Title Recovery Process

An acceptable bill of sale needs information about the vehicle, the buyer and seller, and the date and location of the sale. It should also define the sale's conditions (as is, warranty yes or no, and so forth). For us to process your order, your bill of sale needs these items at a minimum:

• Date of sale
• Vehicle purchase price
• Vehicle's VIN
• Buyer and seller's names
• Buyer and seller's signatures

This document does not need to be notarized. Upload it to your portal along with everything else.

Why we need it: the bill of sale protects everyone by acting as a receipt for the transaction and providing additional detail when needed.

Any of the following works: a Certificate of Title, a Transferable Registration, a Certificate of Origin (COO, MCO, MSO), or an SF-97 with its Reassignment Form for military and government surplus vehicles.

Does your title qualify?

We cannot accept titles branded any of the following: Export, Salvage, Rebuildable, Junk, or similar. "Rebuilt" is acceptable. Even if your title doesn't mention any of those, if the DMV system reflects one of those brandings we won't be able to accept it. We pull a VIN Report on our end to verify before proceeding.

We cannot accept foreign titles that aren't from the United States or a U.S. Territory.

Filling out the title

If you bought the vehicle from someone else and haven't transferred the title yet, the seller's signature needs to be present.

If the title is not in your name AND is from Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma or Pennsylvania, it must be notarized by the seller before you scan it.

If the title is in your personal name, LLC name, entity, Trust or similar, leave it as-is and don't fill it out or sign it. We'll handle it to prevent mistakes.

If you haven't signed as the buyer yet, you don't have to. If you want to, use your personal name rather than your LLC name. If you already signed as your LLC, that's okay.

If the title is signed over to someone besides you, we need the full chain of ownership as bills of sale connecting each party. The chain can be any length. If a third party signed on behalf of the seller, such as a dealer via Power of Attorney, include that Power of Attorney.

Certificate of Origin and Transferable Registration

Certificate of Origin is common for vehicles never titled for road use. It doesn't need notarizing. In the Reassignment section the purchaser should be your name or your LLC. The address doesn't have to match our file. The odometer disclosure should be filled out unless the document is signed directly to your LLC. If it's been signed over to someone who isn't you or your LLC, we need a notarized Bill of Sale connecting each party. Check the back for a lien; if there is one we need a lien release. If your name is listed as the dealer on the front, common with imports, that's fine.

Transferable Registration: a registration isn't an ownership document unless it's transferable, and it'll usually say so somewhere on it. We can't accept non-transferable ones. Contact us if it isn't from the United States. Same signing rules as a title.

Special situations

Purchased from a dealer: make sure the odometer section of the title is filled out.

Military and government surplus: if you have an SF-97, you'll also need an SF-97 Reassignment Form, usually from the government auction site.

Deceased and probate: if someone signed on behalf of a deceased individual we need an original Death Certificate plus probate papers showing they were allowed to sign. The Death Certificate won't be returned (the state holds it in case of audit), so have a Certified Copy made and send that if you want to keep the original.

Repossessions: we need a Repo Letter to complete the chain of title.

Your vehicle must be physically inspected by a police officer or an authorized third-party VIN verifier, from any state, who completes Section 2 of the Montana VIN inspection form in ink. It cannot be filled out online, and they must use the Montana form rather than an equivalent from another state.

Who can inspect

• Local law enforcement in any state. Call your non-emergency police line and ask to meet an officer for a VIN verification requested by the DMV.
• Licensed VIN verifiers in AZ, CA, CO, FL, NV, OH, UT, VA
• Notaries in Florida. Dealerships in CO, NV, FL.

Not exhaustive. Always check your state's rules on VIN verifications.

When the inspector hands the form back, scan or photograph it and upload it to your portal.

Download the Montana VIN inspection form and instructions

Photograph it while you're still with the inspector, then upload it to your portal.

Florida notary inspections: the notary stamp on the form is the credential, nothing extra needed.

• Driver's License (front only)
• Passport
• State ID (front only)

The document must be valid and not expired. The address does not have to match what we have on file. We need to see the full document and be able to read your name and expiration date, so make sure there are no glares, blurry parts or cut-off sides. Upload it to your portal.

One good photo showing the whole vehicle. It must be of the vehicle you're registering, it must be clear, and nothing cropped out. Upload it to your portal.

One photo of the VIN on the vehicle itself. For cars and trucks, shoot the dashboard VIN through the windshield on the lower driver side. For motorcycles and off-road vehicles, photograph the VIN or serial number wherever it appears on the frame. Make sure it's clear, legible, and nothing is cropped out.

Cars and trucks 1981 and newer: federal safety label

Also photograph the federal safety label, sometimes called the federal certification label or safety compliance sticker. The driver's door jamb is by far the most common location. Also check the edge of the driver's door, the door frame pillar, or occasionally under the hood or in the glove box. The full VIN on the label must be readable.

Only if your vehicle is 2011 or newer, we need a clear and legible photo of the odometer. If your vehicle is 2010 or older you can skip this, even though the inspector records mileage on the VIN inspection form.

The mileage in this photo must match the mileage on the VIN inspection form, which is why it's easiest to take it while the inspection is happening. The readout can be in kilometres. Double-check the odometer is showing full mileage and not a trip reading.