nonresident title, unless the application includes one of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A lien marked \u201cpaid\u201d and countersigned by the legal owner on the out-of-state title.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The legal owner\u2019s signature on the legal owner release line of the out-of-state title.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A lien satisfied, such as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/file\/lien-satisfied-title-holder-release-reg-166-pdf\/\">Lien Satisfied\/Legal Holder\/Titleholder Release (REG 166) (PDF)<\/a> form.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The original or a certified copy of the conditional sales contract or security interest, showing the name(s) of the purchaser and lienholder, marked \u201cpaid\u201d and countersigned.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If the vehicle was <strong>not<\/strong> registered in the applicant\u2019s name before being brought into California, the nonresident title <strong>must<\/strong> be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Properly endorsed by the registered and legal owners shown on the title. Bills of sale and a lien satisfied from the legal owner may be accepted in lieu of signatures on the title to establish a complete chain of ownership from the registered owner shown on the out-of-state title to the applicant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Signed by the applicant as purchaser.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Acceptable Evidence of Ownership When a Title Was not Issued\u2014The following must be submitted:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/file\/statement-of-facts-reg-256-pdf\/\">REG 256  (PDF)<\/a>from the applicant stating the vehicle is free and clear of any liens other than shown on the application <strong>and<\/strong> one of the following:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bill of sale or dealer invoice to the registered owner named on the out-of-state registration that shows no lien against the vehicle and indicates the vehicle was paid in full.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The original or certified copy of a conditional sales contract that shows the same lien as shown on the REG 343 <strong>or<\/strong> which has been stamped\/marked \u201cpaid\u201d <strong>and<\/strong> countersigned <strong>or<\/strong> is cleared by a lien satisfied (a REG 166 is acceptable).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Title from a different nonresident jurisdiction <strong>or<\/strong> a letter from the nontitle state verifying the title was surrendered to that state <strong>unless<\/strong> the out-of-state registration indicates the title was surrendered. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bills of sale to establish a complete chain of ownership from the registered owner shown on the out-of-state registration to the applicant, including any dealers, for a vehicle <strong>not<\/strong> registered in the applicant\u2019s name in the other state.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span role=\"region\" class=\"format-label--note\"><span class=\"format-label__text\">Note<\/span> The original or certified copy of a dealer invoice may be substituted for a bill of sale provided it describes the vehicle, gives the name and address of the dealer and the name of the buyer(s), and is either stamped\/marked \u201cpaid\u201d and countersigned or indicates the same lienholder as shown on the REG 343.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Foreign Country Title Documents<\/strong>\u2014A vehicle previously registered in a foreign country may be registered in California using the foreign title documents.<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":14038,"menu_order":12,"template":"","dmv_task":[11],"dmv_functional_page_type":[64],"dmv_handbook_category":[913,595],"class_list":["post-14074","dmv_handbook","type-dmv_handbook","status-publish","hentry","dmv_task-educational","dmv_functional_page_type-informational","dmv_handbook_category-nonresident-vehicles","dmv_handbook_category-vehicle-industry-reg-procedures-manual"],"featured_image_src":null,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>12.055 Evidence of Ownership - California DMV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/evidence-of-ownership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"12.055 Evidence of Ownership - California DMV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nonresident Title\u2014The original nonresident title is required to register and title a nonresident vehicle in California. A replacement title showing the current license number and the registered owner\u2019s name may be used in applications for nontitle (goldenrod) registration only. Non-Title State\u2014In general, other states issue titles on most motor vehicles and trailers. However, titles may [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/evidence-of-ownership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"California DMV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CADMV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-20T20:52:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DMV_Logo.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ca_dmv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/handbook\\\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\\\/nonresident-vehicles\\\/evidence-of-ownership\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/handbook\\\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\\\/nonresident-vehicles\\\/evidence-of-ownership\\\/\",\"name\":\"12.055 Evidence of Ownership - California DMV\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-15T22:28:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-20T20:52:51+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/handbook\\\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\\\/nonresident-vehicles\\\/evidence-of-ownership\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/handbook\\\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\\\/nonresident-vehicles\\\/evidence-of-ownership\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/handbook\\\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\\\/nonresident-vehicles\\\/evidence-of-ownership\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/handbook\\\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chapter 12: Nonresident Vehicles\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/handbook\\\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\\\/nonresident-vehicles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"12.055 Evidence of Ownership\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/\",\"name\":\"California DMV\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"State of California Department of Motor Vehicles\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/DMV_Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/DMV_Logo.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"State of California Department of Motor Vehicles\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dmv.ca.gov\\\/portal\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/CADMV\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ca_dmv\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/ca_dmv\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/ca-department-of-motor-vehicles\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/CaliforniaDMV\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"12.055 Evidence of Ownership - California DMV","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/evidence-of-ownership\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"12.055 Evidence of Ownership - California DMV","og_description":"Nonresident Title\u2014The original nonresident title is required to register and title a nonresident vehicle in California. A replacement title showing the current license number and the registered owner\u2019s name may be used in applications for nontitle (goldenrod) registration only. Non-Title State\u2014In general, other states issue titles on most motor vehicles and trailers. However, titles may [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/evidence-of-ownership\/","og_site_name":"California DMV","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CADMV","article_modified_time":"2026-01-20T20:52:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DMV_Logo.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@ca_dmv","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/evidence-of-ownership\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/evidence-of-ownership\/","name":"12.055 Evidence of Ownership - California DMV","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-04-15T22:28:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-20T20:52:51+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/evidence-of-ownership\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/evidence-of-ownership\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/evidence-of-ownership\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual","item":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chapter 12: Nonresident Vehicles","item":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/nonresident-vehicles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"12.055 Evidence of Ownership"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/","name":"California DMV","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#organization","name":"State of California Department of Motor Vehicles","url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DMV_Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DMV_Logo.png","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"State of California Department of Motor Vehicles"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CADMV","https:\/\/x.com\/ca_dmv","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ca_dmv\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ca-department-of-motor-vehicles\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/CaliforniaDMV"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_handbook\/14074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_handbook"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/dmv_handbook"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_handbook\/14038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"dmv_task","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_task?post=14074"},{"taxonomy":"dmv_functional_page_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_functional_page_type?post=14074"},{"taxonomy":"dmv_handbook_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_handbook_category?post=14074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}