The Title, and Whose Name Goes on It

A private sale is two obligations running in opposite directions, and each party can create a problem for the other by not performing theirs. Know both halves before you hand anyone cash.

What the seller owes you

The certificate of ownership — the title — properly endorsed, signed by every person listed as an owner on it. If two names appear joined by "and", both must sign. If a lender is listed as a lienholder, the lien must be released before that title transfers cleanly. A title with an unreleased lien is not a title you can register.

Also a bill of sale, the odometer reading where required, and on most private sales a valid smog certification, which is normally the seller's responsibility. Do not accept "you can smog it yourself" without knowing what that costs and whether the car would pass.

What the seller owes the state

Vehicle Code section 5900 requires the owner who sells or transfers title and delivers possession to notify the department within five calendar days, giving the date of transfer, both parties' names and addresses, and a description of the vehicle. This is the release of liability, and it protects the seller from tickets and tolls the new driver runs up.

It also helps you. A seller who files it promptly creates a DMV record that the transfer happened on a specific date, which is useful if anything about the sale is later disputed.

What you owe the state

Vehicle Code section 5902: having received a properly endorsed certificate of ownership, forward it with the proper transfer fee to the department within 10 days and apply for transfer of registration. Ten days, not ten weeks. Late transfers accrue penalties.

The names on the title are not a formality

This is where the paperwork meets the insurance. Whoever is named as owner on the title is the owner, and an auto policy is written against a named insured with an insurable interest in the vehicle. When the title says one name and the policy says another, that structure needs to be deliberate and disclosed, not accidental.

Common real situations, all workable if you say them out loud:

• The car is titled to you but a household member drives it most days.
• The car is titled jointly with a relative.
• You are buying a car for a family member who will be the actual driver.

Each has a correct way to be written, and each has a wrong way that surfaces during a claim. Tell the agent who owns it and who drives it, plainly. Give us both facts and the policy gets built right the first time.

Spelling, again

The name printed on the title should match the name on your license exactly. If the seller writes an abbreviated or misspelled version onto the endorsement, fix it at the sale rather than at the DMV counter, where your only option is to track the seller down again.

Before you pay

Check the VIN on the title against the VIN on the dashboard and the door jamb. Confirm the seller's identification matches the name on the title. If the person selling the car is not the person named on it, stop and ask why. That single question prevents most of the bad outcomes in private-party sales.